• Make sure the Thanksgiving preparations don't turn into an episode of "Hell's Kitchen" by following Mark Bittman's guide of 101 things to prepare in advance.
• Lose the rolling pin with these homemade dessert suggestions. No fussy pie crust required.
• "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" -- Melissa Clark challenges her family's traditional chestnut stuffing by cooking up three new stuffing possibilities to see if they can compete.
• The Pour Blog admits "books about wine are no substitute for drinking wine." But these six book suggestions about wine can help readers better appreciate what they're drinking.
• 'Tis the season to cook and bake pears.
• Legendary French chef Pierre Gagnaire is the latest three Michelin-starred to infiltrate the Vegas strip with his first restaurant endeavor in the U.S.

• In defense of the bird, Kim Severson submits that all Thanksgivings stem from a good turkey.
• In the battle of turkey versus sides, Julia Moskin makes her case for a smattering of sides, like Fiery Sweet Potatoes and Caramelized Corn with Fresh Mint, to beat the traditional appeal of the bird.
• The wine panel selects five reds and five white wines to complement the Thanksgiving feast.
• Sam Sifton awards Charlie Palmer's Aureole one star, describing it -- as New Yorkers say -- "meh."
• At the New Orleans Po-Boy Preservation Festival on Nov. 22, po'boy preservationists raise awareness for the "endangered" signature sandwich.
• With pears on the bottom and batter on top, Mark Bittman turns things topsy-turvy with his Pear Upside-Down Cake.

• Don't mourn the loss of the summer produce bounty. A guide to the dark leafy greens of fall -- like spinach, collards, Brussels sprouts, rainbow chard and savoy cabbage -- proves autumn has a cornucopia of seasonal vegetables.
• Cookbook author Paula Wolfert reveals her sacred kitchen object, claiming she "never met a pot of clay she didn't like."
• The common chickpea is spiced up with cumin, turmeric, coriander and cayenne.
• Got a hungry man in your life? Lucinda Scala Quinn, author of "Mad Hungry, Feeding Men & Boys" offers ten tips for feeding men (and boys), like "don't ask if they're hungry" and "train them to fend for themselves." After the tips, she cooks up five guy-approved recipes, like "Flat Roast Chicken" and "Steak Pizzaiola."
• Warm up with hearty stews as the weather cools down. Tomatillos, small green tomatoes popular in Mexican cooking, shine in a "lean, mean slow-cooker recipe" with beef eye of round and pinto beans.

• Trevor Corson, the author of "The Story of Sushi," says to step away from the chopsticks -- the proper way to eat sushi is with your fingers.
• Joaquin Baca of the Brooklyn Star only serves up food he likes to eat -- including the Americana classic green bean casserole, updated with homemade mushroom soup and onion rings.
• White House chef Sam Kass stirs pots and policy. When he's not preparing meals for the first family, he gathers with senior policy advisers to figure out how to improve the health of the country's children.
• First Lady Michelle Obama makes a cameo on the Jan. 3 episode of "Iron Chef America" to raise awareness for the Healthy Kids Initiative -- and revealing that the secret ingredient is anything from the White House garden.
• From Momofuku to Marco Canora, the roundup of this season's best new cookbooks is sure to take readers on an "edible adventure."
• Sam Sifton's latest reviews Le Relais de Venise L'Entrecôte, the Parisian import to Midtown that relies on "the simplicity of salad, steak and fries, heavy on the salt and butter, rich as a cardiologist," and waitresses in what resemble French maid outfits.
• The Minimalist, Mark Bittman, takes meatball madness to the Middle East with lamb, cumin, mint and bulgur.
• Nostalgic for wine from their Vienna upbringing, Carlo Huber and Paul Darcy made it their mission to bring Viennese wines and wine culture to the United States.
• Saltie, a tiny sandwich shop in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, serves up sandwiches "the Earl would approve."

• A brief background on bloodsuckers, plus "a bloody fete Dracula would thirst for" -- creative fanger foods, pun intended.
• When left home alone with the task of feeding trick-or-treaters, one columnist came to discover the marvelous match of red wine and chocolate.
• Bacon banter has finally leveled out a bit, but isn't going anywhere anytime soon. However, a recent local event preceding April's Baconfest Chicago wowed porcine appreciators, with dishes like the pumpkin-bacon-waffle with pomegranate-glazed pork belly.
• More than "junk food with a European pedigree," Nutella is a "vaguely wholesome" snack with an interesting background -- and can be made at home from scratch.
• The Festival of Wood- and Barrel-Aged Beer takes place November 7, and pays tribute to a worthy beer trend on the rise.
• A gallery of ten "superfoods" we should be consuming more of, from avocados and beets to chia seeds and dandelion greens.
• Recipes: Comforting Chicken Pot Pie with Drop Biscuits ("the gustatory equivalent of curling up with your favorite blanket"); the luscious Vanilla Ice Cream with Bourbon Walnuts and Caramel; Slow-Cooked Pulled Pork and Spicy Slaw "warms up a Halloween party;" Sheila Lukins' Banana Cake.

Tricks for elevating Passover cuisine from a kosher caterer.

An osso buco primer that will have you drooling.

A snapshot of the Rhode Island locavore.

All about lamb in time for that Easter dinner or Passover seder.

•Volcanic vino – a critic samples wines sprung from the ashes of Italy's still-bubbling Mt. Etna.

•Charcuterie: Have we gone totally hog wild for cured, salty meats or is it merely a passing fancy?

• Japanese pizza hits Canada; critic pans it as the "Hello Kitty" of slice-ville.

• It's maple syrup season for our neighbors to the north, which they celebrate by visits to "sugar shacks" and concocting syrupy treats like "maple sponge toffee."

