Chat with L.A. Times Test Kitchen Manager Noelle Carter at 2 p.m. Wednesday

Join us here at 2 p.m. Wednesday to chat online with L.A. Times Test Kitchen Manager Noelle Carter. She'll be answering all your Thanksgiving food-preparation questions and more. (Bonus points if you manage to stump her.)

Never done the online chat thing? It's so easy. You just type in a question. Just return here to the Daily Dish at 2 p.m. and you can see how it all plays out. If, for some reason, you can't make the chat, type a question in the comments section below and we'll try to answer it as well.

RELATED

-- This holiday, take it outside: Food editor Russ Parsons on grilling the Thanksgiving turkey

-- More holiday recipes from the L.A. Times Test Kitchen at LATimes.com/Thanksgiving

-- Skip the kitchen: Here's your guide to eating out and taking out this holiday

-- Rene Lynch
Twitter / renelynch

 

Pass the torfurkey?

 

That just doesn't have the same ring, does it?

Thanksgiving is traditionally all about the turkey. Which makes it a challenging holiday for vegans and vegetarians. Thankfully, this is L.A. and there are plenty of places that will be serving up a holiday dinner with all the trimmings (but without the dead bird.) Here's your guide to vegan, vegetarian and raw restaurants that will be open on the holiday.

If you have a restaurant to add to our list, please share it in the comments section below.

RELATED

-- This holiday, take it outside: Food editor Russ Parsons on grilling the Thanksgiving turkey

-- More holiday recipes from the L.A. Times Test Kitchen at LATimes.com/Thanksgiving

-- Skip the kitchen: Here's your guide to eating out and taking out this holiday

Photo: M Cafe's whipped potatoes and rutabaga, along with green beans almondine. Credit: Cindy Choi for M Cafe

Online chat: Thanksgiving prep with the L.A. Times Test Kitchen

You have questions, we have answers.

And L.A. Times Food editor Russ Parsons will be at the keyboard at 1 p.m. Monday to chat with you and answer your questions about Thanksgiving prep (and, if time allows, any other burning food questions you might have). We anticipate that one talking point will be the "Judy Bird": It's Russ' favorite way to cook the Thanksgiving turkey because it leads to a crispy exterior and a juicy interior. Click here for the recipe.

Later in the week, L.A. Times Test Kitchen Manager Noelle Carter will be available at 2 p.m. Wednesday to answer any last-minute questions.

As always, we offer bonus points for anyone who manages to stump these two. Believe me, we've tried, and it hasn't happened yet. But that doesn't mean we've given up hope....

Chat details: Come back here to the Daily Dish blog on 1 p.m. Monday and 2 p.m. on Wednesday, ready to chat. If you'd like to sign up for e-mail reminders for either chat, click below and follow the instructions that follow.

-- Rene Lynch
Twitter / renelynch

RELATED

This holiday, take it outside: Food editor Russ Parsons on grilling the Thanksgiving turkey

More holiday recipes from the L.A. Times Test Kitchen at LATimes.com/Thanksgiving

Skip the kitchen: Here's your guide to eating out and taking out this holiday

Photo: Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times 

Let's talk turkey: Everything you need for the perfect Thanksgiving

 

We've got one week before the big game -- I mean, the big dinner. So, let's recap and take a look at the highlights from this week's Food section:

-- L.A. Times Test Kitchen Manager Noelle Carter puts her own stamp on the holiday with her "Long Table" Thanksgiving: It's an outdoor potluck of sorts, at which she cooks the bird and guests all bring their favorite sides. You'll love these indulgent recipes, including broccoli casserole, corn pudding, ambrosia and mac 'n' cheese.

-- L.A. Times Food editor Russ Parsons also puts an outdoor spin on the turkey this year: He's grilling it, while still using the tried-and-true 'Judy Bird' method that has been so wildly popular with readers.

-- But maybe you want nothing to do with the kitchen. We've got that covered too: Check out our list of restaurants that will be serving Thanksgiving dinner, as well as those that are offering takeout. (Take a piece of advice from us: Don't risk life, limb and homestead frying a turkey this year. Just buy one.)

-- Go to LATimes.com/Thanksgiving to check out dozens of recipes from the L.A. Times Test Kitchen.

-- If you want to eat with your eyes, check out 97 images of our favorite holiday dishes. But don't blame me if you get hungry.

-- So, what to pour? We've got dozens or recommendations from L.A. Times restaurant critic S. Irene Virbila, including this 2008 Penner-Ash Pino Noir 'Dussin Vineyard.' Says Virbila: "...the Thanksgiving turkey would love a Pinot like this."

-- Oh, and we have video, above: Russ shows you how to carve the holiday turkey with ease.

-- Finally, show us your turkeys! Please share the pictures of your gloriously golden birds, your tablescape, your family portraits, your favorite side dishes and more, either from year's past or upcoming. Click here to upload your images. 

-- Rene Lynch
Twitter / renelynch 

Make-ahead rolls for Thanksgiving

When's the last time you served (or were served) homemade rolls on Thanksgiving?

Exactly.

The L.A. Times Test Kitchen likes this recipe for whole-grain mustard rolls in part because you can make them now, freeze, and then bake them on turkey day. Served alongside lots and lots of butter.

Check out dozens more Thanksgiving recipes from the L.A. Times Test Kitchen at www.latimes.com/Thanksgiving

RELATED: L.A. Times Food editor Russ Parson's favorite way to make the Thanksgiving turkey.

