From one viewpoint, the November issue is the easiest issue of the year for a food magazine's editor to publish. Unlike, say, April or August, the focus will be on Thanksgiving, the turkey, the side-dishes, desserts and appetizers. There will be a nod to the vegetarians. Of course, finding something new to do with turkey and mashed potatoes must be rather nerve-wracking.

Bon Appetit

I have perused BA's Thanksgiving issue every year since 1993 (except one year that I didn't think to look for it until — gasp — November, and it had been pulled from shelves by then). It's the most popular cooking magazine in the country, and its current focus is "68 recipes to mix and match: turkeys stuffings potatoes sides breads" (or: meat, starch, starch, token vegetable, starch). The focus is on finding recipes for this year.

Cover: Turkey. And a "new" style for the magazine title I still haven't accustomed myself to.

Pro: Regular columnists Dorie Greenspan and Molly "Orangette" Wizenberg. Both write one recipe and about a page of supporting copy for each issue. Greenspan wrote about Fougasse, and Wizenberg about butternut squash and cheddar bread pudding. Both look yummy.

Con: No other focus on the culture around food. They've had a "learning" feature (now called Prep School) throughout the years that has shifted in status and position within the magazine. Right now it's on page 148, after the main copy (can you say, afterthought?). The travel feature was for downtown LA — I guess the travel budget has been slashed to nothing. The shopping feature now looks like every e-commerce site; at least on the web you can see a larger version of the miniscule photos. Photography on the feature articles is terrible: blown out with sharp, near-black shadows. Typography is ugly — very 70s. Are they trying to be hipster?

Gourmet

How could I pass up the final issue?

Cover: Turkey. Over the life of the magazine, the logo changed only in size and color. Final editor Ruth Reichl enlarged it, and for this issue made it an unattractive safety orange. Teaser headlines worthy of Woman's Day.

Pro: Thanksgiving in rural Pennsylvania, with lots of Germanic-descended dishes. The regular feature Gourmet Everyday Quick Kitchen is the best designed and very attractive, and doesn't look like an afterthought or filler. I'll make either the fig crostata or cranberry-apple crumble from the God Living section to go with the pumpkin pie. The blurb about tablespoons measuring different amounts has inspired me to calibrate all my own measuring spoons. The back page featured dips, one of which may grace the Thanksgiving hors d'œuvres.

Con: "Rural Pennsylvania" really meant "Pennsylvania Amish and Mennonite"; most of rural Pennsylvania isn't Amish. The two recipe-focused features had no background or history of the cuisine. Unreadable, two-column layouts. Pushing all the photos to the front of the article, disconnecting them from the text. Photos are dark. (Is it that hipster look again?) In the photos for Southern Thanksgiving feature, the turkey seems to move from room to inappropriate room, for example, it sits on the coffee table in front of a sofa. Really. The desserts article seems misplaced in the Good Living section; I'd expect it to be a feature article.

Saveur

Cover: Turkey. I didn't buy it.

Cook's Illustrated

In some ways, Cook's has it easier than the other magazines. First, Cook's is one man's focus on developing the best recipes, buying the best ingredients, and using the best equipment. Essays on food are limited to "how I developed this recipe" and Chris Kimball's own folksy reminiscing on New England life. Secondly, this is a Thanksgiving and Christmas issue, thus a somewhat broader scope. Not every November/December issue has a turkey recipe; some years it's ham, or a beef roast. The overall number of recipes is much smaller. Articles often focus on a single dish (green beans, cranberry sauce, winter salads, spiced nuts) with a master recipe and variations, and run only a page or two.

Cover: Pomegranates! Back cover is always a "poster" of related foods or dishes; this year it was holiday breads, holidays ranging from Rosh Hoshana through Mardi Gras. Bread was stretched to include plum pudding, mooncakes and buche de noël.

Pro: One of the baby peas recipes will find its way into this year's dinner, and many weeknight dinners too. Should I become fearless enough to cook scallops myself, I'll turn to this issue. Cook's product reviews are one of the best features of the magazine, and they compare cinnamons, and had the good sense to award Penzey's top honors.

Con: A turkey recipe, beef tenderloin, (chicken) bouillabaisse, scallops and cassoulet: two holiday centerpiece recipes with three more main dish recipes? The cinnamon review compared only one of the four cinnamons that Penzey's offers, and my least favorite at that. This issue, Cook's recycled past product reviews into "The Best Small Appliances." All of which I think you could skip, unless you bake, and then you should have either the stand or handheld mixer (but not both). If you bake with ground nuts, yes, the food processor is damn useful. I do love my blender, but not necessary. Waffle maker? Rice cooker? Crock pot (sorry, slow cooker)?

A freebie

What most readers seem to want (or what most editors think readers want) is recipes, recipes, recipes. But, if anyone cares what I want to read, here are some free story ideas for any food editors reading this:

• Pick any region of America and any time period, and describe Thanksgiving or the typical family gathering/celebration then: New Orleans, Seattle, Texas; during WW II, the settlement of the west, the Great Depression. Bon Appetit did entire Thanksgiving and Christmas issues structured around a theme in the 90s: Thanksgiving in the colonies and Christmas around the world. New England would have to be represented, but any time other than that first Thanksgiving. But what about pre-Columbian native American harvest feasts?
• Immigrants in America. My own off-the-boat grandparents had a very American Thanksgiving; now my cousins' children demand Spätzle from my aunt because that's special, only-at-grandma's food. Is the meal completely American, or are some foods from their home countries served too?
• Celebrate Thanksgiving abroad, like embassy staff. How easy is it to make the traditional dishes? Can you even find a turkey?