Photo Illustration by The New York Times; NASA/Getty Images (Main Photo); Butterball, via Associated Press (Turkey); Matthew Mead/Associated Press (Stuffing); Daniel Acker/Bloomberg News (Cranberries)The cranberries won’t gel. The pie crust broke. The turkey’s frozen. The mashed potatoes are as lumpy as a sack of olives. Aunt Miriam is bringing her well-known marshmallow tartare. There are 17 guests and only 9 chairs. Meanwhile, the children … Wait, where are the children?
We understand. We, too, have suffered. The Dining staff of The New York Times gets it, and we might have a few pieces of advice, hard won in the battles of Thanksgivings past. The Help Line is open.
We are fielding readers’ questions about holiday cooking and entertaining. Those wondering whether, say, the pan drippings from a brined bird will make good gravy can submit that query here. (Incidentally, the
answer to that is a resounding “no.”)
Answers, along with recipes, videos and expert advice, will appear online until Nov. 24. Here, you can ask a question, vote
for questions you’d like to see addressed, and read all the answers from the Dining staff so far. Or you can tweet us at @nytimesdining using the hashtag
#ThanksgivingQs.
Meanwhile, a quick tip: It’s not too late to order your turkey.