lsanderson | Food! Glorious Food! -- The Giant Fowl Edition

N.Y.C. NATURE
Puff, the Magic Mushroom
Puffball mushrooms can be found in sports fields and highway meridians, and sometimes seem to mysteriously pop up overnight.
By DAVE TAFT

OPINION
Relax, You Don’t Need to ‘Eat Clean’
Your food fears are doing more harm than good.
By AARON E. CARROLL

Clarifying a Butter Shortage
For confirmation, our reporter in Paris turned to an impeccable source: his 89-year-old French grandmother, reached on her cellphone while grocery shopping.
By AURELIEN BREEDEN

Paris’s Best Chocolates: A Guide
Ganache, single origin, bean-to-bar, pralinés, orangettes, mendiants: craft chocolate in Paris comes in a panoply of forms. Here are ten of the best.
By LINDSEY TRAMUTA

WHAT TO COOK
Eat Your Vegetables
David Tanis has three new recipes: for smashed carrots with feta and mint, sweet-and-sour cauliflower and brussels sprouts with chorizo.
By SAM SIFTON

WHAT TO COOK
What to Cook This Week
From our favorite lasagna to a Parmesan-crusted rack of lamb, here are a dozen incredible recipes for the next six days.
By SAM SIFTON

2017 Holiday Gift Guide: Cooking
The New York Times and Wirecutter bring you this indispensable guide to the best gifts of the holiday season. Browse by interest or price; we promise you’ll find something nice.

Thanksgiving How-To Videos
Sixteen of The Times’ most popular instructional cooking videos for Thanksgiving, from spatchcocking a turkey to carving one.
By THE NEW YORK TIMES

Thanksgiving
Equipment Essentials
By SARA BONISTEEL

FOOD
City Kitchen
Same Vegetables, New Flavors

New traditions must begin somewhere. To please your guests this year, try one of these jazzed-up vegetable side dishes.
By DAVID TANIS
Recipes: Smashed Carrots With Feta and Mint | Sweet-and-Sour Cauliflower with Golden Raisins | Brussels Sprouts With Chorizo

The Four Rules of Thanksgiving Wines
Wines of The Times

Rule No. 1: You will be anxious before the holiday.
Rule No. 2: The holiday always goes beautifully.
Rule No. 3: If the food is good and the company convivial, you cannot go wrong with the wine. If the food is bad and the company annoying, wine can only help.
Rule No. 4: Choose wines that you like; everybody else will like them, too.

Whites, Rosés and Sparklers
★★★½ La Vrille et Le Papillon Vin de France Caprice du Chameau 2016 $15
Bright, light and spicy, belying its cloudy, unfiltered appearance, with pure, unmediated flavors of pear and lime. (Fruit of the Vines, Long Island City, N.Y.)

★★★ Matanzas Creek Sonoma County Sauvignon Blanc 2016 $20
Not particularly expressive aromatically yet richly textured, lively, clean and refreshing.

★★★ Dibon Penedès Cava Brut Rosé NV $17
Light, pleasing, fruity and lacy; an ideal aperitif. (V.O.S. Selections, New York)

★★½ Clos des Lunes Bordeaux Lune d’Argent 2015 $20
Fresh, savory, balanced and energetic, with a pleasant texture and hint of citrus. (BNP Distributing, New York)

★★½ Domaine Trotereau Quincy 2013 $25
Straightforward, with clean citrus and mineral flavors. (Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Berkeley, Calif.)

★★ RuBor Viticultores Sierra de Gredos Cebreros Chass! 2015 $17
Cloudy, amber and intense with gritty tannins and oxidative flavors; perhaps not for a crowd. (A Katell Pleven Selection/The Vine Collective, New York)

Reds
★★★ Château Combel-la-Serre Cahors Le Pur Fruit du Causse 2015 $15
Inky dark, yet easygoing, combining plummy fruit and chalky, earthy flavors. (Louis/Dressner Selections, New York)

★★★ Sidónio de Sousa Bairrada Tinto 2013 $16
Soft, smooth and well balanced, with flavors of dark fruits, spices and herbs. (NLC Wines, Brooklyn, N.Y.)

★★★ Red Tail Ridge Finger Lakes Pinot Noir 2013 $25
Pale brick-red color, with fresh, bright, juicy flavors of red fruits.

★★½ Buena Vista Sonoma County Merlot 2012 $10
Aromas of dark, saturated fruits, soft and dense, with staying power.