If you make this on Monday, it will be perfect for Thursday. Lacto-Fermented Cranberry-Orange relish (great for digestion and very tasty) I made it from this recipe adapted from Sally Fallon: http://onlinedigeditions.com/publication/?i=64602&p=21

Heather Flournoy

Katonah, NY

Re: rolling out a crust - I only make my own crust about 2 times a year - so it's taken me a while to figure this out. Most recipes call for less than a 2 to 1 mixture of flour to fat. I find it easier to use a 2 to 1 ratio, i.e. 2 cups flour and 1 cup fat. My family always enjoys it. You should get the dough to a consistency that makes it easy to roll out. If it's not easy to roll it will be tough - so just make life easier for yourself and use more fat than the recipe call for. Also, chilling the dough helps a lot too.

j hartman

Pittsford, NY

My #1 tip is to have a good time. Thanksgiving is not time to channel Billie Burke in Dinner at Eight. No one will care about the aspic. Enjoy your family and friends, and eat in excess. www.HereSheIsBoys.com

Brenda

New York City

This is a side-dish recipe using sweet potatoes, BUT it is a savory dish. For two servings, you will need:

1 medium sweet potato cut into wedges (use a very sharp knife and cut from side-to-side)

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon spanish bittersweet Paprika

2 tablespoons of peanut oil

1/4 cup (or more, if you like) raw pecans

Directions:
Heat oven to 430

Place oiled sweet potato wedges into baking container

Sprinkle with 1/2 salt and 1/2 Smoked paprika

Bake for 14 minutes

Remove from oven and add remaining salt and smoked paprika

ALSO add pecans

Bake for an additional 15 minutes

That's it.

Sonja Alicea

New York

when making pumpkin pie, swap out the milk or cream with coconut milk. a dash of dark rum doesn't hurt either. and use molasses and brown sugar for the sweeter.

charles

elizabeth, nj

This year we are making a turkey roulade with the stuffing inside. A 5 pound butterflied turkey breast takes about 3 hours to cook and is an interesting/unique presentation of the traditional turkey. This saves a lot of time and hopefully money on our gas bill :)
This is the second time I am making it. The first time, it was a huge hit!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/roasted-turkey-roulade-recipe/index.html - here is the recipe I like to use.

Kate

Brooklyn

As I said in my note to Amy on Facebook, here is the recipe/advice sheet, well worn and used by family and friends:
Thanksgiving recipes/suggestions:

1. Turkey care – If frozen, which yours probably will be, keep in refrigerator for three days. Takes time for it to fully defrost, and you want to be able to clean it up on Wednesday.

Take the giblets etc. out, cut off the wing tips, remove the neck bone, and trim away extra fat, blood clots. With the exception of the liver, fat and blood clots, put the turkey carnage into a pot with onion ( a whole onion studded with cloves is good), coarsely chopped carrots, celery, parsley leaves, salt and pepper, plus a bay leaf or two and some thyme and/or sage leaves. Add water to cover – about 4-5 cups should do it – bring to a boil, skim off yucky-looking stuff as that is happening, and simmer for a long time. You really can’t simmer this too long – 2-3 hours should do it, just make sure the pot is tightly covered and the heat very low. Strain, chill and save this broth for the gravy.

2. Stuffing – I like to use Arnold’s plain bread cubes and add my own seasoning. Sometimes an even mix of crumbled cornbread (easy to make, but they sell bags of that, too), white bread cubes and whole wheat bread cubes is good, too. Anyway, for a 16-18 lb. bird, you need about 10 cups. Chop up in fine pieces the additions you want to put in: onion and celery for sure, and I like to add apples and walnuts/pecans. I also like to use some bulk sausage, which should be crumbled and browned in a large frying pan, and then either drain and save the fat to sauté the other additions, or drain, wipe out the pan and melt some butter. I use less than suggested – half a stick should do.

Then mix the additions with your seasoning – fresh parsley, chopped fine, a healthy handful (2T or so) of thyme, 1T of sage leaves (dried is fine, you may want to chop those up if they seem too big), and pepper/salt. Mix together with the bread in a LARGE bowl, and slowly add canned chicken broth – probably about 1-2 cups, but do it gradually so that you don’t over/under soak the bread cubes.

