CHOW Associate Editor Roxanne Webber demonstrates the wrongs and rights of Thanksgiving stuffing. The biggest wrong? Sticking with the gluey mess that comes out of a box. You’re not saving yourself much time or money with that stuff.

CHOW Associate Editor Roxanne Webber makes her pie crust for the CHOW Thanksgiving pumpkin pie the right way, by using cold butter, not overworking the dough, and defying the temptation to add a lot of water.

Pastry chef Boris Portnoy gives new life to a Thanksgiving cliche. Generic, canned pumpkin pie mix plus freezer-burned pie crust equals fake smiles on the faces of your friends and families. Real smiles come from choosing your own pumpkin—there are many heirloom varieties to pick from—and then customizing and experimenting as you go, using Portnoy’s recipe as a guide.

Chef, author, and consultant Joyce Goldstein is a culinary hero, and she has heroic ways with matzoh balls. She suggests babying the dough, using schmaltz for chicken-y flavor, and boiling the matzoh balls for a good, long time. Try out Goldstein's recipe for Matzoh Ball Soup.

Sunset magazine food editor Margo True has learned the rights and wrongs of mashed potatoes from a reliable source-- her mother. Here, she demonstrates the wrong way (undercooking waxy potatoes, skimping on the cream, or, horror of all horrors, employing a food processor to mash) and the right way (using russet or Yukon Gold potatoes, cooking them as long as possible, drying them over heat before adding lots of cream, and topping with herbs). This approach elevates mashed potatoes to their rightful status as much more than a side dish.

Once upon a time, all you needed for cocktail-making was liquor, ice, and a glass. Now, a cocktail isn't complete without freshly muddled fruit and herbs. Michael Cecconi, mixologist at New York's Back Forty who also works at the Savoy and teaches at the Institute of Culinary Education, has paid his muddling dues and wants to share his hard-earned knowledge. He does not think that drinks should have broken pieces of glass in them, for one. He recommends getting the right type of muddler and an unbreakable glass, then using your arm's weight to help your motion.

Loïc Le Calvez, senior winemaker of Taltarni Vineyards, has experienced all of the wrong ways that people open and pour sparkling wine: shaking the bottle, popping the cork, leaving the glass on the table while pouring too vigorously. Here's the right way to celebrate with bubbly.

Laura Werlin, author of Laura Werlin's Cheese Essentials and noted cheese expert, knows cheese rights from cheese wrongs. She's got pointers ranging from the serving to the cutting of cheese, with a little bit of rind etiquette along the way.

Leslie Jonath, writer-editor at Chronicle Books and annual latke-party-thrower, has learned all she knows from her mother and grandmother. She shares some Jonath family secrets (controversy alert: food processor! wringing water!). Her latke recipe is adapted from Marlene Sorosky's version in Fast & Festive Meals for the Jewish Holidays.

David Wong, director of tea culture and education at Tillerman Tea, has seen all of the wrong ways that people brew tea. He's here to show you the right way. There are three "hows" of steeping: how hot the water should be, how much tea to use, and how long to steep.