For a family-friendly Thanksgiving dinner, the sides matter. A lot.

Because if the mashed potatoes aren't truly wonderful, you're going to have some seriously upset children at the table. Which is to say, this isn't the time to experiment by spiking them with blue cheese or a 50-50 ratio of garlic to potato, or to test whether cauliflower really does taste just like the real thing.

This is the time to make wonderfully fluffy, buttery, salty, peppery, delicious mashed potatoes.

By the same token, if you want those green beans and carrots to go anywhere near the children's mouths, you might consider a bit of enticement. To help you, we've come up with a kid-pleasing but adult-friendly sweet-and-sour glaze. And if that doesn't work, you can always threaten to withhold dessert ...