Here in the Food department of The New York Times, we observe the three weeks of Thanksgiving. The only federal holiday built entirely around a meal, Thanksgiving is to us what the Super Bowl is to the Sports section and what the Oscars are to the Arts section: a national, communal rite that inspires keen anticipation, dogged preparation and no small degree of excess. It’s our largest undertaking of the year: four special issues, nearly a month of recipes and reports, planning guides and user’s manuals. Less-familiar dishes, drinks and customs bubble up from the nation’s changing population, particularly the young and the newly arrived. It’s easy to forget the math for a meal that most home cooks turn out only once a year.

Source: New York Times November 22, 2017 15:33 UTC