I hope you had a lovely, restful weekend.  I finished a knitting project and potted paper white narcissus bulbs for forcing.  The invitations for our annual holiday party were mailed and I tried some new recipes for the party menu.  

Martha Stewart Living photo Nov 2011

Now the countdown to Thanksgiving begins.  Hubby and I will be traveling to Minneapolis to celebrate Thanksgiving with our newly married daughter and her husband.  They'll get to use some of the wedding gifts, including a splendid Thanksgiving turkey platter.  We'll all cook together in her big kitchen.  Probably like most of you, we have our traditional favorites that appear year after year.  We make a stuffing with apples, sausage and can't do without some fresh cranberry sauce.  

My favorite turkey recipe is from the Williams-Sonoma Thanksgiving Cookbook.  The cider and butter will give the turkey a rich, mahogany-colored glaze.  

This book is a wonderful anthology of Thanksgiving meal planning and preparation from utensils to roasting and starters to desserts.  This would make a lovely gift for your holiday hosts.

I usually just make just the glaze and follow the roasting directions and make pan gravy with the drippings but the additions of shallots and Calvados makes for a very special gravy.