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I am always happy to share recipes.
Orange–Cranberry Compote
4–6 servings, best made a day or two in advance

1–12 oz. bag fresh cranberries, rinsed and picked over
1 orange, zested and juiced + packaged orange juice to = 1 cup
2/3 cup granulated sugar
pinch of salt
1 tbsp. Cointreau or Grand Marnier liqueur
1-1/2 tsp. orange flower water, a.k.a. orange blossom water

After you juice the orange, add just enough packaged OJ to make 1 cup of liquid. Combine ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then cook on medium, uncovered, for 6–8 min, until it starts to thicken up. Transfer to a dish, and cool to room temperature, uncovered, then cover and refrigerate overnight. Will keep one week in the refrigerator.

Read my Yelp list reviewing ten NJ bagel bakeries:
http://www.yelp.com/list/bagels-westfield

Pumpkin pie is a tradition on Thanksgiving. I have a great recipe, posted below. That said, I have decided not to make it this year. I like to change things up, and not make the same dishes year after year.

1 pie pastry
1–15 oz. can pumpkin filling
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup light cream
7 oz. granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. table salt
2 tsp. finely grated fresh ginger root
1/4 tsp. ground cardamom
4 tbsp. dark rum

Equipment
pie weights, pennies, or 1 lb. dried beans
10” pie plate
10” pie edge shield

Position oven rack in middle position and preheat to 375°F.
Roll out the dough to 12” round. Line the pie plate with the pastry round, flute the edge with your fingers. Line the pastry with aluminum foil and fill with pie weights. Blind bake the crust for 8 min. Remove weights and foil, pierce the bottom of the crust several times with a fork, and continue baking 5 min. or until pastry is set and dry. Cool on a wire rack.

Mix remaining ingredients to make filling. Place pastry–lined pie plate on oven rack. Carefully pour filling into crust. Cover edge of pastry with pie shield. Bake @ 375°F. for 50 min., or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool pie on a wire rack for 2 hours before serving.
To serve, garnish with whipped cream.
Cover and refrigerate leftovers. Will keep 2–3 days in the refrigerator.

I'm planning to make mac & cheese for Thanksgiving as well. I made a test batch a couple of nights ago, which was good, but refrigerating it overnight pretty much turned it into congealed glop. I can see that I am going to have to make this fresh for it to be satisfactory.

From the bizarro world of upside-down "pizza", and hot dogs topped with chopped tomatoes and pickles, now comes this. What do you call a turkey stuffed with ratburgers? Ratburgkey!

I always leave an 18–25% tip at a sit–down restaurant, especially if I am known to the staff. What annoys me is the now–ubiquitous tip jar, next to the cash register, at take–out places, and even in some retail stores. It is common to see an acccompanying sign saying, "college fund", or "tips not required, but appreciated". So now, I am expected to tip someone, for doing nothing more than handing me a bag and ringing up my purchase?
If the cashier looks like an unusually–ambitious teenager, or someone who appears to be grossly overworked and underpaid, I will throw a buck into the jar, but, invariably, they always look away just as I drop it in, leaving me feeling frustrated, sheepish, and almost cheated, a George Costanza moment. You know, I want the "thank you". If they don't see me do it, what's the point?

A written checklist is helpful, and this starts with a shopping list. Print out all your recipes beforehand, and make one list of everything that you need to buy.
One oven is a common problem that I share, so I prep/assemble as much beforehand as possible. The homeade cranberry or applesauce is made a couple days in advance. The sweet potatoes can be roasted or parboiled up to a day in advance. Likewise, the pumpkin, or other, custard pies.
The stuffing/dressing can be assembled the night before and refrigerated, then baked while the turkey rests. Obviously, the salad can be made in advance, and dressed just before serving.
Do the gravy, mashed, and veg on the stovetop while the turkey rests, and while the dressing and sweet potato casseroles heat through.
Have someone assist in putting all the dishes out for service, while you concentrate on carving the turkey at the last minute.

