Los Angeles Times Holiday Handbook

LA Times Food Editor Russ Parsons and his staff have put together the go-to guide for entertaining during the holidays -- Thanksgiving to New Year’s. Selected from The Times' vast collection of carefully tested recipes, you'll find sumptuous dishes for every occasion. If you like big birds, we’ve got the fabulous dry-brined turkey that everyone has been talking about. On the other hand, what about tea-smoked game hens? Or you could split the difference and serve roast duck, maybe with glazed turnips, or would a kumquat sauce be better? What the heck? Why not serve all of them together in Test Kitchen Manager Noelle Carter’s fabulous turducken?




Chestnut dressing. Caldo verde. Beet latkes. Broccoli casserole. We’ve got everything from soup to nuts and all that’s in between -- salads and appetizers, soups, main dishes, stuffings, vegetables, desserts, sauces and gravies and breads. There are lots of recipes we’ve developed ourselves and some we’ve learned from the great chefs and food writers
who work with us. We’ve got dishes for the heartiest meat eaters and some for vegetarians and vegans.




Whether you’re a beginning cook looking for delicious but do-able dishes for your first Thanksgiving dinner, or you’re a seasoned veteran who wants to try something a little more challenging, we’ve got the recipes you’re looking for. Best of all, you know they’re going to work, because they’ve been through the Los Angeles Times Test Kitchen -- a guarantee of quality that Southern California cooks have been trusting for more than 100 years.