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Top Food Products for Your Thanksgiving Menu

Retailers’ picks for appetizers, desserts, beverages and more.

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The Retailers

Amelia Rappaport, Woodstock Farmer’s Market, Woodstock, VT

Bob Sickles, Sickles Market, Little Silver, NJ

Linda McIntyre, Villa Gourmet, Milford, CT

Holiday meal planning causes stress well before anyone even arrives at the dinner table. With Thanksgiving approaching, we’ve asked leading retailers around the country for some of their favorite specialty foods and ingredients that can help make your meal preparation a bit easier.

From ingredient helpers like butter spiked with sea salt, to cranberry side dishes made with rum and cherries, to cheese plates that celebrate American varieties, check out the following products for your Thanksgiving dinner. They’ll make your guests want to come back next year. (Okay, be careful what you wish for here!)—Nicole Denis

First Course

Blue Crab Bay Cream of Crab Soup ($5.99; bluecrabbay.com)
Hancock Gourmet Lobster Spruce Head Smoked Scallop Lobster Bisque ($28; hancockgourmetlobster.com)

Cheese Plate

Jasper Hill Cabot Clothbound Cheddar ($21.99/lb; cellarsatjasperhill.com)
Shelburne Farms 2-year Cheddar ($18/lb; shelburnefarms.org)
Uplands Cheese Pleasant Ridge Reserve (pictured above right) (prices vary; uplandscheese.com)
Cypress Grove Chevre Midnight Moon ($20/lb; cypressgrovechevre.com)

Beverages

Boyden Valley Vineyard Cranberry Wine ($15.99; boydenvalley.com)
Just So Vermont (nonalcoholic black currant juice with lime) ($4.50/12-oz bottle; justsovermont.com)
Boylan Bottleworks Root Beer (prices vary; boylanbottling.com)
Judy’s Vermont CranVeryBerry Relish ($11.95; vermontspecialtyfoods.org)
Les Moulins Mahjoub M’Hamsa Couscous ($9.39; moulinsmahjoub.com)
Stonewall Kitchen Butternut Squash Risotto Mix ($7.95; stonewallkitchen.com)

Ingredient Helpers (Seasonings, Marinades, Glazes and Brines)

Bell's Seasonings (pictured right) (prices vary; bellsseasonings.com)
Le Saunier de Camargue French Sea Salt ($14.95; saunierdecamargue.fr)
Urban Accents Gourmet Gobbler Herb Peppercorn Roasting Rub ($4.99; urbanaccents.com)
Vermont Creamery Sea Salt Butter ($6; vermontcreamery.com)

Dessert or Dessert Ingredients

Hidden Orchard Pumpkin Butter ($5.95; chester-chips.com)
Stonewall Kitchen Maple-Pumpkin Butter ($6.50; stonewallkitchen.com)
Dolci Pensieri di Calabria Fig Molasses ($14.99; woodstockfarmersmarket.com)

What’s Your Secret Recipe Ingredient?

Amelia Rappaport from Woodstock Farmers’ Market in Vermont says:

“Maple syrup! It makes a fantastic addition to a brining solution, and can also be brushed on as a glaze for your turkey in the last half hour of roasting to add a gorgeous color to the turkey’s skin. I even like the way gravy tastes, made from the pan drippings of a maple-glazed bird!” Rappaport recommends Grade-B dark maple syrup.