Thanksgiving A to Z, for 2023 (2024)

All the recipes for salads, side dishes, sauces, turkey, stuffing and gravy, plus tools, tabletop, and encouragement you need for a perfect Thanksgiving, from A to Z, for 2023. Shall we?

Plus the actual Thanksgiving menu for this year, November 2023 at the end.

Skip ahead to individual letters using these links:

A is for Appetizers

The alphabet starts with A and dinner starts with appetizers!

My family makes the HUGE mistake of going absolutely overboard (pun intended) every Thanksgiving because we graze from a cheese and charcuterie board all day long while cooking and are overwhelmingly full by dinner time. Nevertheless, you still have to hand an overfilled glass of Champagne to every person who walks through the door and offer some sort of appetizer because you just do, Ina.

This year and probably forever forward Thanksgiving will start with a "light" appetizer of mostly fresh vegetable crudités that no one will eat, or something not Thanksgiving-y in flavor at all like so you don't get "palate fatigue" by 3 pm. Like a smoked fish, caviar, and other delicious little things aka a "seacuterie" board, unless you live in New England and put oysters in your stuffing, in which case, never the f*ck mind about seafood not being Thanksgiving-y.

Cheese and Charcuterie Boards

Step-by-step guides and free downloadable shopping lists for putting together PERFECT cheese and charcuterie boards every time:

• How to Put Together an Epic Cheese and Charcuterie Board - a masterclass
• Everything you need except the cheese for a Cheese Board - a visual guide
• How to Prep Vegetables for a Crudités Platter

And all the recipes and best ideas here:

• Classic Smoked Salmon Platter for the morning-of, while you're prepping (or the morning after!)
• Christmas Charcuterie Board, if Thanksgiving is really your pre-Christmas and you even have your Christmas tree up already
• Antipasto Board with Creamy Red Wine Vinaigrette
• DIY Deviled Egg Board

Crudités, Veggies and Dips for Thanksgiving

• Avocado Hummus, the new favorite
• Edamame Hummus
• EASIEST Hummus with canned chickpeas, Classic Hummus starting with dried chickpeas, Hummus with No Tahini
• Green Goddess Crudités Board with Green Goddess Dip
• Whipped Feta, Olives, and Pomegranate Salsa, served with Fluffy 2-Ingredient Flatbread
• Smoked Salmon Goat Cheese Dip

Hors d'Oeuvres for Thanksgiving

• Kimchi Deviled Eggs recipe
• Gougères French Cheese Puffs recipe
• Furikake Kettle Corn recipe

B is for Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, and More Brassicas

Does the world need more than the 89 million recipes for broccoli and their cousins in the Brassica family for Thanksgiving? No. So will I spare you at least another half-dozen? Also no. Here are spicy, salty, umami-filled recipes for broccoli and their cousins for Thanksgiving!

Broccoli Recipes for Thanksgiving

• Charred Broccoli, Brady and Connor's all-time fav recipe
• Sesame Broccoli

Brussels Sprouts Recipes for Thanksgiving

• Crispy Shaved Brussels with Pomegranate and Walnuts
• Pan-Roasted Miso Brussels Sprouts and Shiitake Mushrooms
• Pan-Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Kimchi
• Pan-Roasted and Shaved Brussels Sprouts with Pear
• Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad with Lemon, Capers, and Mint

Cauliflower Recipes for Thanksgiving

• Roasted Cauliflower and Chickpeas with Walnuts and Parsley
• Cauliflower Gratin from Thomas Keller's Bouchon
• Garlic and Herb Cheese Pull-Apart Cauliflower

C is for Cranberries, Condiments, and all other Dips, Sauces, and Spreads

Look, we serve this DEAD-EASY classic Homemade Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce every year, and we also serve 9 million other sauces and condiments including kimchi because in case you haven't tasted, turkey is a bland palate blank palette for flavors.

