What to Cook

Gingersnap Pumpkin Pie

The custardy filling melting slightly into the spiced cookie crust, softening where the two meet, giving way to a crunchy bottom layer — three glorious textures in one spectacular pie.

“The Cranberries”

I love a can of cranberries for its jellied texture and too-sweet flavor — it feels good to be bad, no? But I love a DIY sauce for the punch of acidity and undeniable, much needed hit of freshness.

Kale Salad with Honey’d Walnuts

Kale salad, how 2013, I know. But it’s undeniably a great candidate for a meal like this. It’s sturdy, almost masquerading as a side instead of a salad, it’s one of the only salad greens that get better with age and can even be saved as a leftover with little to no consequences.

Peppered Squash Gratin

The crushed garlic and salty parmesan really curb the sweetness of the squash while the cream, absorbing into it to completely tenderize while also caramelizing around the edges for texture, brings it back ever-so-slightly.

Sour Cream and Chive Mashed Potatoes

This year I was hoping for a giant bowl of mashed potatoes that tasted like the inside of a twice-baked potato, which is to say very tangy and full of chives, and that’s exactly correct here.

Fennel Rubbed Sheet Pan Turkey with Cider Vinegar Gravy

This turkey is dry-brined and roasted on a sheet pan, per usual. Don’t let the word fennel scare you—it’s mild (though there is an option to increase the amount here), but gives just enough to make this turkey feel special.

Golden Turkey Stock

Putting the stock on is the start of something, the beginning of a ritual. It’s a bit of extra work, but the sort of enjoyable, passive work that makes your house smell wonderful and all your food taste better.

Green Bean Casserole

Green bean casserole is inherently good, and it can be whatever you want it to be. This is what I want it to be: a skillet of sauteed green beans, caramelized onions and beautifully browned mushrooms barely coated in a creamy gravy topped with French’s Onions from the container.

Gorgeous Chili

Chili means many different things depending on where you are. Heavy on the tomato, well spiced but will not light-your-mouth on fire, uses hunks of meat (chuck, sirloin, brisket, etc.) to slow braise and beans cooked from dried.

Cornbread

If you believe cornbread, like any other quick-bread-type delicacy, should have just enough sugar to balance out the salt, baked in whatever the hell you have on hand, then I think you’re going to absolutely love it.

Extra Coconut Cake

Coconut cakes are, by definition, extra. They should be tall and fuzzy like an obnoxious angora sweater. Part of the charm of the coconut cake is in the layering—I’m a big fan of slicing each layer of cake horizontally to expose the inside, which then gets covered in frosting.