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Add Something New to Your Holiday Feast!

Ah, the Thanksgiving Feast! Many of the dishes served at this holiday dinner represent generations of family favorites and traditions. But usually there are a few new additions on the menu trying out for a place in future family feasts. If you're looking for something new to add to Thanksgiving dinner or you'll be joining with friends at a Thanksgiving potluck, we have a few suggestions for cookbooks where you may find that special recipe to share with the group and a resource for delicious recipes all year long.

Southern Grit: 100+ Down Home Recipes for the Modern Cook

First up, Southern Grit: 100+ Down Home Recipes for the Modern Cook by Kelsey Barnard Clark. This cookbook is filled with traditional Southern recipes updated for modern cooks. The dishes are familiar but with Clark's tips and tricks, flavors are enhanced and elevated. For Thanksgiving, you may find a side or perhaps an appetizer. While some may think of deviled eggs as picnic fare, there are many others who love deviled eggs, no matter the occasion. Clark has four versions to choose from. And beyond the feast, Southern Grit has lots of recipes just waiting to be discovered throughout the year to come.

Barbecue Sides

Sides round out a plate full of barbecue. Same is true for a Thanksgiving turkey or ham. The "Melting, Creamy and Crispy" veggie and "Fresh, Spritely and Green" salad recipes found in Barbecue Sides: Perfect Slaws, Salads, and Snacks for Your Next Cookout by Adam Perry Lang can rise to the occasion of a family feast. This is a cookbook that will earn its keep not just for the holidays but for warm weather barbecues and picnics.

Farmhouse Weekends

Here's another cookbook that can offer assistance during the holidays. Farmhouse Weekends by Melissa Bahen is organized by the seasons, so you'll find recipes using fresh produce throughout the year. If friends and family will be staying with you during the holidays, here are recipes for special breakfast treats, soups, salads, main courses and dessert. There's a good mix of cooking and baking recipes to be found within so you may find it in use all year long.

Tables & Spreads

If you find yourself hosting a holiday event, Tables & Spreads: A Go-To Guide for Beautiful Snacks, Intimate Gatherings, and Inviting Feasts by Shelly Westerhausen Worcel can help you plan, organize and enjoy the fruits of your labor. Part I is "Building the Spread" and describes the art of styling your table and the food. Part II is ”Recipes, Boards and Tables" and has menus and recipes for gatherings including hosting a Thanksgiving Dessert Table, a Christmas Morning Dutch Baby Party or a New Year's Eve Martini Bar. You've worked hard to prepare a glorious meal. Let Tables & Spreads show you how to showcase it to the best advantage.

Pie Academy

If the thought of one more pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving Day leaves you less than enthused, why not make an alternative pie for yourself and others who might feel the same way? What's that you say - You don't know how to make a pie or perhaps your past attempts have not been up to your own high standards. Well, here's the cookbook that can change that.  The subtitle for Pie Academy by Ken Haedrich says it all: Master the Perfect Crust and 255 Amazing Fillings, with Fruits, Nuts, Creams, Custards, Ice Cream, and More; Expert Techniques for Making Fabulous Pies from Scratch. Yes, you can make a delicious pie for Thanksgiving and for any other occasion where pie for dessert would be welcome. Haedrich offers detailed instructions that are easy to follow and yield excellent results. If you've longed to make pies, but felt there was no one to teach you, your teacher has arrived. 

Queso!

And finally, if you'll be hosting football fans during the holidays, give them something to cheer about with a scrumptious treat from Queso! Regional Recipes for the World's Favorite Chile-Cheese Dip by Lisa Fain. If you've enjoyed Fain's Homesick Texan cookbooks, then you'll be confident that she knows all about good queso. She starts with a survey of chile con queso the "early years", visits Tex-Mex classics, moves on to some modern quesos from the Border, and adds quirky quesos and a good selection of recipes that use queso as an added ingredient. Your friends and family will be enjoying these recipes for years to come.

So there you have it - a few of our cookbooks that may be helpful in planning some special side dishes, appetizers or desserts to round out the traditional holiday dinner or potluck. Whole Earth has a well-chosen selection of cookbooks for all sorts of cooks and cuisines. Visit our online or one of our brick and mortar stores and check out our selection.