I’ve already said plenty about the Thanksgiving meal (and my Thanksgiving spreadsheet), but one of my favorite parts of planning for the holiday is the little extras, the special touches, the stuff nobody asked for.

Last year, I made a flight of compound butters—for rolls and potatoes—featuring schmaltz butter, brie butter (just a 50/50 mixture of the two whirred together in the food processor) and herb butter. I may have overdone it, but overdoing it is how I express affection.

This year, I’m pivoting from butter to garlic confit. I have a vegan in attendance, and he deserves something decadent for mashing into potatoes and smearing on rolls. The cloves get mellow and creamy—they make everything on the table better.

I’m not a big green bean casserole fan, but I adore a crispy allium of some sort, especially shallots. The good news is Fried Shallots are good on any casserole, and the infused oil can be used as the base for a salad dressing, or simply drizzled over roasted vegetables.

Cranberries are another vehicle for my creativity. I make a batch of classic cranberry sauce, because people would riot without it, but my favorite trick is turning a can of the congealed stuff into sorbet. I do this using my Ninja Creami. I coax the crimson cylinder out of its can, hit it with a stick blender to loosen it up, then freeze it solid in one of the Creami containers and process it the next day. It’s a great palate cleanser and tastes quite festive when scooped into a coupe of bubbly.

If you like a little savory spiciness with your tart-sweet berries, our Cranberry-Jalapeño Chutney is worth branching out for. I’m more interested in our Agrodolce Red Onions, however. They’re tart, sweet, crunchy—as well as similar in hue to cranberry sauce—and absolutely outstanding on roasted meats (like turkey, perhaps). Be sure to make extra so you have enough for sandwiches the next day.

Weirdly, appetizers are where I skimp. I just don’t see a point in feeding people before I’m going to feed people. But Matt recently made a compelling case for inviting anchovies to Thanksgiving in the form of Bagna Cauda, a luxurious dip made by melting down the little fishes into a hot bath of butter and olive oil with a whopping 12 cloves of garlic. Serve that with crudités instead of ranch or hummus and people will be impressed, I promise.

For desserts, my favorite extra is flavored whipped cream. Our Brown Sugar Whipped Cream isn’t just flavorful—with brown sugar and a little vanilla—but it lasts longer than most whipped toppings, thanks to a dollop of sour cream. It was originally developed as a finishing touch for our Invisible Apple Cake, but I think it will get along with our Burnt Sugar Apple Upside-Down Cake just fine.

Join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Pinterest.

And if you're looking for more Milk Street, check out our livestream cooking classes with our favorite chefs, home cooks and friends for global recipes, cooking methods and more.

Claire Lower

Claire Lower is the Digital Editor for Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street, with over a decade of experience as a food writer and recipe developer. Claire began writing about food (and drinks) during the blogging boom in the late 2000s, eventually leaving her job as a lab technician to pursue writing full-time. After freelancing for publications such as Serious Eats, Yahoo Food, xoJane and Cherry Bombe Magazine, she eventually landed at Lifehacker, where she served as the Senior Food Editor for nearly eight years. Claire lives in Portland, Oregon with a very friendly dog and very mean cat. When not in the kitchen (or at her laptop), you can find her deadlifting at the gym, fly fishing or trying to master figure drawing at her local art studio.