Katie Holmes Confesses Thanksgiving Shortcuts to Martha

When someone criticizes your housekeeping skills, it’s pretty typical for either you or the criticizer to point out that you are Not Martha Stewart.

Because you know who is Martha Stewart? Martha Stewart. But it would all the same be quite intimidating to admit your kitchen and decor shortcomings to the queen of fancy herself, given the apparent ease with which she turns out delicious dinners and well-appointed holiday trimmings. But Katie Holmes recently did just that, confessing the secret behind her largely fuss-free Thanksgiving celebrations.

Holmes said she’s not fantastic at the whole turkey and sides business- which really only occurs once a year so it’s not like we really have time to practice. The actress says she recognizes that cooking isn’t her strong suit for Thanksgiving, so she stocks up on flowers and other decor to bolster her celebration:

“We’re going to be in Los Angeles and I’m not a big cook so I usually go to the flower mart in downtown Los Angeles and I make up for my lack of cooking with a good presentation… I make sure the fixings are there I just don’t tell how they got there.”

However, Katie says, she does have one standout tradition- pumpkin bars. And Mrs. Tom Cruise says that she goes to great lengths each year to ensure little Suri picks up the tradition, too:

“My mom started a tradition where she makes these amazing pumpkin bars- almost like a pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting, but it’s not too spicy. In my family we travel so much and we’re constantly living in hotels, so my daughter and I have been in the living room of the hotel with powdered sugar going everywhere making this to keep up the tradition… They’re really gooey and moist.”

When asked if hubby Tom likes the pumpkin bars, Holmes replied she’d never met anyone who wasn’t crazy about them.