• Classic Whole Cranberry Saucewith flavor variations and ideas
  • make extra so you have some leftover for these recipes
• Pomegranate Salsa
• Spicy Pomegranate Salsa
• My Favorite Store-boughtKimchi
• Peruvian Green Sauce Aji Verde ** very very spicy
• Middle Eastern Garlic Sauce, Toum
• ItalianSalsa Verde recipe
• Perfect Pickled Onions

D is for Defrosting Turkey

I know. D is Dessert. Or Drinks. Maybe even Decor. All natural choices for letter D for Thanksgiving, but I have been traumatized for life by one Thanksgiving a little more than 10 years ago when I underestimated the time I needed to defrost a titanic turkey glacier and on the morning of Thanksgiving, I found the turkey partially STILL FROZEN. Not to fear, because the Internet says that you can "flash-defrost" a turkey by submerging it in water and changing out the water every half-hour until the turkey defrosts.

I did that, and because I thought I was a genius, I did it in HOT WATER to defrost it even faster! And then I read the Internet again and found out that defrosting a turkey in cold water is only safe if you are vigilant about keeping the water temperature at or below 40 degrees, and is wholly UNSAFE in warm or hot water because the warm water becomes a bacteria-breeding hot tub.

The truth is, not likely you're growing a super-colony of turkey-borne bacteria, and even if you were, you'd probably kill them when you very safely roast your turkey, BUT I am so paranoid about poisoning, and you know killing my own family like some epic netflix series finale, that I threw the entire turkey into the trash and we won't even talk about what we actually had for Thanksgiving that year.

How to Defrost a Frozen Turkey

Needless to say, if your turkey is frozen, plan ahead for the defrosting the turkey safely according to the USDA food safety guidelines. Here are the highlights:

• in the lowest part of your refrigerator
• play it even safer, plan to have it fully defrosted a day in advance
• if you are brining your turkey, you need to keep that in mind and might have to add time to your turkey prep schedule
• Dry-brining the Zuni Café-style turkey takes three days (see "J" below), though the recipe adapter, Russ Parsons has tested the brine on a frozen turkey, and apparently you can brine the bird WHILE it is defrosting in the refrigerator. Praise the mother f*cking lard.

E is for Eggs, Endives, and Entertainment

If you need a Thanksgiving food that starts with E, serve deviled Eggs as an appetizer. Or make Endives with Whipped Creme Fraiche and Caviar as a starter.

Otherwise, E is for Entertainment.

Start putting together a playlist now. My family doesn't let me play anything except Christmas carols all day, but for all those hours I am gleefully alone in the kitchen zone washing, prepping, and cooking ahead of time, I play Sadé, Led Zeppelin, Michael Bublé, and WuTang.

Don't call me a grinch. I listen to Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas is You year-round.

F is for Fresh Green Salads

No one eats salad at Thanksgiving. NO ONE. I don't know why we even bother with this here. But I swear I will eat an entire bunch of unwashed cilantro before I serve any kind of meal without a fresh salad, even if it sits pristinely on the table untouched. If nothing else, throw whatever fresh greens you can find into a bowl and douse it with this so-good-it's-drinkable Apple Cider Vinaigrette.

• Fall Harvest Salad with Apples and Walnuts, pictured above
• Fall Farmers' Market Salad with Maple Citrus Vinaigrette
• Autumn 'Caprese' Salad with Persimmon, Pomegranate, and Prosciutto
• Shredded Kale, Radicchio, and Romaine "Caesar" with Anchovy Vinaigrette and Roasted Pistachios
• Arugula Pear Salad with Maple Mustard Dressing

G is for Thanksgiving Gravy

I am not a fan of gravy, as I prefer a thinner, lighter "pan sauce" made from poultry drippings and wine without any sort of flour or cornstarch thickener, but if I ever left gravy off the Thanksgiving table, I'd be excommunicated from the family. So the compromise in our family is that Green Bean Casserole gets a makeover—more on that later, and why G is decidedly not for Green Beans—and Gravy stays because every single day of our entire lives, we don't eat anything like any of the traditional Thanksgiving foods except on Thanksgiving, so let us have the white people equivalent of salsa and sriracha on everything for one day gah goddamnit it.

