Food Processor

Muscat-poached Seckel pears are tucked into moist almond cakes for a charming dessert. Besides being cute, these tiny cakes leave guests room for pumpkin pie.

These luscious cranberry-studded cakes enriched with bourbon and pecans break away from traditional pumpkin pie without eliminating all those beloved ingredients that say Thanksgiving.

Sherry lends a nutty note to a big-flavored and colorful sauce.

This classic Italian trio never gets old, because it works so well: The saltiness of Parmigiano-Reggiano accentuates the sweetness in the popular winter squash while earthy sage rounds it all out.

This bolognese lacks one traditional main ingredient—meat. However, with hearty vegetables, you'll hardly know it's missing.

A deconstructed romesco sauce adds great texture to hake. Pacific cod also works well.

Sweetened by pepper and rounded out with cilantro, vinegar, and tomato paste, this Latin American staple is perfect with anything on your table or as a meal itself.

One dough yields three kinds of thin, buttery Cheddar crackers. While it's a good idea to keep appetizers to a minimum on Thanksgiving, these (along with mixed nuts in the shell) will pique everyone's appetite just enough. Make sure you sample one of each—there won't be any leftovers.

Embrace the flavors of autumn with this luscious take on a classic. The pumpkin not only lends richness but also makes the pie a stunner, with mesmerizing swirls of orange. Ginger adds a subtle snap.

Basic is best: When it comes to pie crust, there's no need to fiddle. This simple dough will elevate any of the fillings here.

Sweet crackers and cookies easily transform into delicious piecrusts. Be sure to use gingersnaps for the pumpkin ginger cheesecake pie and graham crackers for the chocolate s'more pie .

Simmering in milk coaxes the very best out of celery root, giving this silky puree a flavor that's both mellow and full.

This refreshing treat, from Mridula Baljekar, author of Indian Cooking Without Fat (Metro Books), is a cool finish to spicy dishes.

Long, slow cooking is the key to these tender, juicy birds, braised in an autumnal mix of apples, cider, and caramelized onion. If pheasant is hard to come by, you can substitute chicken.

This succulent cut, made from two pork loins bound together, makes a princely vessel for spicy corn bread poblano stuffing. To prevent your pork from cooking unevenly, cook the stuffing separately, and fill the crown just before serving.

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are from Ted Allen's The Food You Want to Eat. For Allen's tips on throwing a Thanksgiving party, click here. Mashed potatoes really serve primarily as a silky, textural vehicle for butter, cream, and salt, in my view. Cauliflower does an excellent job as well — and considering all the other carb sources on your table today, there's no harm in a whipped white dish that contains few of them. Steaming works better than boiling for this purée because boiling leaches flavor out of the cauliflower. You can get a big pot with a steamer insert anywhere for about $20.00. But go ahead and boil if you need to; just use less liquid to thin the purée. (The cauliflower will have absorbed a lot of water in boiling.) There's no law that says you can't purée other quick-cooking vegetables as well; imagine whirled peas, as the Phish fans used to exhort on their Volvo bumpers. The bright green color looks fantastic on a plate.