This Chocolate Chess Pie Is a Dessert Checkmate

Butter, chocolate, sugar, eggs, vanilla, cocoa, salt. Those ingredients make up Vaughn Vreeland’s new chocolate chess pie (above), a veritable litany of all the baking stuffs we want when the weather turns cold and the yule log turns warm. Made with a store-bought pie crust (or a half-recipe of this foolproof pie dough), it’s the perfect move for a gathering where some people want pie, some want chocolate and everyone wants something sweet.

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Chocolate Chess Pie

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Speaking of Thanksgiving — we are five days out, after all — we trust that you’ve used our Ultimate Guide to Thanksgiving to put together the menu of your (and your guests’) dreams. With turkey, stuffing and sides presumably figured out, you might be looking for those extra items that round out the feast, making it feel, well, extra. This savory butternut squash and goat cheese galette would be delicious as an appetizer, side dish, lunch or breakfast. With a simple green salad, it’d be an elegant weeknight dinner.

Ali Slagle’s cheesy pull-apart bread is the sort of home-run family favorite that you’ll probably be tasked with making every year from here on out. That’s not a problem, as the ingredient list is short and flexible (swap the mozzarella for Cheddar, add scallions or rosemary to the butter), and it’s a snap to put together.

Because something green is never a bad idea: Julia Moskin’s classic, five-star green beans with ginger and garlic, a simple side that comes together in 20 minutes.

And two dinner ideas for feasts that don’t involve a giant roasted bird: sushi bake, an instantly endearing 9-by-13 pan of California roll-style filling on seasoned sushi rice; and Angela Dimayuga’s stellar, salty-sour coconut milk chicken adobo.

🍷 Turkey Tracker 🍷

• More meaty, festive mains that aren’t turkey: roast tarragon-cognac chicken, bulgogi, barbacoa and pernil.

• This is the weekend to buy those perishables.

• Eric Asimov has assembled a list of 20 great Thanksgiving friendly wines under $20, and Florence Fabricant has selected eight great nonalcoholic wines. Feel free to forward those to whoever’s on beverage duty.