• Champagne Pan Sauce
• Roasted Garlic Mushroom Gravy
• Miso Shallot Gravy

H is for Haricot Verts aka Green Beans

See? Even for this list, I had to compromise between Gravy and Green Beans for "G" my God the metaphor is come to life. Haricot verts, like "fitness" for fat loss, is just marketing for a skinny type of green bean.

• Bacon-wrapped Green Beans
• Greens Beans with Lemon and Feta
• Blistered Green Beans with Garlic-Sautéed Mushrooms and Onions (vegetarian XO sauce)

I is for Thanksgiving Ice Cream

Between I and J, I had a harder time figuring out what to do with the letter I because I refused to put Ice Cream on this list because you can have ice cream three times a day every day of the year, so why waste Thanksgiving dessert on something as quotidien as ice cream? Ok, fine, you can churn your own cranberry pumpkin sage latte whatever Fall Harvest flavored ice cream, you goddamned superhero of Thanksgiving.

OOOOR. You can be realistic and buypumpkin pie ice creamfrom the freezer case in any grocery store, and if you still want to be a superhero, you can turn it into Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream Sandwiches with Lattice Pie Crust Cookies.

J is for Thanksgiving "JudyBird"

The "Judybid" is former Los Angeles Times Food editor Russ Parsons's Zuni Café-style Dry-brined Turkey, so named for the Zuni's chef and founder Judy Rodgers. I don't need to re-print the recipe that's probably one of the more famous recipes for roast chicken, and now turkey, out there. Plan ahead. It takes three days to brine the turkey, which means you start brining on Monday morning.

• Russ Parsons's take onJudy Rodgers's Zuni Café-style Dry-brine{Los Angeles Times}

To avoid the obvious answer here, Kale, Kale Salad, and all its other various forms, let's talk about Kitchen Tools instead.

When it comes to Thanksgiving, there are a LOT of fancy tools, equipment, gadgets, and electronics to help with cooking the dinner, but there is only ONE tool you MUST BUY if you don't have one already: a meat thermometer.

Everything else, from an extra-large roasting pan with rack to food mill, is nice to have. Ifyou have the money, buy them, but you probably already have something that you could tweak to work and use the money you save for some new Loubs. But there is nothing that can accurately tell you when the turkey is ready for showtime, i.e. cooked all the way through, not over cooked, killed any possibility of foodborne illness except for a thermometer.

That all being said, the following is a list of all the tools, gadgets and equipment we use in the kitchen for Thanksgiving, generally in order that you will need and use them.

Knives and Cutting Boards

• LARGE CHEF'S KNIFE: this is the knife I use every damned day. Pro-tip: get all your knives professionally sharpened the first week of November. If you've never had your knives sharpened before, it will change your life.
• KITCHEN SHEARS: I cannot live without kitchen shears. If you don't have a pair, I have no idea how you are able to live.
• MANDOLINE or Japanese Benriner. I have used this my entire life.
• CUTTING BOARD: I have these cutting boards in all different sizes, especially for Thanksgiving time when there is a lot of prepping, potentially by multiple people.
• LARGE WOODEN CUTTING/CARVING BOARD: This is the very large cutting board I use to carve the turkey. The other 364 not-Thanksgiving days of the year, it doubles as a cheeseboard. A board with a trench is nice to have to catch the juices for gravy when you're carving the turkey, and this one is the exact same one as mine, but with the trench on one side. I originally called the trench a "moat," in case you're wondering what I'm talking about.

Gadgets and Small Appliances

• FOOD PROCESSOR: My time with my food processor that I've had for 15+ years is coming to an end because it's just getting old, and they don't make replacement parts for this exact model anymore, so it's time to move on... to the EXACT SAME equivalent food processor because I love it and it's on MAJOR SALE.
• SLOW COOKER: You will use on the day of as a container or to keep something like mashed potatoes warm, with the intention of transferring to a pretty serving bowl but will end up just handing someone a large spoon and telling them to scoop straight from the slow cooker. The next day, you will use this to make bone broth with the leftover turkey bones. I have this one. It's a little small for a very large turkey, but works for almost everything else.
• KITCHEN TIMER: I know. You can use your phone's timer. But... "Have you seen my phone?" I don't know about you but I set my phone down ALL OVER THE PLACE and lose track of it ALL THE TIME, so having a designated kitchen timer and one that has multiple timers that's like, stuck to the refrigerator door or something, is helpful.
• SALAD SPINNER: I don't know why I am including a salad spinner when we all know that no one eats salad, so why are you even going to make one? That being said, you still need to have a salad on the table BECAUSE YOU JUST DO.

