I'm contributing a course for a group Thanksgiving dinner with twenty-something friends. What can I cook that's unique, easy, and awesome?

"...unique, easy, and awesome."  I was waiting for the dreaded fourth "and cheap." unique... check easy...check awesome...check Escargot stuffed mushrooms is what I'm making as one of my side-dishes.  Very easy and delicious, but not so cheap.  Perfect one (or two) bite appetizer.  Don't worry, you'll have plenty of food if all 20 people are bringing something. Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 25 minutes Ingredients: 12 tablespoons softened butter 4 teaspoons finely chopped shallots 4 cloves garlic, crushed and finely chopped 2 tablespoon finely chopped celery 2 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper 24 jumbo mushrooms, cleaned with stems removed (Costco always has good ones) 24 large escargot (1 can, about $10-$12, or so.  You'll need 2 cans for 24 people.) Preparation:Preheat an oven to 375F. Mix together 6 tablespoons of the softened butter with the shallots, garlic, celery, parsley, salt, and pepper. Place a small spoonful of herb butter and a snail in each mushroom cap, and then brush the exterior of the mushroom with a bit of the herb butter. Arrange the mushrooms in a shallow baking dish and bake them for 15 minutes. Serve hot.

Dates wrapped in bacon has always been a hit whenever i have to bring a dish.  Its pretty unique, SUPER easy to make, and no one expects something so yummy to come from your kitchen! You can look for a recipe of your own, but they all pretty much look like this: http://www.food.com/recipe/dates-wrapped-in-bacon-73499

Had the same challenge a few years ago, we made the "Very Wild Rice Salad" recipe from the Rutherford Grill in Napa (the recipe is easily googleable) but instead of dried figs we used dried cranberries. It was a huge hit. Plus it's vegetarian and vegan if there's a need to accomodate.

Try Brown Sugar Balsamic-Glazed Brussels Sprouts! So easy and will convert a "brussels sprouts hater" to a lover. It worked on me!! http://tsiporahblog.wordpress.com/2012/05/09/sarahs-favorite-brussels-sprouts/ For a twist, you can add fresh pomegranate seeds after cooking the brussels sprouts!

I'm going to go much easier....And also give you two recipes: 1. Sweet potatoes baked with lavender; peel and cut the sweet potatoes to about 1/2 inch thick on one side.  Toss in a bowl with salt, pepper, lavender buds and enough olive oil to coat all pieces of sweet potato.  Throw them in the oven on a lined baking sheet at 350 for about 40 minutes, or until tender....these are awesome.. 2. Roasted root veggies;  4 large carrots, 1 celeriac, 3 regular parsnips, all peeled and chopped into 1 inch pieces.  Add to that minced shallots(2 or 3), a crushed garlic clove, a cinnamon stick, 2 tablespoons of butter, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 4 ounces of finely sliced pancetta, teaspoon of thyme and rosemary, season with salt and pepper. Toss all ingredients until the oil/butter covers everything, put in a ceramic baking dish and throw in the oven for about 1 hour at 400 degrees.

Deep-fried turkey. After you've had one of those, you'll never go back to an oven-baked one. Look online for complete instructions, it's surprisingly easy and deliciously awesome. As a safety tip: bring to temp, turn off the flame, add the turkey, then relight to fry. That way, if you boil-over, you won't catch the house on fire.

If you want easy, here's a dead simple recipe I used last year: Ingredients: four beets, some oil, three lettuce leaves, salt, pepper, 15 pistachios Directions Cut off greens Brush beets with oil Wrap in foil Roast for 75 minutes (until fork slides in pretty easily) at 425 Remove from oven Let cool Peel off skin Slice into 1/4 slices Place one layer of lettuce leaves on a serving platter Place the beets on the lettuce, leaning each beet on the previous Drizzle with a tablespoon of (sherry or redwine) vinegar Salt and pepper Sprinkle some pistachio dust for optics

This is SO easy, and its served room temp, so the host won't have to make room in the frig, or on the stove. BRUSSEL SPROUT SALAD 2 pkgs. (10 oz.) frozen brussel sprouts 3/4 c. Italian dressing 1/2 pt. cherry tomatoes, cut in halves Cook brussel sprouts as directed on package. Pour salad dressing over hot (drained) brussel sprouts, turning until well coated. Cool. Cover and refrigerate at least three hours. Add tomatoes to brussel sprouts and toss. Serve in lettuce cups if desired.

Go for dessert...... After the gorging ..... Nothing is better than a small sweet...,, Make them mouth-size....single bites so the guest can have an assortment without stuffing themselves once more! One of my favorites is a mid-eastern dessert.  Stuffed dried dates. Get a good quality pitted date.  Slightly split it and fill it with a mixture if almond paste and chopped pistachios.  Seal them back up by using a toothpick to hold them closed.  Then dip them into a reduced simple syrup and allow to dry on wax paper.  The tooth pick remains in to be the handle.  Add some other favorites to make the platter!