recipes that didn't make the cut

I know I have written a lot about Thanksgiving, but for those of us who are domestically inclined, and who love to cook, Thanksgiving is our Superbowl. And, at least for me, it's so worth all the effort. And now my dear Kristen is joining us for the meal, in addition to Jenn, so it will be an even better party.

A few recipes have come in under the wire to join the menu (assuming Mark approves, of course):

• Cranberry Kir Royale
• Cosmopolitan cranberry sauce (This sounds so tasty and well-suited to our crowd that I decided to skip the can. Plus, cranberry sauce is obscenely easy to make anyway, and can be made well in advance.)
• Roasted Brussels sprouts with garlic and pancetta (I have been spelling "Brussels sprouts" wrong all this time. We may make this recipe with bacon instead.)

Sadly, we cannot make all the recipes that I would have liked to, so here are some that sound fab, but for one reason or another did not make the cut:

• Roast turkey with black truffle butter -- I saw this recipe last year, and did think about it. But since we are still fairly new to the turkey roasting, we've been experimenting with brining, dry salting, etc. Perhaps next year we will finally make this one.
• Pumpkin bread pudding with caramel sauce -- I adore bread pudding, and would love to make this if I didn't love our pumpkin pie recipe even more.
• Quick winter squash soup with spicy toasted pumpkin seeds -- Sounds delicious, but adding a soup course is just one thing too many.
• Celery bisque with stilton toasts -- I love stilton, and I'm coming around (though slowly) on celery, but soup is too much. (See above)
• Baby Brussels sprouts with buttered pecans -- This recipe sounds great, but anything requiring separate steps (first boiling, then sauteeing) gets the ax on Thanksgiving. There is already enough going on in the kitchen -- and enough dishes to wash!
  

My lists are all made. Got one shopping trip (Trader Joe's) down, and two to go (Ralph's and Wholefoods... plus a quick trip out on Wednesday to buy the bread for the stuffing). The last step is the run-of-show, which I'll map out today. I'm loving how easy it is to do all of this calmly, with just a little planning!