The Ultimate Thanksgiving Dinner

It’s not Thanksgiving until you’ve fallen asleep on the couch watching football.

I think one of the reasons I never became all that good at cooking is that I can’t be bothered to dedicate the time to standing over a stove. This is probably why I was never asked to help out for Thanksgiving dinner, but we’ll talk about my life story another time. The point is that the people who often deserve the most praise on Turkey Day are the ones who put their entire heart and soul into making their dinner the absolute best it can be.

When the turkey’s on your plate, it’s just a matter of white meat and dark meat, but when it’s being prepared, there’s enough variables to make your head spin. Do you brine it? Bake it? Fry it? Are you making faux-turkey for the vegans in the family? I think the fact that some people actually take the time to consider each and every one of those options instead of just throwing a bird in the oven and calling it a day is pretty admirable (and also mildly terrifying).

If you want to see an example of true kitchen wizardry, you should check out the BA Test Kitchen team’s efforts to assemble the greatest Thanksgiving spread ever made. Your mouth will water and your muscles will ache just looking at them put this whole thing together.