A boozy end

OK, it’s decision time. Do you start with a soup? Serve a deep-fried or slow-roasted bird? Brine it or not? Will it be cornbread or rice dressing or—quelle horreur—white bread stuffing? Sweet potatoes: sweet or savory? A homespun vegetable casserole or a sophisticated reinvention? China or paper plates? Will the meal unfold course-by-course or will it feel more like The Pic’? They’re all good, and they’re all fodder for gratitude. I’m not sure what’s better; the meal itself or the steps preceding it.

There are a few notable trends in the air this year as Baton Rouge heads toward Thanksgiving. Despite the continuing abundance of local cooks, more of us are turning to local caterers and restaurants to offset our workload. It continues to be one of the most stable subsectors of the restaurant industry. Don’t feel like peeling shrimp for shrimp cocktail? Order a platter from Tony’s or Heads and Tails. Have a guest with low-salt needs? See the Capital City’s Whole Foods Market. Got the jones for classic turtle soup? Call Chef Don Bergeron. It used to be that families only reached out for help when they were in a pinch. Now, they’re fully bought in to the notion that it’s OK to supplement their own hard work with someone else’s.

Another standout trend is the abundance of online and social media resources for planning and executing the meal and for getting help while you’re cooking. Epicurious is hard to beat for its range of dishes and interactive technical assistance, including budget and vegetarian Thanksgiving dinners and turkey primers. And, the American Public Media radio show, The Splendid Table will host a live opportunity on Thanksgiving Day to tweet, call or email cooking questions to Ruth Reichl, Jacques Pepin, Jane and Michael Stern and others. You can hear it on WRKF.

Finally, while we all have set notions of what should be served for Thanksgiving, here’s a suggestion to break with traditional desserts. This is a meal that deserves a dreamy, sexy end and, for me, a big ol’ slab of pumpkin pie or bread pudding doesn’t do it. I like boozy retro desserts like Brandy Alexander in a funky glass or a small bowl of vanilla ice cream topped with gaudy, electric green Crčme de Menthe liqueur. In this period of excessive reinvention, a nod to decadent simplicity is something to be thankful for.