Tools and Equipment for Turkey

• TWINE: to truss the turkey (and all other days for chicken). This brand is eco-friendly.
• HEAVY DUTY ALUMINUM FOIL: to shield the turkey breast the first few hours of roasting so it doesn't overcook. The obvious brand.
• ROASTING PAN with RACK: This is the one I have been using for my entire Thanksgiving-hosting life. I have the larger one, which will hold up to a 25-pound turkey. The smaller one will hold up to a 15-pound turkey.
• FAT SEPARATOR: You need this for gravy and when you make bone broth. This is the fat separator I have, the kind that pours broth like a teapot out from a spout at the base of the pitcher, as opposed to dropping broth out of a hole at the bottom of the pitcher like a crop duster.
• SHORT-HANDLED LADLE: for "basting." The bulb-ended syringe traditionally used for roasting turkey is annoying, and also a waste of space for its one job a year.
• THERMOMETER: I have two analog meat thermometers that work well and are very affordable. If you are into electronic gadgetry and don't mind spending the money, this is a great one that has a timer, can sync to your phone for alerts, etc.
• CARVING KNIFE and FORK: Every food blog, site, magazine, what have you is going to tell you need a "carving knife and fork set." You don't. You need your sharp-as-a-mofo chef's knife and a pair of kitchen gloves because I will tell you right now it is INFINITELY EASIER to carve a turkey grasping the side of the bird with your gloved hands than it is with a stupid giant fork that you will use one time, this year, and never again, because you will realize that using your gloves hands is just easier. Don't buy a carving knife and fork. Unless you want me to earn $0.12 commission off your purchase at amazon.

Tools and Equipment for Thanksgiving and Large Holiday Dinners

• RICER, MASHER, or FOOD MILL: for mashed potatoes. In the end, a large fork does well enough and won't cost you $20, but this is one of very few situations in which the tool really does make a difference in the texture. I use a ricer.
• BAKING SHEETS: I have always had and used half sheet pans my entire life, but only a few months ago, during quarantine when I was roasting FOR ONE ok, I discovered the glory of the quarter sheet pan, and even when cooking for a larger groups, the smaller size comes in handy because it just does. Both sizes work well as trays or "cheeseboards."
• WIRE RACKS for sheet pans. To bake or roast things that need air circulation while baking, also to use for cooling.
• CASSEROLE DISHES: I have a bunch of "vintage" corningware casserole dishes from my Mom, and a couple of LeCreuset stoneware ones.
• PARCHMENT PAPER to line baking sheets to make cleanup easier, or when you want to roast things without using a lot of oil. This eco-friendly (-ish) brand is available at Whole Foods, and also online.
• CAST IRON SKILLET. I don't know what you will need this for right now, but trust me, on the day of, if you have it, you will use it. I have this one in graphite gray.

For Storing Advance Prep and Leftovers

• Silicone Ice Cube Trays for storing leftover broth, sauces, and condiments
• STORAGE CONTAINERS/BAGS. Use the obvious brand.
• DELI CUPS: for liquid leftovers like gravy, and also for all that turkey bone broth you are absolutely going to make, right?

L is for Thanksgiving Leftovers

If your family, like my family, loves leftovers even more than the main event, roast two turkeys; one to eat for dinner, one entire turkey to carve up right into to-go portions that never even hits the dining table.

Additional thoughts on my family's leftover policy and How to Use Up Thanksgiving Leftovers coming shortly.

For Leftover Cranberry Sauce, peep this post for how to store/freeze your leftovers, as well as recipe ideas that go WAY beyond just a turkey sandwich.

