The Thanksgiving Table: Recipes and Ideas to Create Your Own Holiday Tradition [Paperback]

Diane Morgan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2001

Sometimes the only thing Thanksgiving hosts have to be thankful for is putting their feet up at the end of the day. For novices, orchestrating The Feast is no easy task. And even for old pros it's a bit of a challenge. Enter The Thanksgiving Table: the lowdown on the how to. Everything from the foolproof secret to a moist bird and how to truss and carve it to menu suggestions and simple, elegant table settings. Plus, recipes for classics like cranberry relish as well as more innovative dishes--and a whole section devoted to vegetarians. And maybe best of all, do-ahead tips and plenty of food and technique photographs to make planning in advance a breeze. The Thanksgiving Table is a kitchen essential--a book for which every home cook can give thanks.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This primer on Thanksgiving cooking and traditions brims with fresh ideas for both food preparation and table decoration. Morgan (Cooking for the Week) is the anti-Martha Stewart none of these recipes is fussy for the sake of fussiness. They are instead guides to creating updated classics such as Gratin of Fennel and Tomato, and Acorn Squash Stuffed with Wild Rice, Cranberries, Walnuts and Hickory-Baked Tofu. In deference to the holiday, instructions for advance preparations and shortcuts are provided: for Lasagna with Sugar Pumpkin, Ricotta, and Fried Sage Leaves, for example, Morgan explains how to substitute fresh pasta or no-boil lasagna noodles. A chapter on turkey provides instructions for buying and handling the bird, as well as recipes for Barbecued Turkey and a simple Roast Turkey Breast for a Small Gathering. There are even a few vegetarian entr‚es, including Spaghetti Squash with Zucchini, Garlic, and Tomato Sauce. The dishes here are new, but never so adventurous that they would be inappropriate for a traditional holiday celebration. Stuffing ideas include Italian Sausage, Mushroom and Sage Stuffing, and Chestnut, Leek, and Fresh Herb Bread Pudding. Desserts play on classic Thanksgiving flavors: Chocolate Gingerbread with Sugar-Glazed Apples, and Pumpkin Cheesecake with a Gingersnap Crumb Crust. A chapter on using leftover turkey offers Turkey Potpie with a Biscuit Crust, and Turkey Enchiladas. Menus for variously sized parties and clever ideas like miniature pumpkins cut to encase votive candles round out this spot-on effort. (Nov.)Forecast: This is an incredibly useful little book. At this modest price, it should sell briskly and prove a solid seasonal backlist item as well.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Cooking teacher and author Morgan presents dozens of recipes for both classic Thanksgiving dishes and more contemporary alternatives, such as Roasted Beet Salad with Goat Cheese and Bittersweet Chocolate Parfait with Cranberry-Cherry Coulis. There's a chapter of vegetarian entries for nonturkey eaters, as well as a handful of crafts and decorating ideas. Rick Rodgers's popular Thanksgiving 101 (LJ 10/1/98) covers much of the same ground, but since Thanksgiving is the one holiday that sends even noncooks into the kitchen, larger collections may want to add both.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (August 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 081182991X
• ISBN-13: 978-0811829915
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 8.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,892,463 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

DIANE MORGAN is an award-winning cookbook author, freelance food writer, culinary instructor, and restaurant consultant. She is the author of fourteen cookbooks including The Christmas Table, The New Thanksgiving Table, Grill Every Day, Salmon, Pizza, Delicious Dips, The Thanksgiving Table, Midnight Munchies, Cooking For The Week, The Basic Gourmet, The Basic Gourmet Entertains, and Dressed To Grill: Savvy Recipes for Girls who Play with Fire, all from Chronicle Books.

