Thanksgiving

This is a helpful book, especially if you haven't "done" thanksgiving before. A great primer for everything you need to know (how to make stock) and a glossery of terms in the back plus lots of great recipes.

I am writing this the day after Thanksgiving. The first Thanksgiving for which I was entirely responsible myself. I don't cook, I'm the "order takeout" type of person. So you can imagine the jitters I had when facing the challenge of what to cook for the first Thanksgiving at my house.Thankfully, Williams Sonoma's Thanksgiving recipe book saved the party. Not only saved it, but made it a huge success. The recipes were laughably easy and most of all very quick to make, yet everything I fixed had a definite festive touch - not your everyday homecooking at all. The book features beautiful color pictures of all dishes, along with the clearest of instructions for even the most unexperienced cook like me. There are plenty of recipes to chose from - from simple to more sophisticated, from traditional sweet potatoes and green beans to more unusual side dishes, but all are very manageable. However, not only side dishes are listed here. There are various turkey recipes to chose from, as well as desserts. The book also addresses essentials like how to make turkey stock, gravy and cranberry sauce (I highly recommend the one with ginger and fresh grapefruit juice/zest!) and comes complete with recommendations for different menu courses from simple to elegant. Of course, there is also a section on recommended cooking and serving tools.My summary: I have no experience whatsoever with cooking, but everything I made yesterday tasted simply delicious. Thanks, Williams Sonoma! I might be a chef after all!!! Now, if I could just decide whether my favorite were the yams with pecan nut topping, or the sauteed corn with chipotle peppers. Or maybe the Brussels sprouts with orange zest and hazelnuts, but who could forget the green bean salad with the caramelized onions and goat cheese...

This book has become our family tradition for Thanksgiving. We like a traditional meal, and this book has all the foods we want to prepare with nice variations. Every year we pull it off the shelf and select recipes for the year. Along with plenty of recipes to choose from, it has all the vital information you need for Thanksgiving in a nice compact form. Turkey roasting times, carving instructions, checklists, and timing guides are all included. It is convienent to have all of the recipes in one book. Each year we cook some of the same recipes and we try a couple of new things. Every recipe has produced excellent results. Our favorites from year to year are the shrimp grapefruit cocktail, the sausage, chestnut and apple dressing, and the caramel nut tart. You will find everything you need from the turkey, to the cranberry sauce, to the sweet potatoes, to the pumpkin pie.