Thanksgiving: How to Cook It Well

To anyone out there feeling panicked and overwhelmed. To anyone catching themselves fantasizing about hopping on a one-way flight out of town this Thursday morning. To anyone who volunteered (willingly or unwillingly) to cook this year's Thanksgiving dinner, but now finds themselves a churning mess of regret, this book is for you. 

There is hope! Pick up a copy of Thanksgiving: How to Cook It Well and let Sam Sifton man the controls of this turbulent turkey day aircraft. I am certain he will bring you in with a smooth landing. From the very opening pages his confident, yet comforting voice is there to soothe:

"We should all celebrate Thanksgiving and we should all strive to make it great. The holiday is not perfect. It does not always work out. But it comes every year with promise and possibility, and this book is going to help you get closer to happiness and cheer than you have ever gotten in the past. Everything will be all right. This most of all is the message of Thanksgiving. Everything really will be all right."

I love this book for its wit and its honesty. I love how Sifton lays down the law on what he considers Thanksgiving-appropriate and what he does not (he makes no bones about it here). But more than anything I love that he gives readers a completely sensible roadmap, with recipes, that pretty much guarantee you're not going to screw the holiday up.

It's said every year. But it's really true. The point of Thanksgiving is to be thankful. To fully recognize the blessings you have and be grateful for them. So go roast a turkey and make a pie and gather with your loved ones. Enjoy the fact that we have a national holiday solely devoted to eating. And if your turkey's too dry, there's always next year (Try brining. It works!).

p.s. You may also find Mr. Sifton generously doling out advice here.