Holiday Meal Prep Help on the Web

I think it's time. Thanksgiving is nearly here and I've yet to plan the full menu.

In some ways, Thanksgiving is one of the least stressful holidays because we pull up our favorite recipes from year to year, but I always like to vary some part of the meal. Even if you've got your Turkey Day routine down to a science, there's still a good bit of shopping and prep to do.

Chris writes about how his favorite kitchen gadgets help him make great meals, but I thought I'd share how the web helps me plan a holiday feast. I call upon some favorite cookbooks and dog-eared recipes for the day, but I also find myself turning to a few good web sites. Each offers a variety of recipes, how-to tips, and planning tools.

Epicurious: It's where I go first on the web for recipes. You'll find any kind of recipe you'd like for Thanksgiving here. I've been spending some time on the "Celebrating without Supersizing" section. I also like the Bon Appetit "Foolproof Thanksgiving Countdown" for four very different kinds of Thanksgivings—modern, small and sophisticated, big, and completely do-ahead (what a concept!).

Real Simple: I picked up the November magazine, but I've been using the "Thanksgiving Cheat Cheat" on the web site, too. This is a great place to go if you are, you guessed it, looking to simplify the prep and the day. In addition to finding nice twists on traditional recipes, you'll find tips to help keep the day in perspective in this "Forty Ways to Simplify Thanksgiving" section. I particularly like the seating arrangement tool that helps you seat guests based on personality so the meal is enjoyable for all.

Yahoo! Food: Have you checked it out yet? On this new site, you'll find tips from master Martha Stewart on how to dress a turkey, roast it, carve it, and eat it at a beautifully laid-out table. There are lots of how-to videos with Martha explaining everything she does in trademark detail. Above and beyond Martha, Yahoo! Food also has thousands of recipes and a mini-site dedicated to Thanksgiving.

If you've got some favorite web sites for holiday meal planning, please share. And check out these other Thanksgiving-related links on Yahoo! Tech:

High-Tech Turkey Day
Putting the Give into Thanksgiving

Disclaimer: Yahoo Food is owned and operated by Yahoo! Inc., which also owns and operates Yahoo! Tech.