Thanksgiving

According to poet Kevin Young, the best poems are like the best meals — they're made from scratch. Young has edited a new collection of poems that celebrate the pleasures of food, from "butter disappearing into whipped sweet potatoes" to oysters that taste like "starlight."

Why not on a Friday? And why not the last Thursday? There is an explanation. But you have to go back to things decreed by presidents Washington, Lincoln and Roosevelt (FDR, that is).

"People who have any brains" will avoid dredging up politics during the holidays, says one psychologist. But in our highly polarized era, family gatherings offer the chance for rare encounters with people who don't already share our partisan leanings.

Today is our day to say "thank you," so here are a couple of appreciations — the first for things that don't change, the second for things that do. There are no people in the first scene, two people in the second. One of them, I should warn you, is a sneaker-wearing swan.

As the story goes, pardoning a turkey dates back to President Lincoln, when his young son Tad begged his father to let the White House Thanksgiving meal live. On Wednesday, Obama pardons Cobbler and Gobbler.

An Arizona ice cream shop is creating an entire Thanksgiving dinner in ice cream. Scooptacular is offering sweet potato ice cream, also cranberry — and for the adventurous, there's corn and even turkey by the scoop.

America's Test Kitchen host Chris Kimball and Renee Montagne cook up a Julia Child-inspired Thanksgiving feast of roast turkey and mashed potatoes. And we remember that she would say, if things go wrong in the kitchen, just keep on going. And have a glass of wine.

Craig Miller has been raising turkeys on his farm near Harrisonburg, Va., for 26 years. On Wednesday, two of Miller's toms will briefly achieve national celebrity at the annual White House turkey pardoning ceremony. "It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Miller says.

If you're thinking about cooking your bird in hot oil, watch these videos. They may convince you do forget about it. But if you're still determined, they also may help keep things safe.

With pumpkin or pumpkin spices going into more products every year, we wondered, what's the deal with the pumpkin obsession? Turns out pumpkins have been a symbol of Americans' longing for simpler, rural times since we began moving to the cities in the 19th century. And marketers know it.