Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, although no one really expects me to host this lovely feast. I once had a six-bedroom house that boasted a dining room table that easily held 10 people. My husband, who worked with me as a prep cook in the big kitchen and did the dishes after dinner, died almost 10 years ago. My big old house has new occupants while I am in a two-bedroom condo.

This year I will make an enormous sheet pan of roasted vegetables and two Key lime pies and drive to Newburyport, Mass., and merely help my daughter-in-law do the hard work of every other part of dinner. Life is pretty darned good.

On Saturday, however, I will do a turkey dinner for good friends at my house, for I love Thanksgiving leftovers. After dinner, we will watch “The Irishmen” on Netflix because we can stop the movie for a nap, go to the kitchen to pick on leftovers or pause to take a call or make a bathroom stop.

On the other hand, you might want something totally different for dinner, or perhaps make something healthy and delicious that is not meat-centric. I found two recipes on Eating Well that I love. Both are vegetarian dishes. The one below I will make for our dinner-and-movie second Thanksgiving. The latter, Curry 101, I will make in a week or so and give the recipe to you after Christmas. By that time we will need all the healthy, vegetarian food we can cook.

Roasted Honeynut Squash with Spicy Agrodolce

From “Eating Well,” November 2019

Serves 4

2 honeynut or 2 small butternut squash, halved lengthwise and seeded

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided

1/2 teaspoon salt, divided

1/4 teaspoon ground pepper

1 small onion, diced

1 small serrano pepper, thinly sliced

3/4 cup cider vinegar

1/4 cup chopped dried apricots

3 tablespoons light brown sugar

1/4 cup chopped toasted walnuts

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat a rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray.

Drizzle squash with 1 tablespoon of oil and sprinkle with one quarter tablespoon salt and pepper. Place, cut-side down, on the prepared pan. Bake until starting to soften, about 15 minutes. Turn the squash over and continue baking until lightly browned and tender, 15 to 20 minutes more.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until very soft, 4 to 8 minutes. Add serrano and cook, stirring occasionally, until starting to soften, about 1 minute. Stir in vinegar, apricots, brown sugar and remaining one-quarter tablespoon salt. Bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to maintain a simmer and cook until reduced to three-quarter cup, about 25 minutes.

Serve squash with the sauce and walnuts.

On the Side: Daddy's Noodle Bar

On the one hand, I am unhappy that two or three Five Guys Burger and Fries seem to be gone. I loved their hamburgers, and the fries were outstanding.

The one in Groton is empty, but, fortunately, the one in East Lyme is now a Vietnamese restaurant serving ramen, pho, bowls and even dessert. On the way home from getting my Costco card, I stopped for takeout from the pretty new restaurant. I chose Number 10, Shoyu Paitan.

When I got the bag home, there was a lidded bowl of delicate dark brown broth, a carton of noodles, hard-cooked egg and cooked chicken, and a packet of sprouts, scallions, nori and a few other things I didn't understand. I put the all of it into a ceramic bowl and added about a third of the broth. It was absolutely delicious.

A few days later I made some brown rice and added the leftover broth. Can't wait to try some of the other dishes.

Daddy's Noodle Bar

295 Flanders Road, East Lyme

(860) 451-8065

Lee White lives in Groton. She can be reached at leeawhite@aol.com.