M is for Mashed Potatoes and Other Potatoes

Maybe some other kinds of potatoes and also imposters, too. See Yams and Sweet Potatoes below for more.

If your gut is sensitive to potatoes or you are avoiding nightshades like I am, make the Mashed Cauliflower with Roasted Garlic recipe, or substitute in white sweet potatoes in any of the recipes below, or make one of the Sweet Potatoes recipes from the section below.

• Perfect All-American Three-Ingredient Fluffy Mashed Potatoes {recipe}
• Loaded Baked Potato Mashed Potatoes
• Individual Mashed Baked Potatoes - this sounds almost exactly like the recipe above but it's not.
• Crispy Smashed Potatoes (Skillet-fried) with Whipped Feta, Salsa Verde, and Hot Chili Honey
• Crispy Smashed Potatoes (Oven-fried) with Yogurt and Caviar
• "Mashed Potatoes" Cauliflower with Roasted Garlic and Truffle Butter {recipe}

N is for Thanksgiving, but NOT TURKEY

I have the perfect solution to accommodate dinner guests who don't like turkey at Thanksgiving.

Don't invite them to your house for dinner.

Unfortunately, you can't do that when it's like, you know, your own Dad. We cook an entire ham just for Dad, which he doesn't eat because he ends up eating turkey anyway (!!!), all the while insisting that he doesn't like it. Oooo. K. DAD. Eyeroll. This is my reality every year. We always have at least one other non-turkey option:

• Crispy Braised Chicken with Cannellini Beans and Greens {recipe} - you can do a whole roast chicken, but if a person doesn't like roast turkey, they probably won't like roast chicken either. Braise chicken thighs because NO ONE CAN HATE CRISPY THICC THIGHS.
• Roast Chicken with Two Lemons - The previous being said about roast chicken being too similar to turkey for some people, you know they're not similar at all, so here is a very cool way to roast chicken that puffs up the chicken skin into a shatteringly crisp balloon
• Citrus Roasted Salmon with Fresh Herbs
• Thomas Keller's Blowtorch Prime Rib
• Bourbon Maple GlazedHam

As a side note, Thanksgiving foods that start with the letter "N" are a little more difficult to identify, but if you're interested in Naan (flatbread), Nachos, turkey Nuggets, Nuts and Nutella, New York-style cheesecake, or Noodles of any kind made to fit onto the Thanksgiving table, let me know. Leftover turkey Nachos are a given, but I could work on some spicy sichuan turkey Noodles.

O is for Other Vegetables for Thanksgiving

Is there anything else except Brussels sprouts, green beans, and my beloved sweet potatoes? Apparently, there is:

• BUTTERNUT SQUASH and HONEYNUT SQUASH
  • Roasted Butternut Squash with Feta and Pomegranate Salsa - pictured above
  • Roasted Honeynut Squash with Kale Pepita Pesto
  • Butternut Squash Carbonara with Shiitake, Bacon, and Crispy Fried Sage
• KALE and OTHER GREENS
  • Creamed Kale
  • Kale Slaw
  • Kale, Kimchi, and Green Apple Slaw
• MUSHROOMS
  • Roasted Mushrooms and Quinoa
  • Pan-Roasted Lion's Mane Mushrooms

P is for Thanksgiving PUMPKIN DESSERTS

I'm going to be honest here, I k i i i i i nda hate pumpkin pie with my entire being. The only part of me that doesn't hate pumpkin pie is the part that wrote this post: read about my hatred-turned-semi-hatred on the Cook's Illustrated Best Pumpkin Pie post.

This year, we're doing fruit for dessert.Just kidding. I love telling my family sh*t like that just to give myself negotiating leverage when it comes to green bean casserole and stuffing.

• Cook's Illustrated Best Pumpkin Pie, the end-all, be-allrecipe for Pumpkin Pie
• Pumpkin Butter Mochi - a bouncy, chewy alternative to pie
• Pumpkin Cheesecake
• Pumpkin Spice Layer Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting and Salted Caramel
• Pumpkin Bread Pudding

Q is for Quinoa, Rice, and Other Grains

Also, obviously, we have plain steamed rice on our table every year.