She has been involved in the world of food for more than 25 years. She spent six years in Chicago as a caterer and chef for an executive dining room. Leaving behind Chicago's blustery, frigid winters, Diane moved to the Pacific Northwest, settling in Portland, Oregon. Her focus shifted to teaching cooking classes and pursuing a career in food writing,

Her first cookbook, Entertaining People: Menus from a Pacific Northwest Cooking School won an IACP/Seagrams cookbook award and was followed by Very Entertaining: Menus for Special Occasions.

Diane has been a regular contributor to the Los Angeles Times food section and has written for Bon Appetit, Fine Cooking, Cooking Light, The Oregonian, Northwest Palate, and Edible Portland. She has appeared on the Today Show, ABC World News Now, CBS Early Show, The TV Food Network, Smart Solutions on HGTV, Seasonings on PBS, and Good Day Oregon. In addition, for the past two years, Diane has consulted on the core menu, promotional seasonal menus and recipes for a Northwest chain of family dining restaurants.

Diane's website is: www.dianemorgancooks.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a really neat cookbook, October 23, 2001

By 

Richard Lambert - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Thanksgiving Table: Recipes and Ideas to Create Your Own Holiday Tradition (Paperback)

In "The Thanksgiving Table" Diane Morgan has kicked Thanksgiving up a notch, maybe three.

Not only has she included recipes for some of the more traditional items for Thanksgiving dinner but she has some really interesting recipes that take the traditional and give it a slight twist, Shirley LeBlonds stuffing, for example. The twist isn't in the recipes alone but in some of the table treatments as well, burlap and corrugated cardboard on a holiday table? But it works!

"The Thanksgiving Table" includes a history of the first Thanksgiving, including the menu, how traditional do you want to get? It also includes a timetable that stretches back a couple of weeks before the event, so you aren't rushing at the last minute. I feel I must mention the recipes for leftovers, I can hardly wait.

Along with the fantastic recipes are some of the most incredible photographs I have ever seen in a cookbook.

This is a must have for all of us who enjoy entertaining on Thanksgiving. "The Thanksgiving Table" has something for everyone, a step by step for the first timer wanting to start their own Thanksgiving tradition, or it can be used to inspire us old timers with new ideas and a fresh perspective. Well done Diane!

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Terrific Book - highly recommended, November 24, 2001

By 

C.S. (Cleveland, OH) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Thanksgiving Table: Recipes and Ideas to Create Your Own Holiday Tradition (Paperback)

I purchased this book only recently and tried it out over the past holiday. I can now heartily endorse it. Ms. Morgan has put together a collection of easy to follow recipes that will liven up your Thanksgiving table. Many look like your standard fare, but have been jazzed up with new preparation techniques. A perfect example is the Chiffonade of Brussel Sprouts. I have to have brussel sprouts on my table every year, but was so bored with them. I followed her technique for shredding them, then sauteeing - they came out like a warm slaw, perfectly cooked and offset with the hazelnuts - I had no leftovers at all! I will be making that dish again, for sure.

I primarily purchased the book for her section on vegetarian entrees and again, she did not let me down. The stuffed acorn squash was, as she stated, fantastic, and my vegetarian guest was thrilled.

I do have one complaint/suggestion: I wish that each recipe had said how far in advance each recipe could be prepared ahead. I believe in a book about holiday cooking, where most people begin to cook several days in advance, knowing how far in advance each thing could be prepared would have made this book ideal for anyone preparing the holiday feast. I have enough experience to figure it out myself, but not everyone does.

I believe this book is an excellent buy, however. If you like Holiday cooking and are looking to change things up a bit, you should buy this book. You will enjoy it, and so will your guest.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great resource, November 16, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Thanksgiving Table: Recipes and Ideas to Create Your Own Holiday Tradition (Paperback)

Morgan offers up a wide variety of mouthwatering dishes that are easy to make and (usually) don't require an extra trip to the store or a quest for some obscure ingredient. There are main course recipes for meat-eaters and vegetarians alike, and she even includes ideas for leftovers. Best of all is the brined turkey, which is life-changing. I'll never eat turkey any other way.