3. Assembling – Clean out the turkey with a thorough rinse and dry. Check again to make sure those pesky blood clots are purged. Then slide a cut lemon over the inside of the bird, rub some salt inside thoroughly and adjust him/her into the roasting pan, legs down. The first section to stuff is under the neck flap – spoon in what you can without forcing it, and then pin the flap closed. (Don’t forget to have a couple of packs of turkey pins on hand, and string.)

Then turn the bird over, legs straight up, and finish spooning in the stuffing. Don’t force; you will put the extra stuffing in an oven-proof glass pan or baking utensil, (which only need to be buttered up, covered and baked for 45 minutes along with the turkey.) After you have trussed up the bird, making sure the stuffing won’t spill out, tie the legs together at the ankles over the opening (gently), rub all over with a lemon-softened butter mix (keep some more of this handy), sprinkle with s & p – and you’re ready for the oven! Well, not you – just the turkey.

4. Roasting – 325 is a good temperature, and for a stuffed bird, 12 minutes per lb should be about right. Check about every 20 minutes, basting first with additional lemon-butter mix and then with the pan juice. Turn the roasting pan occasionally for even browning. If you have an instant meat thermometer (my favorite) check both the breast temp and the thigh temp. Breast should be 165 and the thigh 175-180. Start checking the temp after 2.5 hours; if the breast seems to be winning the race, put an aluminum foil tent over it loosely.

When temperature is right, remove and let stand for at least a half hour (keep a foil tent over it to maintain warmth). An hour is fine. At some point remove from roasting pan and place on carving board (you can do this at any time).

5. Gravy – remove your drained, defatted turkey broth from refrigerator, measure the amount (hopefully you have 4 cups), and add 2T of Wondra for each cup of gravy you want. I suggest 8 cups minimum, so that means 1C of flour. Set aside the Wondra-turkey broth mix. Pour the roasting pan accumulated liquid into a large measuring glass (you can’t have too many measuring cups), let stand for a bit until the fat/liquid have separated. Remove by gentle spooning as much of the fat as you can without losing the juice underneath.

Put roasting pan back on stove, add 4 cups of CHICKEN BROTH – or as much as you need to make a total of 8 cups gravy – and bring to a healthy simmer, scraping the yummies up from the pan as you stir. When all is scraped up, remove pan from stove, pour contents into a large saucepan, stir up the turkey-broth Wondra mix and add that, too. Return to stovetop, bring to a boil (gently), stirring constantly to keep the flour from lumping up. Then just reheat when its time to put the turkey on the table.

6. Slicing – You’re on your own with this one. Convince Brian that it’s in your prenuptial agreement that he has this responsibility.

Eleanor McGee

Yonkers, NY

I baste the bird "from the inside" & outside:
Season the cavity well with s & p, garlic powder, paprika. Cut in half an onion, an apple & the citrus fruit of your choice, & keep them in the cavity.
The rest is up to you, but I baste liberally & often. Breast meat is juicy, flavorful, never over-cooked.
Also, the "french" method of slicing breast meat is efficient, easy and impressive on a platter.
20+ yrs. of success.

Ron

Bedford Corners, NY

Your who worked on a turkey farm, said it was a fun time of year. Raising and caring for animals and then mass murdering them is a fun??????? It sounds more like a bloody massacre/holocaust to me!!!!!!!!!! At least he can keep the sentiment of dominance and brutality that we used when we dealt with and "processed" the natives!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

Animal Lover

New York

I struggled for years trying to put together an interesting and different menu for Thanksgiving. In 2006, I purchased Martha Stewart's Living magazine at the grocery store which had her most popular Thanksgiving recipes. I made several side dishes that were an instant hit with the family and now they've become a tradition. All of these recipes are available for free on her website: http://www.marthastewart.com/food

These are my 4 favorites. They're crowd pleasers.
1) Cauliflower Gratin with Endive
2) Green Bean Casserole with Fried Shallots
3) Cornbread, Wild Mushroom and Pecan Stuffing
4) Cranberry-Orange Relish

If you are a "foodie" like me, it's worth the effort and time to make these.