--Rene Lynch
Twitter / renelynch

Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times

Thanksgiving dinner will cost you more this year

 
Don’t loosen that belt in preparation for Thanksgiving just yet.

A report from the American Farm Bureau Federation says ingredients for the classic holiday meal -- including turkey, cranberries, pumpkin pie mix, sweet potatoes and the bread used for stuffing -- will cost U.S. consumers about 1.3% more this year than last. Read on:

RELATED:  

Go to LATimes.com/Thanksgiving for dozens of the L.A. Times Test Kitchen's favorite holiday recipes.

Photo: Potatoes gratin forestiere. (Click here for the recipe.) Credit: Kirk McKoy 

Dining in -- or taking out -- this Thanksgiving

Here's the reality. Not all of you are doing the cooking (or baking) this Thanksgiving.

Some of you will be dining out, or taking out.

We're trying to compile a Thanksgiving turkey-sized list of all the places that are either serving dinner on Thanksgiving, or offering up holiday take-out of one sort or another.

Let us know your favorite spots. E-mail us at food@latimes.com with the details.

And if you are inspired to do some cooking, check out dozens of our favorite Thanksgiving recipes at www.latimes.com/Thanksgiving

--Rene Lynch
Twitter / renelynch

Photo: Classic pumpkin pie. Click here for the recipe. Credit: Los Angeles Times

The absolutely best Thanksgiving turkey recipe. Ever.

 

How do we know when it's Thanksgiving in the L.A. Times Test Kitchen? Well, there are the holiday dishes being tested by Test Kitchen Manager Noelle Carter.

And then there are the hundreds of requests for copies of "the Judy Bird" recipe.

This recipe is a hands-down favorite with readers and won first place in our turkey showdown a few years ago. The secret is in the simple technique: dry-brine and roast, no stuffing, just dry-brine and roast. And it all leads to turkey nirvana: a bird that is moist on the inside and crispy on the outside. But don't take my word for it. Each year at about this time, L.A. Times Food Editor Russ Parsons' e-mail in-box gets clogged up with those "Judy bird" recipe requests. He gets so many questions about it that he wrote this FAQ on the "Judy Bird," which is the only recipe in L.A. Times Food section history to spur its own "Frequently Asked Questions" sidebar. 

Finally, click here to check out dozens more of our favorite Thanksgiving recipes from the L.A. Times Test Kitchen, or go to latimes.com/Thanksgiving.

-- Rene Lynch
Twitter / renelynch 

Photo credit: Beatrice de Gea / Los Angeles Times

More than 225 cookies submitted in the L.A. Times Holiday Cookie Bake-off

 
But where's your holiday cookie recipe?

You have until Nov. 15 to submit your favorite holiday cookie recipe to the first-ever L.A. Times Holiday Cookie Bake-Off. (Voting is already underway.) Winners will see their recipes printed in an upcoming L.A. Times Food section this holiday season.

So far, we have more than 225 cookie recipes submitted, including Tuesday's featured cookie: Amazing Sugar Cookies and Icing by Amanda Rettke of the blog I Am Baker. You can also follow her on Twitter @manda2177

Amanda says this recipe is special because:

"...it changed how I perceived myself in the kitchen. I am not a great cook and am still a beginning baker, but this recipe is one of those magical concoctions that can transform even the most horrific of wannabe chefs....every year we make these cookies and donate them to local law enforcement and church bakes sales, hoping that they will bring the same joy and delight to the receiver as they do the creator.

"I cant say we wouldn't find ways to enjoy our Holiday season without the recipe, but the insatiable joy it brings to everyone who sees and samples it is addictive to say the least!"

Thank you for sharing your recipe, Amanda.

--Rene Lynch
Twitter / renelynch

Photo credit: Amanda Rettke

Welcome to the L.A. Times Holiday Cookie Bake-Off

What's your favorite holiday cookie recipe? And what makes it so special? Why does your family love it so? And would you be willing to share that with the rest of us?

Welcome to the first-ever L.A. Times Holiday Cookie Bake-Off. From now until Nov. 15, we welcome you to upload that recipe  -- and the story behind it -- to our database. We'd love a photo too!

Here's how the contest works: Readers will vote online for their favorite cookies. Go ahead -- vote for your own cookie, and ask your family and friends to cast their ballots in your favor too. From there, we're enlisting some pastry-chefs-in-training at Le Cordon Bleu in Pasadena to test the top vote-getters and help winnow them down to the 10 favorites.

We'll fete the winners in a style becoming a foodie: You'll come down to the L.A. Times Test Kitchen for photos and a tour. And we'll publish those recipes in the L.A. Times Food section in December.

Don't worry if your cookie isn't an original work of art. If your family's favorite cookie comes from Martha Stewart Living, no problem. We just ask that you do your best to give credit where credit is due. (And if you need some inspiration, check out some of our favorite cookies from the L.A. Times Test Kitchen.)

Most important, we want to know why it just wouldn't be a joyous holiday season in your household without your favorite cookie.

For you social-media hounds, join us on Twitter to chat about our favorite cookies: #LATcookies.

And let me be one of the first to say: Happy holidays!

--Rene Lynch
Twitter / renelynch

Photo: Read the story behind these holiday cookies -- the ones Times staff writer Mary MacVean's mother made for her -- by clicking here. Credit: Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times