We didnt test it that way, but that method ought to work. They come together so quickly....

RECIPE Rosemary Biscuits

Yes, absolutely! I used to make my mashed potatoes at the last minute which was so difficult, really, what with making the gravy and getting all the pans out of the oven and on to the table. Now, I make them well ahead and reheat over a double boiler for less hassle with all the butter. 

RECIPE: Mashed Potatoes With Manchego and Olive Oil

VIDEO: Make perfect mashed potatoes

I don't think you need to worry about protein at Thanksgiving, when there are so many dishes on offer and it's really very easy to rack up what you need with all the grazing. The Roast Beast has 13 grams of protein with the included couscous, and if your offspring ate a serving of that plus a serving of every one of the other dishes we include in our main collection this year, that would get the protein up to 60 grams. (Stuffing with the pecan variation is 5, potatoes 10, soup 2, kale 5, salad 7, veggie nibbles spread 6, biscuit 2, tart 7, pie 3). 

If the Beast were part of a smaller meal, you could certainly add a shower of pecans to it! 

I imagine Justin and Amy might have other thoughts, too...

If it grows, it has protein, but we're all about adding protein to vegetarian dishes whenever we can. I'd say serve the Roast Beast over cooked lentils (or another favorite legume), which are an amazing source of protein. You could also top it with chopped, toasted walnuts. Now we're going to have to try it like this, too! 

OK, I'm jealous! So yes -- I would say you should keep an eye on the goings on at Jack Rose (regular whisk(e)y events there) and Southern Efficiency, and you may want to connect with Whisky DC. Picking up one of Dave Broom's books wouldn't hurt either (and if you get a chance to hear him talk, do it -- he's a great speaker). I think you'll learn so much from your trip -- there's an amazing variety in Scotch whiskies that only opens up when you start drinking them and thinking about them. 

Fresh, homemade butter is spectacular and especially lovely on homemade rolls. Any cream, except ultra-pasteurized, will make butter. With delicious, high butterfat, local cream, your yield will be higher. Tracking down local cream isn't that difficult these days. Whole Foods and Mom's both carry cream from local sources. The buttermilk by-product is delicious in biscuits or pancakes!

Lucky you. I bet they'd be a good addition to any of these. (I'd also defrost before you add them and pat away any excess liquid.)

RECIPE: Savory Cheese and Chive Bread

RECIPE: Greek Feta Corn Bread

We love this type of question since we're always trying to include everyone and look out for their needs so that everybody can enjoy the same dish. We have a Frozen Peanut Butter Banana Pie in our new cookbook, and it's everything you need. It's vegan, too! We also make Spicy Banana and Almond Date Bites, which would be a good small dessert after a big meal, and it's easily portable. We pack these in a container and then set them out in mini muffin cups on a pretty tray. 

Hmm, no or little fruit? That's tough!
Tomorrow, we'll be publishing a piece by cookbook author Julia Turshen about keeping it simple at Thanksgiving -- and cooking for a group with lots of dietary restrictions, too -- and one of her great recipes she shared with us might fit the bill, depending on that fruit restriction: It's Roasted Gingery Pears, with no sugar added, so the total sugar is 15 grams per serving. Is that too much?

I've long been happy with my stones (yeah, I have two, don't judge), but I also know people who swear by their pizza steels.

We love our pizza stone. If you leave it in your oven all the time, it helps keep a constant temperature, so it's great for more than just pizza baking. It adds some thermal mass to your oven and makes it a better tool for baking and roasting.

I love my stone, but I also LOVE my baking steel! And I know which one will last longer...

Now we'll definitely have to check out this recipe! We love using a gluten-free crust in order to be inclusive of everyone. (And we also skip blind-baking it -- it has worked well in the past for pumpkin pie and caused no issues.)

If it works for you, and for this crust, definitely skip it! I often blind bake, which I appreciate for preventing that soggy bottom, to get all Mary Berry on you, but I've made plenty of pie recipes that don't call for that, and they can be great.

Just because you've got a small guest list doesn't mean you each can't still have lots of dishes, if you'd like! You could, say, make the Vegetarian Roast Beast with three or four sides: Mashed Potatoes With Manchego and Olive Oil, Slow-Cooked Tuscan Kale, Curried Squash Salad With Quinoa and Crispy Kale (or pick between those last two if you don't want more than one dish with kale), and Rosemary Biscuits. Or browse the offerings in the right column in each category at our Thanksgiving Central menu-planner page.

Don't forget you can use the scaling function in our Recipe Finder: I'd say you should scale things to, say, 6 or 8 servings, which would give you enough for a round of leftovers.

