Everything you need is here: menus, recipes, carving techniques, and more!
Spice-Rubbed Smoked Turkey With Roasted-Pear Stuffing and Cranberry Syrup
If we were to vote, Thanksgiving would be neck-and-neck with Christmas as our all-time favorite holiday. Think about it: Practically everyone celebrates it, and the stars are family and food. Despite the fact that people from all different backgrounds and circumstances seem to unite around this holiday, though, that doesn't mean we all celebrate the same. Sure, there are some common themes, particularly on the dinner table: turkey, of course, dressing, most likely, pumpkin pie, probably―and an abundance of everything. But there are probably as many variations on the Thanksgiving theme as there are folks who start their holiday shopping the day after (and if you've ever been to the mall post-Thanksgiving, you know that's a lot).
To accommodate our individual tastes, but with the Thanksgiving theme in mind, we've put together 13 menus―a mix of the traditional and the modern. Most are centered around recipes developed for Cooking Lightby five of our favorite chefs: Jimmy Bannos, from Chicago's Heaven on Seven; George Bernas, from the Brandywine Inn in Dayton, Ohio; Joe Brown, of the Melange Cafe in Cherry Hill, New Jersey; Jim Coleman, of Philadelphia's Rittenhouse Hotel; and Caprial Pence, of Caprial's Bistro in Portland, Oregon.
But we've also got something for non-turkey-eaters out there: a pork roast menu and a yummy vegetarian meal. Each retains the holiday flavors and feel despite the absence of the bird. And all 13 demonstrate that the year's biggest (in popularity and in size) meal can be healthful and delicious. We give thanks for that.