• Quinoa Salad with Baby Kale and Roasted Mushrooms
• Quinoa with Radicchio, Roasted Beets, Radish, and Red Onions
• How to Make Perfect Steamed Rice (in a Rice Cooker)

R is for Thanksgiving Rolls and Bread

Just buy the bread and rolls. If you are ambitious, organized, and stupid enough to actually bake your own bread and rolls, you wouldn't even be reading this list.

S is for Stuffing

Sage, salad, sauce, smoked salmon, spinach, squash, sweet potatoes, sweets, all of which we cover elsewhere, so here is the dish that you either love or hate, stuffing.

• Stovetop Stuffing. The actual Stovetop brand in the box. Don't make this. Make the Bread Salad aka "Stuffing" below.

T is for Thanksgiving Table Setting

I set the EXACT SAME table setting every year, and also pretty much for every special occasion. I don't have separate dishware for different holidays or fancier dinner parties, and only "dress up" my everyday dishware with...nothing. Also, I don't have anything else to dress them up either because why? That being said, here are the very few things I have/use to set the table:

Individual Place Settings and Tableware

• CHARGERS: The large decorative "plates" under regular dinner plates are an inexpensive way to add some height/depth to the table. These gold ones are plastic so they're pretty affordable. They're from Michael's, and the same brand is also available online here.
• PLATES: I use the SAME plain, basic white dinner plates, salad plates, and bowls for every holiday, occasion, party, and meal. The advantage of simple, elegant white is that they work for everything. The disadvantages of simple elegant white dishes is there are no disadvantages.
• NAPKIN RINGS: The tiny leaf wreath napkin rings in the above photo are from Cost Plus (no longer available). These are even prettier and will work for Thanksgiving and winter holidays! Options: tie an herb sprig or colorful fall leaf around the napkin with twine. Place a spray-painted pumpkin or pine cone on the napkin. Fold the napkin into an origami turkey! Just kidding don't do that last one.
• NAPKINS: The same "all-white" philosophy goes for napkins. As you start adulting, you will use cloth napkins, so get simple, inexpensive white cotton napkins that you can replace easily if they ever get really stained, which will be every time you use them.
• PLACECARDS: The kids made place cards, which were cute for our dinner, but not for the photo. Sorry, kids.
• FLATWARE: I bought gold flatware a few seasons ago when it wasn't very easy to find gold flatware, almost regretting it because I thought gold would be a passing trend. So far, so gold: you can find gold flatware anywhere (though these are closest in appearance to mine)! If you like entertaining with both gold and silver, this flatware is more perfectly versatile for both. Just make sure it's dishwasher-safe (if you're into that sort of sanity-saving thing).

Glasses and Stemware

• GLASSES and STEMWARE: Wine glasses are probably the only tabletop item on which I have spent more than a few dollars. Embarrassingly, even as recent as a few years ago, my stemware was an eclectic-aka-garage-sale collection of wine-tasting souvenirs, corporate swag, and a few random three- and four-piece sets I had inherited from framily when they had broken too many others in a set. When I started adult dinner partying in a new home, I asked family for decent wine glasses as housewarming gifts. I have Riedel wine glasses in three different size/shapes, as well as an extra set of Champagne flutes because you can never have too many Champagne glasses.
• CHAMPAGNE GLASSES: Quick note on Champagne glasses because I know everyone loves the default coupe, which is retro and curvy and the tall; and the skinny flute, which is super sexy. But both of these glasses are not ideal for Champagne. The coupe has a high spill risk and because the bowl is so wide, lets the bubbles escape pretty fast. The flute is better, but because the diameter is so narrow, doesn't let the aromas of Champagne out. The best glass for Champagne is actually a regular white wine glass. I know. You're still gonna use that tall skinny flute, me too.
• CENTERPIECE: We don't arrange a complicated tablescape/centerpiece because we usually have to move all of it to accommodate all the food on the table. We grabbed a few leafy branches from the yard and threw the leftover Halloween pumpkin on the table with some candles and it looked pretty good!