Oh, and don't forget the pie! Both the recipes Becky is offering this year are fantastic: Pumpkin Caramel Tart and Cranberry Apple Lattice Pie.

We'd suggest an appetizer, a main dish, a couple of favorite sides, and definitely a pie. (And we're usually not too afraid to halve recipes in cases like this!) If you include a sweet potato side dish, you could make one of our favorites, a chocolate meringue pie, for dessert in lieu of the usual pumpkin pie.

A winner, yes! I linked to those last week when one post-election chatter asked about a food to restore their faith in humanity...

RECIPE: Dorie Greenspan's World Peace Cookies

Applesauce is a great canned product for the pantry, especially now, with all the varieties available. Here's a link to the National Center for Home Food Preservation recipe and instructions.

Bummer re Harris Teeter! Did you happen to ask the manager of  your local store to find out why? I'm curious. Looks like Fresh Market in Alexandria carries them, altho I just called that store to check and they're out of stock today. 

Eggland's Best, a widely available brand, pasteurizes its liquid egg whites product, if that helps.

Our vegetarian centerpiece this year will for sure be the 'Roast Beast' from our new cookbook, The Chubby Vegetarian. Joe was nice enough to feature it earlier this week in this very publication, and people we know just might be expecting us to bring it! The Roast Beast features an array of vegetables like portobello mushroom caps, eggplant slices, onions, and roasted red peppers, all flavored with pesto and cheese and then threaded onto a spit. It's like making one huge vegetable kabob. The result is roasted on the grill or in the oven for about an hour. It's spectacular when presented to the table and will give any turkey a run for its money.

For us, a vegetarian centerpiece is always key. In the past, we've done this great acorn squash stuffed with chanterelle mushrooms and dried apricots from our first book, The Southern Vegetarian. One year, we made a killer vegetarian cassoulet with mock duck from the Asian market and flageolet beans. We always try to figure out what might possibly rival the turkey.

This is a perennial favorite on our table and predates the Roast Beast. It's a little fancier, but the preparation is easy. The gravy works on mashed potatoes or anything.

Chanterelle and Apricot Stuffed Acorn Squash with Miracle Mushroom Gravy

1 tablespoon unsalted butter 
1/2 cup finely diced celery
1 cup finely diced white onion (about 1 small)
1 vegetable bouillon cube 
1/4 cup white wine (like Pinot Grigio)
1 cup chanterelles, torn into strips
1/4 cup finely diced dried apricots 
Sea salt flakes and cracked black pepper (to taste)
2 cups brioche or good-quality white bread, torn into pieces
2 large eggs (beaten)
1 large acorn squash (or two small)
1 tablespoons olive oil 
Miracle Mushroom Gravy (to garnish; recipe follows)

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. In a medium pan over medium heat, melt the butter and then sauté the celery, onion, and bouillon cube until lightly browned. Deglaze the pan with the wine, and reduce until most of the liquid has evaporated. Add the chanterelles and apricots to the pan and warm through. Add salt and pepper. Chill the mushroom mixture thoroughly. In a large bowl, mix the bread, eggs, and the cooled vegetable mixture

Using a sharp kitchen knife (and plenty of caution), trim the stem end off of the squash and cut the squash into 3/4 inch rings. You should be able to get 4 rings out of a large acorn squash. Discard the stem end and bottom piece. Using a spoon, scrape the seeds and membrane out of the squash and discard. Lay the squash rings out on a large parchment-lined baking sheet drizzle slices of squash with olive oil and bake for 15 minutes.

Remove squash from the oven and press the stuffing into the center of each squash ring. Bake for an additional 15 to 20 minutes or until the stuffing has set and starting to brown. Add Miracle Mushroom Gravy to garnish. 

Miracle Mushroom Gravy

1 (10-ounce) package crimini (baby bella) mushrooms
1 tablespoon canola oil
1/2 cup diced shallot
1 teaspoon dried sage
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
scant 1/8 teaspoon ground clove 
1 tablespoon soy sauce (like Bragg’s)
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole milk
smoked paprika (to garnish)

Slice mushrooms about 1/4-inch thick. You will blend them later, so there’s no need to be overly precise. In a medium frying pan over high heat, sauté the mushrooms until browned. Add the shallot to the pan and continue to cook for another minute until the rawness has been cooked out of the shallot and it's translucent. 

