Ready for Thanksgiving?

We're trying some new things this year. Not a new menu -- although we have that. No, this is new technology.

Check our food page, at www.charlotteobserver.com/food, and you'll find my story and recipes on side dishes and a story and recipe by my Raleigh colleague Andrea Weigl on how acclaimed Durham chef Ben Barker packs more flavor into his turkey. You'll also find a link to a gorgeous holiday cookbook with all of those recipes, plus more turkey recipes, appetizers, desserts, a step-by-step slide show on making pie crust, and a video starring Johnson & Wales chef instructor Paul Malcolm on how to carve your turkey.

Even if you think you know how to cut up a turkey, Malcolm's video is a must-see. He specializes in meat cutting, and he knows some things about taking a knife to a turkey that are revelations. I've done the carving for years, and I learned tricks I've never seen before.

All of our Thanksgiving action this week is a combined effort between two food staffs, in Raleigh and Charlotte. Some readers have questioned the shared work we're doing with our sister paper, but this is one of those times when it pays off for you. We can do more together than we can do separately, and the holiday cookbook, which was lead by Andrea Weigl with support from me, is a terrific example.

I'm proud of what we were able to accomplish this year, and I hope you have a chance to put some of our new tools to use. Let me know what you think of them.