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Welcome to a special early Thanksgiving edition of This is TODAY! As we head into the weekend before the holiday, we're offering 17 recipes for the stars of Thanksgiving — sides — crafted by chefs like Martha Stewart, Bobby Flay and Alejandra Ramos. Plus, experts share their timeline tips for preparing this year's dinner, ways to save on grocery shopping, and 21 questions to reflect on after your meal.

But first, the news ...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced yesterday she is stepping down as her party’s leader after two decades, but will remain as a lawmaker in the chamber. Twitter said it would be closing its offices until Monday after a new wave of employees resigned in response to CEO Elon Musk’s demand that workers commit to a “hardcore” work environment. The coroner in the University of Idaho killings revealed new details about the attacks in an interview with NBC News after initial autopsy reports came back. And Ticketmaster canceled the public sale for Taylor Swift’s new tour due to crushingly high demand for seats. Plus, Qatar will no longer serve beer at the World Cup. 

The United Sides of Thanksgiving: 17 delicious sides recipes from our favorite chefs.

Look, we love turkey. But if we're being honest, we all know sides are the real stars of Thanksgiving. Side dishes are just more fun, allowing for endless customizations, flavors and the opportunity to show off one's culture and heritage. The TODAY Food team has rolled out its annual United Sides of Thanksgiving guide, featuring amazing recipes for creative and delicious sides from chefs like Marcus Samuelsson, Alejandra Ramos and Siri Daly. Check out the full list here.

💦 To brine or not to brine? How to decide whether to give your turkey a brine bath before cooking it.

In recent years, brined birds — soaked in a salty, heavily seasoned solution before cooking — have become popular. "Top Chef" star Padma Lakshmi swears by this fragrant, savory buttermilk brine. However, yesterday on TODAY, Martha Stewart cautioned to "never brine," but to spatchcock the bird instead so it cooks evenly. So should you brine your turkey beforehand? Well, it's really up to you. If you want to try it, here's Padma's buttermilk brine recipe. We've also got tips on how to dry brine using just spices and a deliciously smokey tea-brined turkey recipe. (Sorry, Martha.)

⏲️ Pro chefs gave us a handy Thanksgiving timeline for when to shop, prep and cook for dinner. 

To help you nail Thanksgiving dinner this year, TODAY Food spoke with a few expert chefs for tips on how to get organized to prepare America’s favorite feast. They told us the best time to buy your fresh ingredients, when to start thawing your turkey, when to start prepping, and how to time everything out to keep your kitchen stress-free on the day of. Check out their Thanksgiving timeline tips here. Plus, with inflation trimming everyone's budgets, we also have 11 deals and tips to save money on Thanksgiving groceries.

Achieve your life goals with easy tips.

If you're not in a food coma after Thanksgiving dinner, a recent study finds taking a walk to get outside and self-reflect may have some of the same benefits as professional counseling. Even if you don't have obstacles in your life, self-reflecting while walking can help bring you into a more positive mood. Asking these 21 questions — including thoughts about where you live and what your habits are — can help kick-start your self-reflection practice. And of course, don't forget to consider the Thanksgiving classic: What are five things you're grateful for?

A little pick-me-up before you go.

"The Bear" actor Ayo Edebiri is TODAY's fall cover star, and the 27-year-old wants all the home cooks out there to know that, yes, those are actually her hands at work in the show's famous chopping and slicing close-ups. Edebiri trained at culinary school and in Michelin-starred kitchens to develop those blistering knife skills. And now that Thanksgiving is here, her family's expecting her to bring some of those new chops to the table. "My mom never let me into the kitchen before," she said. "And after the show, she’s been like, 'So, what are you bringing?'" Read our cover story on Ayo Edebiri here.

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Written by Anna Kaplan | Edited by Philip Caulfield

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