Thanksgiving

A sharp lemon filling, sweet-and-salty meringue, and shatteringly crisp crust combine to make a balanced update to this classic.

A dazzling chocolate pudding pie cloaked in voluminous whipped cream. The secret to that whipped cream’s great height: Setting it with dissolved gelatin means it won’t deflate or weep when chilled.

Bake your pie crusts ahead so your oven is free for the turkey on the big day. They will keep at room temperature, tightly wrapped, for up to 2 days.

Roasted peanuts pull double duty in the graham cracker crust and sprinkled over the topping, keeping the bananas from making this pie excessively sweet.

This sliceable, jiggly sauce is spiced with bay leaves and cardamom, set in a gelatin mold, and crowned with sugared orange zest and cranberries.

On the continuum from slightly textured to exquisitely satiny spuds, use a potato masher (rustic, but fine!), ricer (nicer!), or food mill fitted with the finest disk (woooow!).

It’s ideal to serve these leeks warm (the smell just out of the oven is amazing), but they can also be made a few hours ahead and served at room temperature.

Cooking the pulverized corn nuts in butter along with the stuffing vegetables blooms them like spices, bringing out all their earthy, funky, wonderful corniness.

Pairing earthy, hardy leafy greens with cooling coconut milk, a hot chile, and spices gives this side dish a full range of bitter, sweet, and tingling flavors.

Roasting the cabbage before it goes into this rich, cheesy gratin does double duty: it deepens the vegetable’s savory flavor and removes excess moisture from the creamy mixture.

When you mix hot sauce with butter, it turns into a spicy, creamy spread that’s perfect for melting atop burnished sweet potato halves, bringing them to life.

These roasted brussels sprouts get amazingly crispy on the outside and deliciously tender within. The date molasses–brown butter glaze makes them even better.

Applejack and maple syrup take the classic whiskey sour in a decidedly fall direction.

Starting hot creates good browning from the get-go, while a lower cruising temperature finishes the meat without drying it out.