• British PM Gordon Brown, in a nod to the unsavory financial climate, picks Jamie Oliver -- aka "The Naked Chef" – to whip up a frugal (or at least foie gras-free) feast for G-20 finance bigwigs. Read more about that here.

Here's what's doing in the Los Angeles Times Food Section for Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2008:

Bonjur, dude. Vietnamese street food, with a French and SoCal twist. Get thee to Westminster or make it yourself. In either case, like, bon appetit!

The slow drip: Because you have to know how to make that delicious Vietnamese coffee. Here's how.

Comeback Kid: Years after dying out, the American chestnut is making a slow and much-welcomed return. Russ Parsons reports.

How to skin a chestnut. Right here.

Recipe: Brussels sprouts braised with bacon and chestnuts.

The craft beer revolution in L.A.

The best beer bars in L.A.

S. Irene Virbila reviews BiMi in L.A. and finds it not just another sushi-bar in L.A.

Where the slow food movement is headed.

• Sometimes pricey-tasting wine doesn't have to have a big price tag, like Priorat, "the Sidney Crosby of wines."
• Old cookbooks, history, and orange/almond Icebox Cookies.
• If you have lots of money to spare, and would like olllld wine and rare, futuristic wine storage perks with your charity donations, how about spending tens of thousands to help the McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine and getting a Porsche Design Studio wine fridge full of vintage selections date back to the '50s?
• The ins and outs of "aromatic whites."
• Recipe: Grilled Tuscan-Style Rabbit with Olive, Thyme, and Tomato.
• KFC Canada not only works towards fixing chicken issues, but gets into some "vegan chicken."
• West Restaurant and Warren Geraghty's move to Vancouver.
• Halloumi -- a cheese that doesn't melt.

• Tarapaca 2007 Sauvignon Blanc from Chile leads the wine pack, and it's under $10.
• Vancouver chef David Wong will be Canada's representative at the Bocuse d'Or, to take place this January in Lyon, France. So far, he plans to work with Angus beef tenderloin with oxtail and beef cheeks, as well as Norwegian cod with lobster.
• Is wine out of a tetra pack, rather than a bottle, really better for the environment?
• Go ethnic with your crepes and try a South Indian dosa -- they're made "from fermented rice and lentil batter, spread onto huge griddles to make thin, savoury crepes that have a mild, slightly sour flavour."

• If you got to attend a celebrity dinner, would you? What if you were served a big pig's head, with eyes ready to eat, or maybe some of those wobbly red things on roosters? It was all for $295 a plate.
• Did you know that dry scallops are better? The water and preservatives affect the quality, so get some dry ones and try scallops with chorizo.
• Toronto restaurant reviews: Grace on College St., Swatow on Spadina, and Chinese Traditional Bun on Dundas St. West.

Could you imagine waking up at dawn each morning to knead and shape dough, letting it rise for a few hours, then take it to a centrally located oven where it is baked alongside everyone else's? This is the norm for many families in places like Morocco, though with modernization the tradition is beginning to fade.

In Pixar's latest film Ratatouille, Remy the Rat learned his culinary skills from the best of the best - Thomas Keller, owner of French Laundry in Yountville, California.

Is your organic food really all organic? The Department of Agriculture is preparing to approve a list of non-organic ingredients that could make the cut in food stamped with their organic seal

Eric Asimov takes a look at the delights of Beaujolais in 'The Pour'

Frank Bruni asks some of the more prominent names in the food industry which meals or moments in their pasts were "pinnacles of carnivorous gluttony." Yes, pig snout made the list.

This week's recipes:

Lamb Schnitzels With Mint-Horseradish Pesto, Confit Byaldi, Lamb and Bulgur Kibbe With Garlic Yogurt Sauce, Chicken With Couscous, Moroccan Anise-Flavored Bread (Khubz), Tagine of Fish, Pea and Crab Salad

• David Kamp criticizes the few choices restaurants are offering our children nowadays, in what he calls a chicken-finger pandemic.

• Is tap water the new black? Many restaurants are ditching over-priced designer waters and returning to the stuff that comes straight from the sink

• Summer is the right time to serve up Soft-Shell Crabs, according to The Minimalist, Mark Bittman

• Are you intimidated by the power of saffron?

This week's recipes include:

The Soft-Shell Crab Poor Boy (video), Fettuccine with Mushroom Ragù, Saffron Almond Meringues, Papas Bravas (shown, above), and Vegetable Paella With Wild Mushrooms

Veritable artistry in something we're not quite with familiar with: verrine. What is it? A verrine is a French import, something like a terrine, with layers of ingredients in a small glass that is either an appetizer or a dessert, and is becoming increasingly popular with chefs on this side of the Atlantic.

Speaking of imports, what's not to love about the life of a wine importer?

In the kitchen, get your rolling pins out for the perfect pie crust you can trust. Also, a recipe for slow-roasted roasted pork shoulder and a few breads.

SIV visits Vertical, a new wine bistro in Pasadena and gives it one star (*).

Apparently, New York's nickname should have been "Chicken Soup City" and not the "Big Apple." Ed Levine tasted his way through a fair number of the city's tremendous chicken soup offerings while searching for the perfect bowl. The secret? Use your grandmother's recipe as a starting point - it's what the pros do. And slurp up some of the best in the city when you have the chance.

Utilizing other parts of the chicken, a recipe from Chef David Kinch turns chicken livers into a confit which rivals the taste and texture of foie gras.

Columnist Alex Witchel managed to overcome a bad experience with a silver finger bowl and dish out some advice on dealing with the unfamiliar at a dinner party.

Mark Kurlansky sees the city in the oyster's half shell and the Minimalist, Mark Bittman, makes puttanesca.

[photo NYT]