Jenny Hinsman

Brewster NY

Our Family Thanksgiving Side Dish

Our family side dish has become known amongst friends as "Pierce-a-role"

It is a classic in the Pierce family and one probably seen all over the country. It's simple and delicious. Rice, Cream of Mushroom soup, Broccoli, and cheddar cheese baked in a casserole dish. Variations with garlic, dill etc are also great.

David Pierce

Brooklyn, NY

My family's Thanksgiving is never without my great-grandmother's orange Jell-O salad. Now, I know most people would sneer and stop reading/listening at the very mention of the J word, but the only things this brisk and textural palate-cleanser has in common with the wiggly cafeteria fare are cattle bones and FD&C Red #3. No Jell-O mold could hold this concoction: It's free form, like Jazz. The Charlie Parker of parfaits. The ingredients are orange Jell-O, of course, shredded carrots, chopped celery and diced onion. My mother uses orange juice instead of water when making the Jell-O. The ratio of ingredients is key(though an exact recipe doesn't exist). It's mostly carrots, slaw-like. Maybe I should rename it orange-glazed carrot slaw...Whatever it's called, it truly clears one's taste buds, and holds court as the most colorful and contested dish on the table.

Jessica Patton Pellegrino

Fairfield, CT

I'm vegan, and for me best vegan Thanksgiving meals celebrate autumn without trying to mimic turkey. The holiday is a wonderful opportunity to create new, animal-friendly traditions.

Maya Gottfried

Brooklyn, NY

Eating Vegan at Thanksgiving

When non-vegetarians think of the idea of eating vegan on Thanksgiving, they’re usually aghast. They can’t imagine what vegans eat if they don’t eat birds! I’ve also heard the accusation that vegans are flying in the face of tradition - that it’s culturally blasphemous to not eat turkeys on this day. The truth is we're ALL breaking tradition if we use that "first Thanksgiving" from 1621 as a barometer for what we should eat today. In other words, in that first meal between the puritans and Wampanoags, there were no potatoes or biscuits or apple pie or yams or sweet cranberries. And they didn’t eat with forks.

Does that mean we shouldn't eat those things today (or eat with forks?) No. Of course not. It means we shape our traditions out of our ideals. We all do it, including vegans.

For side dishes, our vegan feast consists of mashed potatoes, mushroom Gravy (chunky and smooth), bread stuffing, cranberry relish, corn, mashed rutabagas, butternut squash soup, sautéed green beans, roasted Brussels sprouts, cornbread or biscuits, and green salad. Dessert includes everything from apple pie, pumpkin bread, German apple cake, cranberry muffins, and other traditional, seasonal favorites.

For the main dish - which is really about creating a focal point on the plate AND celebrating the harvest of the autumn months - we enjoy a beautiful stuffed acorn squash filled with a pilaf of wild rice, pecans, apples, celery, onions, and spices. The options are endless.

You CAN celebrate tradition and honor your values at the same time. In fact, eating a vegan feast at this time is more consistent with what this holiday is about at its heart: creating community, connection, gratitude, and compassion. I can't think of a better way to do that than preparing food that causes as little harm as possible to someone else.

(I'm a vegan educator and author of five books, including The Joy of Vegan Baking, The Vegan Table, and The 30-Day Vegan Challenge, the latter published by Random House.)

Colleen Patrick-Goudreau

Oakland, CA

Cornbread can sometimes be a good substitute for a brick. Adding fluffed egg whites gives you a cornbread that is light and airy.

http://66squarefeetfood.blogspot.com/2010/11/cornbread-light-and-fluffy_27.html

Ham. To cut down on your gas bill, use the hotbox method, where you bring your pig to the boil and then insulate the whole pot in many layers, overnight (this is the only use to which I put an inherited mink coat!). Next morning skin the ham, glaze and bake:

http://66squarefeet.blogspot.com/2007/11/first-catch-yo-pig-part-first.html

The best apple pie. I grew up with this in South Africa - gently stewed Granny Smith apples, cinnamon and raisins.

http://66squarefeetfood.blogspot.com/2010/10/apple-pie.html

Marie

Cobble Hill