Baking
Buttermilk Corn Bread
You can make this tender corn bread a day ahead.
Pecan Muffins
The preserves keep these moist and tender.
Chocolate-Bourbon Tart with Currants and Orange Custard Sauce
This tart will satisfy any chocolate lover. To make the chocolate curls, briefly microwave a 12-ounce block of bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened) until it's just slightly softened. Pull the blade of a heavy large knife across the surface to form curls.
Fluffy French Toast with Orange Syrup
Raisin-studded egg bread is nice for variety in this recipe. Soaking the bread in the batter a day ahead makes it even easier.
Whipped Cream Cakes with Peaches and Raspberries
Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.
Garlicky Eggplant, Tomato and Basil Bobolis
Purchased Boboli crusts make these pizzas a snap to prepare. Offer prosciutto and melon as another appetizer.
Chocolate Peanut-Butter Layer Brownies
These thick, chewy brownies have a peanut-butter base and a chocolaty top.
Crusty Breadsticks with Rosemary
These Italian-style breadsticks are a deliciously different addition to Thanksgiving dinner. You will need a plastic spray bottle filled with water to mist the oven while the breadsticks are baking (the water makes them crusty and chewy on the outside and slightly softer inside).
Plum and Apricot Puff Pastry Tarts
Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.
Gingerbread with Crystallized Ginger
Top this with whipped cream flavored with brown sugar and dark rum.