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Mincemeat: The very thought of it is enough to make you shudder. What’s in there? And most importantly, does it really contain meat? The answer to the meat question is: It depends. It used to have meat because it was a good way to use up those leftover meat scraps and bits no one knew what to do with. I asked a group of women about mincemeat. One, originally from Wyoming, said her mother used to make it. When asked about the recipe, she said, “Well, first you have to get some venison.” A recipe that begins with the application for…

One of the most important Thanksgiving foods at our house is yeast rolls. I go back and forth between plain rolls and rolls that contain mashed potatoes, but I think that potato rolls are my favorite. Make sure to use a floury, not waxy, potato, cooked and mashed well. Lumps aren’t a plus in rolls. Save the potato water: yeast loves it, beginning to feed and multiply happily almost immediately. Mixing and kneading can be done in a heavy-duty stand mixer. Use the paddle to beat the dough until smooth, then switch to the dough hook. Rising time depends on temperature.…

A collection of baby hats and other knitting projects by Kim Davaz over the last few years.

Making a meal shouldn’t be dangerous. I’ve never been tempted by those Japanese puffer fish that kill someone every so often, or even by pain-inducing incendiary chilies. I have, however, fallen for sweet meat squash. Sweet meat squash is very pretty — a flattened round of pale, silvery blue-green, sometimes with light brown speckles. It’s an excellent squash for eating with its dense, deep, orange-yellow sweet flesh. And the numerous plump seeds are just great for roasting and snacking. Let’s go back to the dense flesh. We’re talking very dense. In fact, the sweet meat is so hard that it is…