Although it's something most people don't eat the other 364 days of the year, the archetypical Thanksgiving side dish is cranberry sauce. Without it, your Thanksgiving table, no matter how elaborate, is incomplete.
While the jellied Ocean Spray product is every adult's nostalgic guilty pleasure, I also do my own version made with fresh cranberries, and flavored with Grand Marnier and Lebanese orange flower water.

Traditionally, my extended family, 20-25 ppl, come to my home every Thanksgiving for a home-cooked turkey dinner with all the trimmings. I usually prepare ten to 12 dishes, all from scratch, including desserts.

Last year, as we all sat down at the dinner table to share the meal, my nephew's wife (who's own expertise at preparing a meal is pretty much limited to calling for takeout pizza), reached into her handbag, pulled out an Oscar Meyer bologna sandwich on Wonder Bread, and handed it to her 6-year-old son, as his Thanksgiving dinner.
I was a little insulted at the time, but now I laugh about it.

Aside from the cosmetic appearance, I doubt the scratches have damaged the workbowl very badly. Try soaking it for a day or two in a bucket of strong baking soda solution to get the smell out. Failing that, replacement parts are readily available for all Cuisinart products. I just bought a new workbowl for my 25-year-old DLC-7.

Making a flour pie crust from scratch is well and good, but some pies are better with a graham cracker crumb crust, like key lime pie.
I have a great recipe for coconut custard pie, from Cook's Illustrated. It calls for a Nabisco Barnum's Animal Cracker crumb-and-coconut crust, but I do it with a chocolate-coconut crust instead. Who can resist the combination of chocolate and coconut?

6 oz. Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers
8 tbsp. unsweetened shredded coconut
1-14 oz. can coconut milk
9 tbsp. granulated sugar
5 large egg yolks
6 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 cup whole milk
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 tsp. vanilla extract
whipped cream topping

Position oven rack in lower–middle position and preheat to 325°F. Combine the chocolate wafers, 2 tbsp. coconut, 1 tbsp. sugar, and a pinch of salt in the food processor. Pulse until crumbs are finely ground. Melt 4 tbsp. of the butter and cool slightly. Combine the crumbs and the melted butter in mixing bowl, and work together with a fork until mixture resembles wet sand.
Using the bottom of a ramekin, press this mixture into the bottom and up the sides of a 9" pie plate. Blind bake 15 min. @ 325°F, remove from oven, and cool to room temp on a wire rack, while you prepare the filling.
Combine 5 tbsp. coconut, coconut milk, whole milk, 8 tbsp. sugar, and the remaining 3/8 tsp. salt in a medium saucepan, and bring to a simmer over medium–high heat, stirring occasionally. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, cornstarch, and 1 tbsp. sugar. Temper the egg yolks by slowly drizzling the hot milk mixture into the eggs, a little at a time while whisking constantly. When the egg mixture and milk are fully incorporated, return mixture to saucepan and cook until thickened and mixture reaches boil, whisking constantly, about 1 min.
Off heat, whisk in remaining 2 tbsp. butter and 1 tsp. vanilla until smooth. Pour hot filling into cooled pie shell. Press plastic wrap directly against surface of filling and refrigerate pie for at least 4 hours to set.
Place remaining 1 tbsp. shredded coconut in a small, dry frying pan and toast over medium heat until golden brown. Reserve to garnish the finished pie.

To serve, top pie with fresh whipped cream, and sprinkle the toasted coconut.

In my house, pie is an essential food group:
Granny Smith apple with walnut struesel
Coconut custard with Oreo crust
Key lime with Tahitian vanilla whipped cream
Maker's Mark-soaked pecan
strawberry rhubarb cranberry
deep-dish black raspberry
sweet potato with honey
Caribbean pumpkin with ginger, cardomom, and dark rum

The half-life of a fresh bagel is less than six hours. I am skeptical how a six-day old bagel would taste, or worse yet, one stored in the refrigerator for 10 days.
A fresh bagel that is sliced and immediately frozen, then toasted, is OK, but not as good as a fresh-baked bagel.