Holiday recipes I can't live without

Ok, so this blog isn't entirely all about art and animation. I enjoy cooking, and Thanksgiving is arguably my favorite holiday, so each years I try stepping up my cooking game with a couple new recipe tryouts. If any end up being successful, I add them to the menu the next year (along with another couple new tryouts, and so on). This year I have three very solid appetizers that I'd like to share: mascarpone mashed potatoes, and the best cranberry sauce in the world.

Recipe 1: You've all eaten and probably have all made mashed potatoes before. The "secret" ingredient is usually extra garlic and butter. Time to get more imaginative. Try mascarpone as this year's secret ingredient. The recipe for mascarpone mashed potatoes is on the Food Network site, under cook Giada De Laurentiis. It's fantastic and you won't go back.

Recipe 2: The best cranberry sauce in the world (or as the AllRecpies.com site calls it, "Cranberry Sauce Extraordinaire") is so delicious I can't imagine any other version. This was the first thanksgiving recipe home-run I found on the Internet a few years back, and it has bowled over anyone who has tried it. If 1 cup of white sugar sounds high, sub it out with extra apples and pears or Stevia. Give it a try. Once you do, you'll look at this stuff as disgustedly as I do:

A vile monstrosity.

3. Downeast Maine Pumpkin Bread. This is a tryout recipe for 2013, and the reception last night was terrific, so I wholeheartedly recommend it. The recipe calls for 3 3x7 pans, but I used a 9x9 glass dish and a 5x9 pan (distribute the mix so there's an inch or so from the top of the mixture to the top of the pan). I will make this every year from now on.

This year's other tryout recipe? Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese by Rachael Ray. I can't vouch for it yet, but I'm crossing my fingers that this will fill the mac and cheese spot on my Thanksgiving roster that's been empty for too long.

No matter what's on your menu this Thanksgiving, I hope you have a great time with family and friends.