Onion

The cornbread needs to dry overnight, so start this at least one day ahead.

After the porcini mushrooms add their flavor to the broth, you can use them in an omelet or a sauté.

If crawfish are hard to find, shrimp make a good stand-in.

Here's a classic stuffing to suit all tastes. For a vegetarian version, substitute vegetable or mushroom broth.

This rich, custard-like stuffing is also a great main-course option for vegetarians at the Thanksgiving table; it would be nice with a salad for brunch or lunch, too.

This is a soft-style version of chilaquiles, tortilla chips sautéed with chiles and meat and topped with melted cheese. Crema mexicana, a cultured Mexican cream, is available in the cheese and deli section of many supermarkets and at Latin markets.

Sweet caramelized onions and pungent blue cheese make a good pair in this simply elegant appetizer.

Roasting the turkey and vegetables before simmering them results in a dark stock that takes you more than halfway to a rich brown gravy. The recipe yields enough for the gravy and then some, but you'll be happy to have the extra when it comes time to make soup.

There's lots of bold flavor in this hearty stuffing, which, though inspired by a classic Italian combination, happens to work in perfect concert with everything on the American holiday table. Baking it in a wide dish yields plenty of crusty top for everyone.

This simple yet sophisticated relish has depth and tang that store-bought cranberry sauce just can't match.

In Russia and eastern Europe kasha is most often made into thick gruel. Instead, we turned the roasted buckwheat kernels into a fantastic side dish studded with butter-toasted walnuts and browned onion.

This dish is the vegetable incarnation of mulled wine—the cabbage and onions soak up all the flavor of the red wine and spices, becoming incredibly aromatic.

Don't be surprised if these spears prove even more popular than the classic mash—they brown up beautifully, and it's hard to resist the siren call of bacon.

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are from Amy Sedaris's I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence. For Sedaris's tips on throwing a Halloween party, click here. Meat loaf has a lot of variations so be creative and change it up.

Long, slow cooking is the key to these tender, juicy birds, braised in an autumnal mix of apples, cider, and caramelized onion. If pheasant is hard to come by, you can substitute chicken.

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are from Ted Allen's The Food You Want to Eat. For Allen's tips on throwing a Thanksgiving party, click here. The intent with this dish was an entrée — an entrée not just appropriate for vegetarians, but for vegans. But in the context of Thanksgiving, it serves either as a wonderful companion to turkey (or as that too-rare dish at the American dinner party: a hearty, bona-fide vegetarian option). You can assemble it ahead and refrigerate. (If you do, bake it at 350°F for 45 to 50 minutes instead of the below instructions.)