The Thanksgiving food magazines have arrived in the mail, and my mom is already calling to see if we've booked our flights. For some reason this year, more than others, things are feeling pretty rushed. My first inclination was to hide the food magazines and save them for a time when I was ready to actually think about what we'd cook this year. Then I figured maybe that was just delaying the inevitable. So now I just stare at them on the coffee table wondering, when is the right time to start thinking about holiday menus? More

It's fall, and time to indulge my love of all things pumpkin. Pumpkin pasta, pumpkin gratin, pumpkin pie, that ever-popular pumpkin spice latte and — perhaps most of all — pumpkin muffins. I love having a warm, tender muffin in the morning for breakfast. These fit the the bill, spiced and moist. But fall will be over so quickly, and winter will be here, so I decided to make sure these would carry through properly to the holidays! Why not a little swirl of eggnog-flavored cream cheese? Pumpkin and eggnog? This is one clash of holiday flavors that I love, and I hope you will too! More

Oh, monkey bread! How we love you — little pull-apart nuggets of buttery, gooey cinnamon goodness. And I've been thinking about how easy monkey bread is when you've been making pizza! What? How are they related? Well, leftover pizza dough is a perfect base for monkey bread and other breakfast treats. And even if you haven't been making pizza lately, store-bought, ready-made pizza dough is also a way to get these into the oven (and into your mouth!) that much quicker. More

Q: The hubs and I are driving north next week to spend Christmas with his family, and we're bringing a frozen 12-pound turkey that wasn't thawed or cooked during Thanksgiving. The trip will take 9 to 11 hours. I know the turkey should thaw in a fridge for about 3 days, but here's my question: We don't have a cooler and I haven't found one in stores that will fit the turkey.

What should we do? I was thinking about traveling with the frozen turkey on ice in a lined tub (then getting it into the fridge at our destination), or should we thaw the turkey first, then travel with it on ice? I would love to know what readers think and thanks in advance.

Sent by Mis P. More

So, you conquered the bird for your Thanksgiving meal. Does your family do it all over again for Christmas dinner? Or do you switch it up?

Q: I bought five pie pumpkins for this baking season, but for work reasons i've hardly had time to bake (or cook!) at all. I don't want them to go bad, of course.

Is there a way to store them? Freezing them? Making puree and freezing it?

Sent by Tania More

I had the best Brussels sprouts of my life last week at a lovely little restaurant in Brooklyn called Vinegar Hill House. It was just before Thanksgiving and it got me thinking about the dwindling stock of green food coming from the earth this time of year.

Winter eating can be depressing for a girl like me, but given the limits and challenges of cold-weather cooking, some pretty amazing stuff can pop through this kind of tabletop sorrow. More

I have woken up excited every day this week. Excited and hungry. Because I know that very soon in my future, I will be slicing off a piece of this bread, waiting impatiently while it toasts, and then spreading it with a pat of sweet butter. That first bite is something to savor. The last one too, but it's the anticipation of that first pumpkin-y mouthful with its hint of cinnamon that gets me moving out of bed. More

Every year we ask our readers to share a photo of Thanksgiving — anything at all that they were proud of or that gave them joy this Thanksgiving! Nearly 50 readers sent us photos — come take a peek. They range from intimate tables set for two, to long tables for a crowd. There is a table for nine wedged into a tiny apartment, and one reader's very first American Thanksgiving. More

Well, another Thanksgiving has come and gone. We've cooked and feasted, and now we're officially launched into the holiday season. But before we dive into the winter holidays — how did Thanksgiving go? Did you try new things? Did you enjoy your feast? Tell us how it went, and take a peek at a few photos of my own Thanksgiving. More