The Thanksgiving Table is more than a cookbook - though, as cookbooks go, it's a pretty good one.
The author, Diane Morgan, is a cooking teacher and food columnist. She delivers all the basics of Thanksgiving dinner, plus some interesting new ideas (pumpkin pound cake instead of pie, for one).
The chapters cover the history of Thanksgiving, the backgrounds of the different foods, equipment needed, and the meal itself: soups, salads, turkey, vegetarian alternatives, stuffing and other bread dishes, side dishes, desserts, uses for leftovers, and sample menus, with timetables, for different sized groups from 4 to twenty. Throughout the book, there are directions for easy, inexpensive crafts to decorate the table and keep the kids busy.
The tone of the book is warm and conversational. Ms. Morgan tells stories about her own Thanksgivings, admits that recipes like pumpkin lasagna can seem like too much trouble, and says things like, "Forgive me. I know this is the sweet potato recipe that is supposed to have miniature marshmallows melted on top, but I can't bring myself to write such a recipe because I don't like the sticky-sweet topping."
If you just want to cook a basic Thanksgiving dinner, everything you need to know is here. You might want to try the "Thanksgiving on the Run" menu ("everything made while the turkey roasts").
If you've been making Thanksgiving dinner for a while and want some new ideas to try, there are plenty of those here, too. Try:
Bringing the turkey - there are two recipes for flavored brine
Making carrots into a soufflé-like pudding
Putting ground meat in your stuffing (some of the stuffing recipes would actually make complete one-dish meals).
The reading level is fairly high, but the directions are clear enough for readers whose English may be imperfect. The beautiful photos by John A. Rizzo also help bring out the meaning of the text.
There's lots of guidance and inspiration in this book.
The Thanksgiving Table: Recipes and Ideas to Create Your Own Holiday Tradition, by Diane Morgan, is published (2001) by Chronicle Books.
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