I love roasted vegetables. Toss them in olive oil and salt and pepper and cook in a hot oven until caramelized and delicious. I do this with onions, potatoes, asparagus, green beans, squash, pretty much anything I can think of. Parsnips are a a vegetable that I don’t eat enough of and they are especially good roasted. It is the beginning of winter and roasted everything sounds good to me right now.

My favorite dish at this year’s Thanksgiving dinner was this Potato Gratin recipe, courtesy of Frank Stitt’s Southern Table. Stitt’s cookbook has been very reliable, it is also such a beautiful book that I enjoy flipping through it whenever I can. It took some convincing for Bryan to agree to a Thanksgiving dinner with no mashed potatoes, he’s a traditionalist, but after he tasted these he was glad he agreed.

1. Turkey and gravey
2. Potato Gratin
3. Roasted Parsnips and Carrots
4. Autumn Salad with Cider Vinaigrette
5. Cranberry Sauce with Orange and Fennel Seeds

I thought it might be a good idea to dissect my Thanksgiving dinner, dish by dish. Over the next week I will be posting the recipes for each component of this meal. Hopefully you’ll be able to replicate some of the dishes for an upcoming holiday dinner or for any meal.

Wow, these were some good cookies. I made them to celebrate my friend Sarah’s 10,000th day. The fact that I almost made them again less than a week later is proof that you need to try them. There are very few recipes that I repeat—why bother when there is so much left to try? This is a recipe I will make again and again. These delicate sandwich cookies melt in your mouth and the combination of the toasted, nutty, buttery cookie with the tangy, sweet cream cheese filling is really all I could ask for in a sweet. I might go make some right now.

I’ve been traveling and haven’t been in the kitchen much lately. As Thanksgiving approaches, that will change. I am gearing up to cook Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday. !!! I made this salsa a few weeks ago and it was a big hit. It might come in handy in the coming weeks as our kitchen energy goes into cookies and parties and other distractions.

When Ina Garten speaks, I listen. Her fifth cookbook was published last month and my very good friend Judy presented me with a copy of it for my birthday. (Judy also brought The Art of Simple Food into my life— the lady clearly knows how to pick cookbooks.) Ina’s latest venture is excellent. For those of you familiar with her, you will be happy to see that she still can curate an exciting and accessible collection of recipes. The book is a real pleasure to read and she offers some good entertaining tips. You’ll also be happy to know she still loves butter. She always manages to shock me with how much butter she is able to fit into her recipes. Quite frankly, it scares me. But there is no denying that it tastes good.

You know by now of my love of cheese, but we have not yet spoken of doughnuts. Why is it so easy to love the things that are bad for us? (That truth seems to extend beyond the kitchen.) If I could, I would eat a doughnut every morning. That might kill me, and so instead I treat myself to a doughnut very occasionally. But I think about them often. I kept coming across recipes for Doughnut Muffins and they really piqued my interest. Could something you bake really taste like a doughnut? Is this the solution to all of our problems? No, probably not. But these muffins are a real good thing. They have both the texture and taste of a cake doughnut- minus the time spent frying in oil, which is at least a step in the right direction.

I made these cookies for my friend Julie’s birthday. Oatmeal might just be my favorite type of cookie. I like them crisp and crunchy and full of oat flavor. None of those soft and chewy oatmeal cookie for me. I think soft oatmeal cookies remind me of my school cafeteria. No raisins either. I don’t actually think that raisins work that well in most oatmeal cookie recipes. I decided to replace them with dried cranberries and add some toasted pecans for a really delicious autumn version of the classic cookie.

My dearest friends and I share a deep love for the grilled cheese sandwich. Really any form of melted, grilled, fried or even flaming cheese. I can’t imagine a better food. When Luisa posted a recipe that I had been thinking about for a while, I finally tried making these grilled Gruyere toasts with mustard and thyme. They are a little piece of heaven. A few slices of sourdough are broiled on one side. Flipped over and spread with melted butter and then good Dijon mustard. Sprinkled with fresh thyme leaves and covered with shredded Gruyere. Returned to the broiler for a minute or two until melted and browned and delicious looking. These are such good comfort food, and surprisingly I find myself still needing some comfort.

The cranberry madness continues. I have been wanting to try this recipe for cranberry upside-down cake for over a year. I don’t have much experience with upside-down cakes, I’m not even sure that I have ever eaten one. I don’t know if my inexperience was keeping me from trying it or if other cranberry recipes had been more aggressive in their fight for my attention. In any case, I am sorry I waited! This is delicious!