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Whose Thanksgiving side dishes are better: author Ann Hodgman's or your mother's? Take on our ramped-up "Beat This" challenge and let us know.

Get the Recipe for Ann's Mashed Potatoes

I only start to love the turkey when it's time to put it into a sandwich. At Thanksgiving dinner itself, it's a backdrop. A gorgeous backdrop, true, but never the first thing I eat. What I really pile my plate with is side dishes. And dessert, of course, but that comes later. I start with the best Brussels sprouts in the world. They're beautiful mahogany jewels — well, not jewels exactly, but not at all like the typical Brussels sprouts. They've been roasted until they're crisp and brown and deep-tasting. Then there's stuffing. People have strong opinions about stuffing, so I'm glad to settle all disputes: Mine is the best. Sausage, fresh thyme, apples and dried cranberries, and Pepperidge Farm stuffing — the only "mix" I allow in my kitchen. The battle over whether to use mini marshmallows in the sweet potatoes has destroyed many a family. I have the answer: my sweet potato biscuits. They're delicious. When my kids were little, it was the only part of the dinner they really looked forward to. And let me just say that I've perfected the recipe for mashed potatoes. But before I touch the sprouts, stuffing, biscuits, or potatoes, I have to remember to save room for the cranberry velvet pie . . .

I seriously doubt your recipes are better than mine. But I hereby throw down the official "Beat This" Thanksgiving gauntlet.

How To Enter: If you think you have an unbeatable recipe for sweet potato biscuits, mashed potatoes, Brussels sprouts, stuffing, or a really great pie, send them to wondertime.editors@disney.com with "Beat This" in the subject line. All entries must be received by 11:59:59 p.m., October 31, 2008.

The Wondertime judges will test my recipes against yours and decide on one winner in each category. If I win, I'll be as braggy as ever. If you win, you'll get $100.

Of course there are a couple of rules. No previously published recipes or prepared mixes allowed. We're really looking for the best recipes. Not the most healthful, not the quickest, not the cheapest, but the best. There are plenty of other contests for cheap, quick, or healthful imitations of good recipes. We want the kind of food that people will force you to give up the recipe for, the recipes that make your family and friends thankful for what a great cook you are. To read the complete rules, click here.

Next: Get The Recipe for Ann's Mashed Potatoes

Back to the Beat This:Thanksgiving Sides main page

Bonus! You can now log in to the Community site on Disney Family.com and join the Beat This: Recipe Challenge Group. Just log in with your Wondertime log in (or create a log in there if you currently do not have a log in name), and follow the instructions. Then you can share recipes, comment, join other groups and challenge everyone to Beat Your recipe!

Perfect Mashed Potatoes

Here's how to improve any regular mashed potato recipe: Use little red potatoes, unpeeled. Instead of boiling, cook them in the microwave along with a couple of cloves of peeled garlic. When you mash them, add more cream or milk than you'd need if you had boiled them to supply the liquid they didn't soak up. Add butter and salt to taste. They'll taste much more potato-y than the boiled kind, and everyone except Aunt Glennie will love having the skins included.