Thanksgiving Recipes from Maggie’s Kitchen

Thanksgiving is the one day a year when this kitchen really earns its keep. Jake’s usually home, the kids set the table without being asked (mostly), and Nana Ruth’s dinner rolls come out of the oven like they always have.

I start planning Thanksgiving about three weeks out. Not because I’m organized—I’m really not—but because the list of things people expect at our table gets longer every year. The turkey is non-negotiable. The mashed potatoes have to be real (no boxed anything, not on Thanksgiving). There’s always a green bean casserole because Wyatt will eat three helpings of it, and a sweet potato dish because Jake’s mom brought one the first year she visited and now it’s tradition whether we planned it or not.

Nana Ruth used to say the secret to Thanksgiving was making everything ahead that you could, so the day itself felt like a celebration instead of a crisis. She’d have her rolls shaped and in the fridge by Wednesday night. Her cranberry sauce was made three days before. And her pie crust was always rolled out the night before, wrapped in wax paper, waiting in the icebox. I try to follow her lead, even if my version involves more sticky notes on the fridge and at least one moment where I forget what’s in the oven.