Thanksgiving Entertaining with Tucker Shaw

We hope this Thanksgiving will find you and your loved ones sitting down to a perfectly cooked turkey, an array of favorite sides, and a pie or three. If you’re hosting dinner or making a side or dessert to take on the road, we’re here for you. After testing thousands of Thanksgiving recipes and cooking for our own families over the last 25 years, we know exactly what needs to happen between now and November 23rd—the planning, the shopping, the cooking. Find all of our Thanksgiving recipes and tips in our Thanksgiving Guide.

Each week until the big day, one of our test kitchen experts will share their go-to recipes, which will be available free on our member websites for one week (until November 9). This week, Tucker Shaw shares the details of his holiday celebration.

Home!

Cocktails at 6:00, dinner at 8:00. Daytime feasts are fun, but I prefer an evening Thanksgiving. Flickery candlelight, Ella Fitzgerald in the background, and lots of bubbly wine. When I host, it’s bubbles before dinner, bubbles during dinner, and bubbles after dinner. In other words, buy lots of bubbles, folks, and make sure you have room in the fridge to keep them cold. (No room in the fridge? Fill a cooler with ice.)

I make a point of having plenty of meatless dishes on hand so guests can fill up on veggies if that’s their preference. And of course plenty of nonalcoholic drinks (fizzy water especially) for those who’d rather not indulge.

Hey, we’re in a time crunch, right? That’s why I love the Cook’s Country Two-Hour Turkey and Gravy. A couple of small but careful cuts through the skin between the breast and the thigh on both sides and then a visit to a high-temperature oven allow this turkey to cook quickly and evenly. It won’t hold together in that classic Norman Rockwell way, so your photo op might be compromised, but the meat will be juicy and the gravy will be savory and your guests will be happy.

I’d be shunned if I didn’t put out a Maple Syrup Pie. Guests tend to bring pies whether they’ve been asked to or not. This is a good thing! But you do run the risk of a pumpkin pie glut. Enter the unexpected maple syrup pie, which is sweet and surprising and a total breeze to make. It works perfectly with a store-bought pie crust, which means one less thing to sweat. Just make sure to leave time for it to chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours before serving. Overnight is fine too. Serve it with whipped cream that you’ve bolstered with a bit of bourbon.

I’m nuts about our new recipe for Jalapeño-Cheddar Corn Bread. Some folks might not see this as a Thanksgiving dish but I love hot peppers and this supersimple recipe comes together in a flash and can be made the day before or even early Thursday morning. Slathered with tons of soft butter, a wedge of this flavorful bread is better than a dinner roll and its subtle heat adds a spicy twist to your plate. (Important: Be sure to leave plenty of butter out to soften before dinner. Hard butter is a major dinner-party foul.)

Plenty of plastic storage containers that you don’t mind sending home with people. Everyone wants leftovers. If you’re intent on getting them back (good luck!), stick a strip of masking tape on the base and Sharpie your name on it.

Maple Syrup Pie! (See above.)

Midnight on Thursday. Be sure to buy extra mayo and fresh bread in anticipation.

Absolutely, totally, definitely, wouldn’t be T-day without it. Dallas and Detroit each host a game on Thanksgiving every year, and tradition requires the games to be on while we cook. If I have to choose one game to watch closely, it’ll be the Cowboys versus the Chargers and I’ll cheer (begrudgingly) for the Chargers, or more specifically, I’ll cheer against the Cowboys. Why? Because I was a kid in Denver in the 1970s, when the Cowboys killed the Broncos in Super Bowl XII. The pain lingers for this lifelong Broncos fan.

How do you plan to celebrate Thanksgiving this year? Let us know in the comments. And for more of our editors' holiday plans, check out these articles:

• Thanksgiving Entertaining with Julia Collin Davison
• Thanksgiving Entertaining with Elle Simone
• Thanksgiving Entertaining with Bridget Lancaster
• Thanksgiving Entertaining with Dan Souza
• Thanksgiving Entertaining with Jack Bishop