Even the most adventurous eaters often give their inner food warrior the day off on Thanksgiving - nothing but the same turkey, stuffing (or dressing!), cranberries, green bean casserole and pumpkin pie they've been eating since childhood. If one of those dishes goes missing, the whole meal just doesn't feel right.

For Dr. Brent Ridge and Josh Kilmer-Purcell co-stars of Planet Green's "The Fabulous Beekman Boys," the must-have item is something that's much-maligned.

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Food in the Field gives a sneak peek into what CNN's team is eating, and the food culture they encounter as they travel the globe. Today's contributor Eden Pontz is Executive Producer at CNN's New York Bureau. She ate Thanksgiving dinner at her desk today. At CNN's D.C. bureau, White House Sr. Supervising Producer Stacia Deshishku and Homeland Security Producer Mike M. Ahlers corralled images of their feast.

When you work in news, you’re accustomed to working holidays. As the saying goes, "News doesn't take a vacation," so neither do we. Well, not all of us, at least. But for those of us who do work any given holiday, there's a special camaraderie, and depending on the day, a food bonus as well. Thanksgiving would be one of those days.

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From $15.95 for an all-you-can eat Champagne Dinner Buffet to $150 for a multi-course feast from a Michelin-starred chef, few places pack as much culinary diversity into a four-mile stretch as the Las Vegas Strip.

Starting at the north end in the shadow of the Stratosphere, I set out for a low-to-high tour of what's on the T-Day menu.

First stop: Frankie's Tiki Bar, a 24-hour spot with a parking lot that was almost deserted when I stopped in a bit after noon. Seems Thanksgiving doesn't put people in the tiki mood: "I had literally like five people all day long last year," bartender Tawnya commented.

But she'd already beaten that tally by midday this time around, and she was expecting a pickup in the evening: "After people are done dealing with their families, they're ready for a cocktail."

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Food in the Field gives a sneak peek into what CNN's team is eating, and the food culture they encounter as they travel the globe. Today's contributor Eden Pontz is Executive Producer at CNN's New York Bureau. She is eating Thanksgiving dinner at her desk today.

It's the most dangerous time of the year...for my waistline.

The holiday season is here, and while many people look forward to department store holiday windows, early-bird shopping specials and visits with family and friends, I find myself looking forward to the variety of foodstuffs that make their way into the workplace.

Cops may get a bad rap for spending their down-time at the donut shop, but journalists in the cable news industry deserve a much worse rap for eating, well, absolutely anything, at any hour, in any place. And I admit it - I'm as guilty as anyone in this respect.

For instance, recently one of our production assistants came into the newsroom with a plate full of spring rolls and shrimp cocktail. Stop the presses - food has surfaced in the newsroom! Applying my skills of investigative journalism, I asked her where she'd gotten her bounty. She replied, "The break room down the hall. I got extras - try the shrimp!"

I continued my interrogation gathering intel on these...er...delicacies. Where did the food come from? How long had it been there? "I heard it was brought in for a corporate meeting earlier today, and the leftovers were moved to the break room after Newsroom finished airing," she said. Old line producing skills came into play as my internal clock back timed - I estimated the food was probably not more than 6 hours old. Fast forward - I ate the food.
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Get more Thanksgiving anti-freakout tips and share your culinary quandaries in the comments below. We'll be manning the hotline through turkey time.

Get more Thanksgiving anti-freakout tips and share your culinary quandaries in the comments below. We'll be manning the hotline through turkey time.

He’s eaten 64.5 hot dogs, 57 cow brains and 41 lobster rolls - and now an entire turkey? Piece of cake (or 14 pieces, if you’re Takeru Kobayashi.)

A representative for Kobayashi told CNN that the world famous competitive eater would attempt to eat an entire turkey by himself today. Though he originally planned to partake in the full bird at a friend’s house to celebrate his first Thanksgiving in the United States, Kobayashi had a last minute change of plans and will instead fly to Brazil this holiday.

“In the spirit of things, he has just told me that he will be buying a turkey in the morning to eat in the taxi, airport and on the plane,” said Maggie James, Kobayashi’s representative. “He wants to eat it. That’s the truth, so wherever he is, he will still be eating a full turkey and enjoying the taste without a time limit.”

No word on how big said turkey will be, but the dude is known for eating 20 pounds of food in one sitting, so it’s not an unthinkable feat.

Mmmm...tryptophan...

Read Brining, smoking, rubbing and spatchcocking your turkey (we swear it's all totally legal), get more Thanksgiving anti-freakout tips and share your culinary quandaries in the comments below. We'll be manning the hotline through turkey time.

While you're frying up some eggs and bacon, we're cooking up something else: a way to celebrate today's food holiday and the most delicious finds on TV.

Gravy! Mashed potatoes! Green bean casserole! More gravy!

It’s finally the fourth Thursday in November, and to many Americans, that means it’s Thanksgiving. To us, it also means that November 25 is National Turkey Day and National Stuffing Day - and national eat-as-much-as-you-can-of-both-of-them day.

Sit back, relax and enjoy. Thanksgiving only comes around once a year! That is, until you gobble up the leftovers tomorrow.

What's on TV?
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