Photo by dcJohn.

Cooking on Thanksgiving sure can be a hassle, even if you aren’t hosting anyone or need to keep a whole bunch of picky children satiated. Do you go the traditional route and prepare a turkey? What’s going to taste good? Where does one even start? Should you just go completely insane? Well, it’s pretty late for you to be asking these questions — but DCist is here to help. Our staff has a few ideas for the overwhelmed home chef’s Thanksgiving meal, no matter the size.

If you’re looking for an somewhat-off-the-beaten path plan, our Elisabeth Grant recommends checking out the The White House Cook Book: Cooking, Toilet and Household Recipes, Menus, Dinner-Giving, Table Etiquette, Care of the Sick, Health Suggestions, Facts Worth Knowing, Etc., Etc., initially published in 1887. (Let us know how the squash pie goes over.)

DCist theater critic Missy Frederick has a ton of Thanksgiving recipes at her cooking blog — but she recommends trying out the Chorizo Stuffing, Pumpkin Cheesecake and, for the day after, this recipe for Greek Turkey Soup.