U is for Upside-down Cake

• Orange Upside Down Olive Oil Cake pictured above
• Foolproof Lemon Olive Oil Cake (dairy-free) as the Ultimate Flex Upside-Down Cake, using apples, pears, plums, even plumped up dried fruit
• Fig Upside-Down Walnut Cake
• Persimmon Upside-Down Cake recipe from famous Sqirl Café

V is for Vodka and Spirited Thanksgiving co*cktails

• Cranberry Moscow Mule co*cktail
• Gold Rush co*cktail with Bourbon and honey
• Pomegranate Champagne co*cktail

W is for What else? Thanksgiving WINE

My favorite wine to drink at Thanksgiving is everything. The end. And The Beginning. And The Middle. MORE WINE.

Ok, now that we've gotten the wine tropes out of the way... no wine is more Thanksgiving-y than an American wine, so let's pick some favorite American wines for a few different "vibes," and let's be real, they're all California wines!

Check out the absolute Best Wine for Thanksgiving, including individual wine pairings for specific Thanksgiving foods and dishes. And since you're already here...

The tl;dr list of Best Wines for Thanksgiving:

• Easy breezy sparkler for everyone to start the day; literally, aren't we starting with mimosas-hold-the-oj at 9 am when we start roasting the turkey? Highly-rated Roederer Estate NV Brut from northern California's Anderson Valley is the obvious choice here. Classic old-world Champagne taste on a nouveau American budget. Fun fact: Roederer Estate's extended family is Louis Roederer, who makes one of my all-time fav Champagnes, Cristal.
• Classic California chardonnay for the aunties and the moms:
• California sauvignon blanc: Spottswoode Sauvignon Blanc
• for the cool aunties who have 4 million tiktok followers: Stolpman Love You Bunches Orange wine
• for your rich brother: Kistler Pinot Noir
• for your own Mom for "dessert" because she doesn't like things that are "too sweet":Quady Essensia, made from orange muscat grapes
• for grandpa who won't drink anything but Napa Cab:
• for your uncle who is actually younger than you because of the modern blended family:

X is for Xtras

These are the little details that didn't fit anywhere else on this list, like what ingredients, foods, or other things to have extra on hand because you never know what's going to happen. These are the perfect response to your Thanksgiving guests who ask "What should I bring?":

• Bottles of wine: you will never, ever, ever, have "too much wine." Ever.
• Ice: Your refrigerator ice maker can't make ice fast enough for a Thanksgiving dinner party. Bag of ice might come in handy for chilling wine and drinks in other places besides the kitchen.
• Chicken, beef, and/or vegetable stock. Ideally, you will have already simmered your own in a crockpot and frozen quarts of it, but a half dozen quart boxes of organic stock in the back of your pantry will save your dried out stuffing ass in an emergency.
• Butter (if you don't use extra butter, you can freeze it, though you will probably use it very soon for Holiday baking)
• Fresh herbs, namely parsley. Use extra herbs in your cooking. Use extra herbs as garnish.
• Garlicand onions
• Fruit and things to garnish the turkey serving platter
• Disposable storage containers to send leftovers home with guests
• Fresh flowers: put themin any room where a guest might wander in
• Alka-seltzer, advil/tylenol, and tums

Y is for Yams and Sweet Potatoes

I have tried to stop serving sweet potatoes at Thanksgiving because we eat them year-round (though in different formats), so they mostly take up valuable space that could be given over to things we don't get to eat year-round, like pomegranates and persimmons. But when we do serve Sweet Potatoes, like in so many things, we seek balance, and go waaaay savory with salt, vinegar, and funky cheese.