Place the mushrooms and shallot into the work bowl of your food processor and add the sage, red pepper flakes, clove powder, soy sauce, and maple syrup. In the same pan over medium heat, melt the butter and add the flour. Whisk mixture until fragrant (about five minutes.) Whisk in the whole milk and heat mixture until slightly thick. Add milk mixture to the food processor that contains the mushroom mixture. Pulse until mushrooms are finely chopped and well incorporated into the milk, but leave some chunkiness for a nice texture. Return the mixture to the pan and keep warm until ready to serve. If gets too thick, add some milk or stock to thin it out.

The sugar gives a gentle boost to the rosemary, and they're not overly sweet. And you may have seen in Fritz's article, the biscuit recipe originally called for more sugar (double the amount, actually), but it was cut back. 

FWIW, when I made the biscuits once I accidentally omitted the sugar altogether -- they were still good, but missing that boost from the sugar. 

ARTICLE: A tender biscuit easy enough for the non-baker, and perfect for Thanksgiving

RECIPE: Rosemary Biscuits

I think freezing it would be just fine. I have a jar of chicken fat -- skimmed from the top of chicken soup or homemade chicken stock -- in my freezer, so I'd think turkey would be fine, too.

How about enchiladas? Here's a roadmap.

We totally agree! One Thanksgiving potluck we attended featured no less than 6 mashed sweet potato dishes! This elicited a heated critique of each person's creation and a ranking by one person of favorite iteration to least favorite, and well, it led to some mildly crestfallen feelings at the table. It's good to do something different so your dish stands out and becomes a new tradition. Use sweet potatoes as grilled slices mounded with buttery almonds, lemon zest, and fresh parsley. We call it Sweet Potato Almondine. Here's the link: http://chubbyvegetarian.blogspot.com/2014/08/sweet-potato-almondine.html

I find that I 'm usually tasting enough stuff along the way that I'm never that hungry by mealtime, but pizza makes for good counter-programming. 

Glad to hear that! And thanks for the thanks. 

Assuming it's still pretty sweet, I'd use it sparingly as a "spice" in whiskey, applejack, and other apple-y seasonal cocktails. It may end up serving almost the same function as a flavored syrup. Maybe try it in a good spicy ginger beer, or a dry apple cider. Balance is the thing!

No Sugar Policing intentioned....just a system glitch. Should be fixed now, thanks for alerting us.

A crab chowder or soup can be chunky, thin or creamy and contain dairy (or not); a bisque is typically made with a roux or cream and a puree of seafood and/or vegetables. The latter often can have a splash of sherry or brandy. 

Is this the recipe from Jerry's you seek? We do not seem to have a crab bisque in our Recipe Finder...I will rectify that asap! 

Great question! I've met folks who are allergic to all alliums, including garlic and all varieties of onions, which would be much more challenging! For this, I'd consider chopping up some fennel bulb to replace the garlic. I think that would go nicely with the other flavors. Just make sure you taste and feel free to adjust other seasonings as you go. 

RECIPE: Roasted Portobello Mushroom, Pecan and Chestnut Wellington

Yes! You've got it. The three skewers just help to keep everything in place. Joe used one big, flat skewer which works just as well. You just want to keep the vegetables close so that they pick up flavor from one another. It also keeps the moisture sealed in. You'll love it!

Great question! We love butternut squash so much that we put it on the cover of our new cookbook, The Chubby Vegetarian. We cut it into steaks, hit it with some Montreal steak seasoning, grill it on the outdoor grill or in a cast-iron grill pan on the stove top, and top it with a flavorful chimichurri. Everyone will love it!

How about pretzels? One of my favorite bloggers is Luisa Weiss, the Wednesday Chef. Her new book on German Baking has become an obsession! I just might have to bake everything in it. She has a terrific pretzel recipe

It takes some work, but arancini are a terrific addition to an Italian themed potluck spread. Basically, think of these delicious crispy spheres as risotto formed into a ball, breaded and fried until crunchy. I made them recently with leftovers from this Dorie Greenspan cheesy rice recipe.

      I absolutely love grilled duck breasts. This is pretty foolproof: Set up your grill for indirect heat - fire on one side only. Prick the skin with a fork  or sharp knife. Season with a dry rub that you like. When the fire is hot, place the duck breasts directly over the fire for about 5 minutes, until they get a little char.  Turn them over and repeat. Move the breasts to the cool side of the grill, put the lid down, and let them cook for about 40 minutes, maybe an hour. Oh, and make sure you put a drip pan beneath the the breasts on the cool side. The drippings will be great for roasting potatoes later. 

Cornbread dressing is a staple at our Thanksgiving table! We have one recipe that uses oyster mushrooms:

http://chubbyvegetarian.blogspot.com/2012/11/cornbread-dressing-with-oyster-mushrooms.html

All you do is make the cornbread with all cornmeal which is naturally gluten-free.

