Blog Posts by Epicurious.com

By Lauren Salkeld, Epicurious.com

No matter how prepared or experienced you are, even the most skilled hosts sometimes run into trouble on Turkey Day. Whether it's a non-functioning oven; a burnt, raw, or frozen turkey; or surprise vegan guests, the size of the annual feast and the strong feelings of many family members and friends means there's plenty of room for mistakes and lots of expectations to meet (or, as the case may be, not meet).

With this in mind, a few weeks ago, we asked our Facebook fans to share their Thanksgiving horror stories, and at last count, we had 70 responses. Here you'll find the highlights (which include a surprising number of stories involving dogs) and hopefully learn a thing or two. The overwhelming conclusion is this: You're not alone; just about everybody has a disaster in his or her Thanksgiving past.

Related: 5 Common Mistakes When Planning Thanksgiving Menus

Klutzy in the Kitchen

Andrea Lundgren: I worked really hard on a pumpkin cheesecake (fresh

Photo by CN Digital Studio

By Tanya Steel, Epicurious.com

Have you foolishly, I mean bravely volunteered to host everyone--family, friends, assorted dogs--to your house next Thursday for Thanksgiving? Have you begun to sweat profusely at the thought of brining the bird, peeling chestnuts, timing the cooking of the spread so it comes out at the same time, piping hot, all while trying to break up the fight between Aunt Molly and Uncle Steve? Fear not. I have been hosting Thanksgiving for years (no one in my family can cook) so here are a few steps beginners can take to make hosting Thanksgiving as easy as, well, a super-simple pie. (Pie, after all, can be tricky to make.)

See also: Our Complete Guide to Making Perfect Pies

1. Focus on the Basics: Turkey, stuffing, and gravy are the most important parts of the menu, and you can't easily buy them ready made or have someone bring them over. Others can supply the rest of dishes, but you need to deliver on the core of the meal. If you've never roasted a turkey

undefinedBy Regina Schrambling, Epicurious.com

With the economy still slumping, a lavish Thanksgiving might not be on the table this year. But we can still-and should-feast. We just have to squeeze our fistful of dollars a little harder. Our menu and six creative and practical tips will help you extract the most from your money and feed eight very, very well.

Our menu covers the high points of a Thanksgiving spread. If you feel flush with cash, $20 more will buy you the ingredients for your favorite mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and candied yams. And while the soup and pie might seem extravagant, first and last impressions linger longer than remembrances of the turkey and trimmings. In more luxe times, serving soup to start would run the risk of making everyone too full for the main event, but this year that is actually a good thing. You can count on leftovers.

Related: Epicurious's Guide to Thanksgiving

The pumpkin-pecan pie is meant to be two favorite holiday desserts in one, with one

By Tanya Steel, Epicurious.com

For many of us, planning the Thanksgiving menu dredges up images of Katie Holmes in Pieces of April, scattered, overwhelmed, and racing about, trying to cook a turkey in any functioning oven. Thanksgiving is the one meal that just about every American partakes in, and can cause great consternation for the cook. How do you roast a stuffed turkey without drying out the breast? How do you get all of the dishes ready and finished at the same time? How do you stop yourself from slamming the door while yelling, "feed yourselves." The answer lies below; avoid these five most common mistakes when planning the menu.

Related: Epicurious's Guide to Thanksgiving

1. Too Little Turkey, Too Much Pie: Very often, home cooks miscalculate the ratio of how much turkey to stuffing to veggies the average person will eat. Oftentimes, the stuffing and breast are gobbled up first and there is nothing for leftovers the next day. Just go by the golden rule--1 1/2 pounds of turkey

undefined By Lauren Salkeld, Epicurious.com

Brining has become a bit of a Thanksgiving buzzword of late and many cooks tout it as the secret to a moist, flavor-packed Thanksgiving turkey. But what, really, does brining mean? Well, there are actually two types of brining--wet and dry. Dry brining is simply rubbing a turkey in a salt and herb mixture and letting it sit (refrigerated of course) for many hours (usually about one hour per pound). It's somewhat easier and more convenient than the alternative wet option, and advocates insist dry brining makes for a bird with a meatier, firmer texture.

Related: Epicurious's Guide to Thanksgiving

Wet brining, which does seem to be the most popular option, is indeed slightly more involved, as it requires soaking a turkey in a salt-water solution (herbs, spices, and aromatics can be incorporated and sometimes other liquids like beer or molasses are added to the water) for several hours or overnight. Still, with a solid recipe and a little know-how,

By Garrett McCord, Epicurious.com

So there's all kinds of writing on how to prepare a proper cheeseboard. Put them on a plate, eat clockwise, start with fresh cheeses and move down the line to stronger cheeses, use only one hard and one washed, always end with a blue, yada yada yada.

Related: Epicurious's Guide to Thanksgiving

Most of the time I'll go with these rules as they facilitate a proper way to enjoy the various cheeses so that one doesn't eclipse another. That's fine for a tasting class and all but sometimes I just want to set up a cheese board that's wonky, funky, and unique. It should be a selection that speaks to my personality and entertain the people I serve it to.

My selection for this year's Thanksgiving is going to be brusque with many forward flavors that don't take no *expletive* from no one. These are cheeses that are highly regarded in cheese-lover circles but that few cheese dabblers every really stumble across. Do yourself a favor and check these out if you

Photo by CN Digital StudioBy Carole Bloom, CCP, Epicurious.com

Classic pie dough, which is called pâte brisée in French, is made with all-purpose flour, salt, fat, and a liquid without sugar or another sweetener. Once baked, this combination is light, flaky, and crisp.

Related: Our Complete Guide to Making Perfect Pies

There are four versions of classic pie dough. All-butter dough has excellent flavor but can be tricky to use. Dough made with butter and shortening is flakier and more tender. It browns slightly faster than all-butter dough, but has less shrinkage and holds its shape better during baking. Pie dough made with lard creates the flakiest, crispiest, and most tender dough of all, but the flavor is fairly bland. This dough also has the least amount of shrinkage when it bakes and it browns more slowly. You can also use a combination of butter and lard, which makes for dough with superb flavor and texture. The ratio of butter to lard or butter to shortening varies from recipe to recipe, but most call

Photo: Gourmet



By Ted Loos, Epicurious.com

The more you get into wine, the more alluring older bottles become. Like young people, young wines are feisty, fun, full of life--and somewhat predictable. Older wines (at least the best of them) are capable of huge surprises and shocking twists. You get to see how an epic book or movie turns out in the end, not just the extra-loud trailer for the movie.

See also: Epicurious's Guide to Thanksgiving

Most commercial wines, of course, are not made for the long haul. You buy them on Friday and consume them on Saturday. Done and done. But there is a whole class of wine that rewards patience--generally these bottles are made with traditional methods that have been honed over centuries, and they are pricier because of the work that goes into them. To name but a few examples: select Cabernet Sauvignons from California, super sweet German Rieslings, and top Barolos from Piedmont.

A couple of nights ago, I opened two rare, long-haul beauties at my house with