• Whipped Sweet Potatoes with Whipped Feta and Pomegranate Salsa
• Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Garlic Herb Butter
• Crispy Smashed Sweet Potatoes
• Crispy Oven-Fried Sweet Potato Fries with Sriracha Aioli
• Thyme Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Z is for Zuni Café Bread Salad as Stuffing

"Zuni's Bread Salad" is what I call this dish every other day of the year, but because Chef Judy Rodgers describes it as "a scrappy extramural stuffing, it is a warm mix of crispy, tender, and chewy chunks of bread...all moistened with vinaigrette and chicken drippings" in her Zuni Café cookbook, I also call it "stuffing" during Thanksgiving so people will eat it, because no one wants to eat anything called "salad" on Thanksgiving.

• Bread Salad with Arugula, Dried Figs, and Roasted Pistachios

This Year's Thanksgiving Menu—2023

This is the Thanksgiving Menu we are having this year. Previous years' menus follow for those of you curious about the level of information hoarding that goes on in The Delicious Life, and just to see how very little sh*t changes over the years.

Last Year: Thanksgiving 2022 - with a heavy lean toward the ocean

• Starter: Caviar and Classic Smoked Salmon Platter
• Caesar Salad with Anchovy Vinaigrette and Toasted Walnuts
• Baked Salmon with Citrus and Herbs
• Classic Roast Turkey, Gravy, and Basic Cranberry Sauce
• Garlic Aioli , Pomegranate Salsa , Italian Salsa Verde
• Miso Brussels Sprouts and Shiitake Mushrooms
• Whipped Sweet Potatoes
• Roasted Mushrooms
• Cook's Illustrated Best Pumpkin Pie

Thanksgiving 2021

• Starter: Caviar and Classic Smoked Salmon Platter
• Caesar Salad with Anchovy Vinaigrette and Toasted Walnuts
• Turkey a la Brasa
• Aji Verde
• Garlic Aioli
• Pomegranate Salsa
• Crispy Smashed Potatoes with Whipped Feta and Salsa Verde
• Greens and Beans and Rice

Quarantine Thanksgiving 2020

• Caesar Salad with Anchovy Vinaigrette and Toasted Walnuts
• Roast Chicken, Pollo ala Brasa-style
• Aji Verde

East Coast Thanksgiving 2019

in Philadelphia, PA

• Starters: Wine and Cheese Board {guide}
• Salad: Avocado, Butternut Squash, Pomegranate Chopped Salad with Apple Cider Vinaigrette

• Roast Turkey with Traditional Turkey Gravy

• Cranberry Relish

• Mashed Potatoes

• Classic Bread Stuffing

• Roasted Green Beans and Mushrooms

• Desserts: Apple Pie and Pumpkin Roll Cake

Thanksgiving Menu 2018

• Starters: Cheese and Char-crudité Board [how-to]
• Salad: Tri-Colore Salad with Avocado [recipe]
• Bread: Gluten-free Super Seed Bread
• Herb Roasted Turkey
• Traditional Turkey Gravy
• Cranberry Sauce , Pomegranate Salsa , Salsa Verde , Kimchi [resource], Peruvian Aji Verde Sauce
• Roasted Brassicas with : Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, and Cauliflower
• Mashed Potatoes and Cauliflower
• Mashed Butternut Squash
• Roasted Mushrooms and Shredded Kale
• Zuni Cafe-Inspired Bread Salad
• Desserts: Dessert Cheeseboard [how-to], Pumpkin Pie , Ice Cream and Sorbets[resource]

Thanksgiving Menu 2017

in Los Angeles, CA

• Starters: Smoked Salmon Dip with Veges and Crackers , Cheese and Charcuterie Board
• Salad: Italian Chopped Salad
• Bread: King's Hawaiian Dinner Rolls. I know. Why, family, WHY?!
• Zuni Cafe-Inspired Dry-Brined Herb Roasted Turkey
• Traditional Turkey Gravy
• Cranberry Sauce , Salsa Verde , Kimchi [resource], Aji Sauce
• Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Butternut Squash
• Simple 3-Ingredient Mashed Potatoes
• Oven-roasted Sweet Potato Fries
• Green Bean Casserole
• Creamed Corn
• Basic Herbed Bread Stuffing
• Desserts: Pumpkin Pie , Apple Pie, Ice Cream and Sorbets[resource]

_{updated November 2022}