Wow, thank you so much! We would absolutely LOVE to do something like that in the future.

Bet you could try it with a can or two of full-fat coconut milk and add the usual spices. Sounds like we just might need to develop this recipe soon for our vegan friends!

I'm going to disappoint you. I've tried every way under the sun to reheat latkes and the fact is, the freshly fried are just so much better. One option is to think along different potato-y lines. Like rösti or kugel, but again... this is not a crispy salty fried potato. Think hard before you start messing with tradition!

Are you in the area? You might try ordering a local fresh bird from Maryland, Virginia or Pennsylvania (check out our list, below). Various farms offer breeds like Broad-Breasted Whites or Bronzes, which can be larger. (I got an 18-pounder from Maple Lawn for a friendsgiving last weekend, actually.)

ARTICLE: It’s time to order local turkeys for Thanksgiving

A 12- to 14-pound turkey should be fairly easy to find if you buy a frozen one and allow enough time for defrosting OR call and place an order at your local store or farmers market (online) for a fresh one. 

Turkeys will be available now through the end of the year, but smaller sizes (say 12-pounders) are harder to come by the closer you get to the big day. 

Expect to pay less than $2 per pound for a grocery store  bird, more for a locally raised one. 

Yes, you do need a thermometer; you can spend a lot ($100) or a little ($10), but make sure it's instant-read/digital for  your own ease of use. 

Rather than try to figure out flavors you like or what might work best for you, pls send an email with your particulars to food@washpost.com and we'll get back to you asap. Or just call me! 202 334 7543. I've prepared turkeys just about every which way.... here's this year's. And be sure to check out our turkey FAQs and carving video.

Either freeze the rolls after shaping but before the final rise, or bake them and freeze them after they have cooled. With unbaked rolls, defrost in the fridge overnight and take them out about an hour before baking as usual. With baked rolls, defrost and reconstitute in a 350 oven for about 10 minutes.

Thanks for weighing in. We'll def add the Tamari-Roasted Brussels Sprouts to Thanksgiving Central! Appreciate the love. Bonnie's cherry-applesauce is part of a pork tenderloin dinner, so that's why it's hard to find, cause it's not separate. (That is the one you mean, yes?) But we'll take under advisement! (BTW, the Brussels sprouts come up on the first page if you type "brussels sprouts" into our Recipe Finder main search at washingtonpost.com/recipes).

RECIPE: Tamari-Roasted Brussels Sprouts

RECIPE: Pork Tenderloin With 5-Minute Cherry Applesauce

The reason many recipes start with blooming the yeast in warm water is to test the strength of the yeast. If it doesn't foam, it shouldn't be used and this test avoids wasting all that flour. I'm like you. I always bloom my yeast regardless of the recipe's instructions. 

We do a topping with toasted pine nuts and garlic that she might like! Nuts are always a great answer to the protein question. They are easily available and tasty. Cheese as a filling in ravioli also ups the protein content. 

(We're also here debating with each other right now if she might like crumbled tempeh sautéed in olive oil as a topping, even though it's basically soybeans, but it really has a different texture when it's cooked this way. We love it as a topping for pasta along with pine nuts.)

     I don't rinse. Not rinsing helps to flavor the bird while creating a great, crispy skin. 

Neither do I. Can't think of a pro for rinsing beyond the possibility that it might create salty drippings; patting the bird dry with paper towels and letting it air-dry in the refrigerator does the trick. Arguments against rinsing include creating a bacteria contamination zone, and possibly wrenching your back (with hoisting a big turkey in and out of the sink). If you felt the need to rinse, you could pat down the turkey's exterior with damp paper towels.

We added a Nibbles section to Thanksgiving Central for just this kind of question.

I think dips are an excellent way to go here, and two of my favorites are listed below. But other ideas, too, so check it out.

RECIPE: Carrot Hummus

RECIPE: Pepita Tomatillo Dip

Mmm, yes. My mom does this. It's so, so good.

We have our own version, here:

RECIPE: Two-Potato Gratin

There are two types of cocoa powder, Dutch process (appropriate for recipes that use baking powder) and natural which is used for all other recipes. Neither one is ever sweetened, so adding more sugar may have detracted from the chocolate flavor. I think most grocery store cocoa doesn't carry a big wallop of chocolate flavor. It's worth it to try better quality cocoa powders. I especially like the very dark and rich powders sold by King Arthur.

