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The COVID-Free Feast Katherine Snow Smith, author of Rules for the Southern Rulebreaker: Missteps and Lessons Learned, shares her tips for hosting Thanksgiving in a pandemic. illustrations by JILLIAN OHL
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friend of mine recently told me she was expecting 20 people to come over for Thanksgiving. “Thanksgiving?” I replied, “Are we really doing that this year?” Turns out, yes: most folks are gathering. Entertaining during a pandemic seems to
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have gone from oxymoron, to something only morons would do, to an acceptable social experiment—if proper precautions are taken. Naturally, lessons have been learned along the way. Early in the pandemic, I hosted an Easter brunch in my backyard. Two of my
three children were there, along with my former husband and my former motherin-law. Erring on the side of social distancing (and my sanity), I told my ex-husband that I thought he, the kids and I should spread out at my round wrought iron table, with his mom set up at a separate card table—she’s in her 80s and has some
