Thanksgiving

While apple pie has an all-American reputation, both the fruit and the dessert are of European origin. However, several centuries of apple cultivation and dessert baking have given us de facto ownership, and the pie has become a must on many Thanksgiving tables. Cheese was produced by many of the German dairies in and around Philadelphia. The pie has no bottom crust and is baked in an oval dish, so it resembles a cobbler.

This dressing is best cooked in a dish of its own, which also allows the top layer of bread to brown to an appealing crisp.

A crunchy and colorful salad with a lively dressing. Pomegranate juice and pomegranate seeds can be substituted for the cranberry juice concentrate and cranberries.

Serve this perfect fall dessert after a dinner of roast pork tenderloin.

Here's something good for vegetarians, too. Just use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth and bake in a dish.

(Baked in a Tart Pan) For people who find even my less sweet Pecan Pie too sweet, or who are hopeless chocolate lovers, this is the answer. Cocoa perfectly tempers the sweetness of the filling and adds a full chocolate flavor that goes so well with pecans. If correctly baked, the filling, when cut, is soft and slightly molten. The surface of the pie is unusually appealing. Unlike the regular pecan pie where you can see clearly the shape of each nut, this filling cloaks the nuts with a dark milk-chocolaty glisten so you can just make out their shape.

This pie needs no introduction. It probably doesn't even need a recipe—everyone has a favorite way to make it. Here is mine.

The gravy can be started while the turkey roasts. When the turkey is through cooking, finish the gravy with balsamic vinegar and the pan juices. Watch how to prepare and carve your bird with our streaming video demonstration.

Great served as a side dish with roast chicken, pork chops or veal chops.

Active time: 1 hr Start to finish: 4 hr We think all turkeys are improved by brining (soaking in salted water), but it's a cumbersome process that few holiday schedules can accommodate. We found kosher turkeys, which are salted during the koshering process, to be just as flavorful and succulent as brined ones, without all the fuss. However, if you'd like to try brining, just stir together 8 quarts water with 2 cups kosher salt in a 5-gallon bucket lined with a large heavy-duty garbage bag, and soak turkey, covered and chilled, 10 hours. If you don't have room in your refrigerator, executive editor John Willoughby recommends brining in a large plastic cooler, using freezer packs to keep the water cool and replacing them as needed.

A turkey seems simple to prepare but needs extra attention, so make the glaze and stuffing ahead. Wash the bird well, refresh it with an orange and use cooled stuffing! The cooked-turkey temperatures given here are USDA-approved.

The vinegar in this gravy gives it an appealing tartness. Round off the meal with cranberry sauce and steamed broccoli. Watch how to prepare and carve your bird with our streaming video demonstration.

Purchased phyllo makes this pear strudel quick and easy to prepare. For best results, let the thawed frozen phyllo stand in its box at room temperature a few hours before starting. Be sure to use ripe fresh pears for the filling.

The gravy is a refined, delicious sauce in this duo from Barbara Shinn and David Page, co-owners of Home restaurant in New York and co-authors of Recipes from Home.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.