Oh, we certainly have all been there! We would say to listen to her advice with all the patience you are able to muster while it's being given, and then either press on and do it your own way OR invite her to come cook the sprouts with you this year! Sometimes certain comments or approaches by others can reveal how to gracefully frame our own responses to others in a similar situation. :)

In the spirit of being inclusive, it's so nice to consider everyone at your table when preparing the classics. Vegan marshmallows for topping your sweet potato casserole are readily available now at places like Whole Foods, and simply swapping vegetable stock in for the chicken stock in things like dressing will keep everyone happy and going back for seconds. We like to think about who's vegan and who's gluten-free as we plan for Thanksgiving, and we always offer a separate dish without nuts if we have one with them.

Blind baking is when you partially bake the crust without any filling in it, usually with pie weights or something else to hold it down. It helps the crust set and not get soggy, particularly with a liquidy filling.

We love this version!

http://chubbyvegetarian.blogspot.com/2012/04/bourbon-pecan-tart.html

This is the best method I've come across: Exremely Slow-Roasted Turkey Breast. You rub the bird and let it cure/air-dry in the refrigerator -- doesn't need anything under the skin and only a small amount of oil on the skin. 

IMHO, the bed of celery is typically so liquid-logged that it's not good for much else. 

Double up on the mushrooms for sure! You can take the idea and make it out of all your favorite vegetables. We love that Joe added delicata squash when he made it.

I mentioned two dips that would qualify, but here's another idea:

RECIPE: Veggie Buffalo Spread

Well, they don't really need brining at all. Why not remove the wings from the bird beforehand and roast them separately, when you're roasting necks and parts for make-ahead gravy?

Amen! Chocolate is an everyday staple at our house. We even add it to our chili and our mushroom paté. We also love to make at least one chocolate dessert every Thanksgiving,

We sub in olive oil for almost everything. I hardly touch butter when cooking, but you can use Earth Balance vegan margarine for great results.

Of course!

RECIPE: Pumpkin-Caramel Tart With Toasted Hazelnut Crumb

I'm crazy about my baking steel and leave it in the oven all the time. It's only adding to the ambient heat - there's nothing bad about having it in the oven. 

I used to think that stuffing had to have meat in it, but I've come around since marrying a vegetarian. Check out this recipe -- I've included the celery, apple, pecan stuffing that is our go-to. 

Thanks for the heads up -- we'll work on it this week!

Well that sounds just about perfect. One of these could do the trick, or there's this recipe for Brown Sugar-Bourbon Ice Cream from Bon Appetit. 

RECIPE: Honey Buttermilk Gelato

RECIPE: Caramelized White Chocolate Ice Cream

RECIPE: Brown Sugar Ice Cream

This comes up in our recipe editing quite often, as weight and volume are so easy to confuse. Instead of making command decisions, spend 30 seconds on the Web to visit CookItSimply.com or a baking site you trust to find the correct answer for how many chips per cup.

And as far as estimating the filling in ANY thumbprint cookie recipe, I have yet to find one that doesn't call for more than you need! So in your case, I'd use the lesser amount, i.e., 4 ounces instead of 1 cup (6.2 ounces). 

I mean, I'm biased here because it's my favorite drink, but I think a Negroni is a great option and easy to transport -- or you could go with Jeff Faile's marvelous variation, the Negroni d'Amore. It's an appetite stimulant, which obviously makes it Thanksgiving-appropriate. But you could also go for a more low-alcohol aperitif such as an Americano, Negroni Sbagliato or an Aperol spritz, which have the same palate-opening qualities and won't knock your guests out. (Do you want to knock your guests out? Post-election, it may be a needed option at some tables.) If you do one of the versions with a carbonated element, save that component to add when you serve it rather than pre-mixing prior to transport.

Don't be afraid to go outside the bounds of traditional Thanksgiving food. There so many amazing dishes that are in the spirit of Thanksgiving classics but feature international flavors. In The Chubby Vegetarian cookbook, we have a curried acorn squash salad with apples and raita dressing that would be a great starter.

Dutch cocoa powder refers to a process called Dutching. The Ghiradelli is NOT Dutched.

This is sounding very much in the spirit of the holiday. Combined traditions make for a sweet new tradition that y'all are building together! We like to think of it as doing Thanksgiving our way each year.

I was very happy with this one, stuffed with pears, fennel and hazelnuts.Bonus: The accompanying video that shows you how to do it. 

With this little amount and in a baking recipe, it really won't matter very much. I'd buy one of the mini bottles -- unless, of course, you want to have something left over to drink or cocktail with later. In which case, I'd get a decent Courvoisier or a Spanish Brandy de Jerez. 

We saw that! We tested the recipe she chose to feature in her cookbook, which Jane Black recently reviewed.