In the first two hours after Lupe Fiasco tweeted his new mixtape Thanksgiving morning, "Friend of the People" was shared thousands of times on Facebook and Twitter. more ›

The restaurant is throwing open its doors and offering a free Thanksgiving meal to those in need. more ›

The same dishes year after year can be comforting, or they can be so boring that you go through an entire case of wine. If you're feeling the need to break out of the Thanksgiving box, here's a few ways you can switch up the old favorites. more ›

You're supposed to bring a side dish to Thanksgiving tomorrow, aren't you? Here is a simple and seasonal recipe for roasted squash, pecans, and brown sugar. more ›

Here are a few myth-busting facts about Turkey, your favorite Thanksgiving super-bird. more ›

Proper Thanksgiving movies may be few and far between, but that doesn't mean that Hollywood doesn't provide us with some notions on how to get through its signature event: the large family meal. more ›

Stop in for pre-and-post Thanksgiving drinks, and enjoy discounts on North Shore products and cocktails. more ›

If you need a bread course for Thanksgiving or just a new recipe, try these smooth, savory biscuits. more ›

Check out these Chicago restaurants running special deals for Turkey day. more ›

Hosting Thanksgiving can be stressful and intimidating. Now that we’re just over a week away from the big day, we wanted to share with you our tips for staying cool, calm, and collected. Sort of. more ›

Most of them are already spoken for - but you have one last chance to get a great local turkey. more ›

Oh joy, it's tuber time at the farmers' markets. Try our recipe for spicy roasted sweet potatoes as an alternative to the mashed or sugared, goopy versions. This side dish goes well with savory meats and fish. And please, hold the marshmallows! more ›

Jeans feeling a little tight after the Thanksgiving weekend? We happened to notice that you asked for a second (or was it a third?) helping of pie. For a little Thanksgiving detox, try making these golden raisin carrot muffins, which use whole wheat flour and substitute unsweetened applesauce for much of the oil. Let’s keep Chicago beautiful, people. more ›

After the end of the Thanksgiving season, we often reflect on the little joys and sorrows of the season. Since we're usually the hosts and cooks, we think about what dishes went over well, which were bombs, and how we can manage to work more rum into the meal. Lately, we've also had to think about dietary accommodations, and our successes and failures. John's great post last week got us thinking. Attending Thanksgiving with vegetarians, vegans, gluten-free diners and people with nut allergies raises the question - how much should a host have to worry? more ›

By now the turkeys, hams, pork roasts or whatever you're cooking should be ready for carving and serving. And, if you're with a large number of family and friends, the weekend warriors are returning from the parks caked in mud, scratches, a few pulled ligaments and maybe a bill from one or two emergency room visits. more ›

Almost as much a part of the Thanksgiving holiday as turkey, sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie, football has traditionally acted as the great entertainer for men while the women slaved away on the feast. While this holiday division of labor has changed some over the past couple decades, the tradition of the NFL on TV on Turkey Day remains even as John Madden and his six-legged turkducken have permanently parked the Madden Cruiser. more ›

Thanksgiving does not pull its weight when it comes to movies. Compared with Christmas, Halloween and even Valentine's Day, there just aren't many filmmakers tackling the subject of Turkey Day, or even using it as a backdrop. It's enough to make us think a holiday consisting of people sitting around, stuffing their faces and slipping into a tryptophan-induced food coma atop whatever piece of furniture is closest to a television is not inherently cinematic. In fact, there may be only five Thanksgiving movies worth watching. more ›

Ah Thanksgiving, that day of over-indulgent days - a holiday celebrated by the consumption of copious amounts of roasted, baked, fried, and boiled foods. For many, the centerpiece of this feast is the turkey. However, not everyone looks forward to celebrating with a drumstick. For vegetarians and vegans, Thanksgiving can be a difficult holiday to digest. If you are of the veggie variety, so-called "Turkey Day" does not have to be an occasion to dread. A little pre-holiday planning and prep is all it takes to make it through the day with a full tummy and a clear conscience. more ›

Last Friday, we posted some great special meals for those who prefer to go out for Thanksgiving. Why stay home and dirty up your entire kitchen when you can make someone else do the cooking for you - and at a very reasonable price? Here are a few more special deals that caught our eye - some traditional, some... not so much. more ›

On Mondays, we invite our readers to gather around our table and discuss a culinary issue of the day. If you have anything you'd like to talk about, send it to anthony@chicagoist.com more ›

Sometimes, you don't want to cook a giant turkey (or tofurkey) and would prefer to have someone else do the work for you. This year, there are some great Thanksgiving options to peruse at restaurants all over Chicago! In fact, there are so many that we couldn't fit all of them into one post. Stay tuned Monday afternoon for even more events and offers - and make your reservations early! more ›

A classic clip from a classic holiday episode of a classic television show. Here, Bart echoes how most of us - well, Tankboy and myself, anyway - are around the kitchen on Thanksgiving day. more ›

This afternoon, President Obama took part in the annual pardoning of the White House turkey, bringing along daughters Sasha and Malia as he pardoned Courage the Turkey. Obama said, "Thanks to the intervention of Malia and Sasha, because I was planning to eat this sucker, Courage will also be spared this terrible and delicious fate." The lucky turkey will spend his life at Disneyland. No word from Obama elaborating his fears of a potential hostile robot takeover. more ›

Planes, trains, and automobiles the country over are being utilized to transport folks from one city to another. Here are some scenes of those trying to escape the Windy City for the holiday weekend. more ›

In what has become a site tradition, the staff at Chicagoist have shared some of our favorite family recipes for readers at Thanksgiving. This year we decided to do something a little different. We reached out to some of our favorite local chefs to come up with side dishes that best complement the Thanksgiving turkey. How you may want to prepare the bird Thursday is up to you. We're hellbent on cooking the turkey sous vide, after watching the Grant Achatz/Nick Kokonas video from last year and this one with PolyScience's Phillip Preston and Erick Williams of MK. These side dishes our chefs have sent us should complement any Thanksgiving table. more ›

We've been remiss with filing the Buffet the past two weeks and, with Thanksgiving right around the corner, we thought we'd instead list this week local restaurants offering Thanksgiving dinners, either to dine in or to go. This one's for those of you who think you have no cooking skills or simply don't want to put forth the effort in the kitchen. more ›

• Who is the chef behind the blog Butcher's Grip? Don't look at us to out him/her, especially since, for followers of snout-to-tail, it's isn't as though the chef is completely anonymous. [via Grub Street Chicago]
• Late night secret congee menus at Me Dee Café in Ravenswood. [The Food Chain]
• Delightful Pastries' second location is now open in Old town. [Drive-Thru]

Back in the day, it was customary to buy the newspaper right around Thanksgiving and check out all the ads and circulars to see which store had the best Black Friday deal. But now things are a bit easier, thanks to bargain-hunting website gotadeal.com, a site that specializes in bringing consumers the newest and cheapest deals from major chain stores such as Target, Best Buy, and Walmart, among others. more ›

Two years ago, we bought our first local turkey to serve for Thanksgiving. At the time, it was mostly an ethical decision - after reading far too much about turkeys that are too breast-heavy to walk and too stupid to mate on their own, we didn’t want any part of the turkey empire that is Butterball. We visited a farm near our parents' home in Iowa, picked out a turkey that seemed lively and drove home with it that very day. After brining and roasting, the turkey was presented to family and friends, and we realized the other reason to buy local - it tastes better. Much better. more ›

In his weekly address, President-Elect Obama discusses Thanksgiving. And the economy. more ›