5@5 is a daily, food-related list from chefs, writers, political pundits, musicians, actors, and all manner of opinionated people from around the globe.

Sherry (sherry baby!) can come out any night of the week - if you stock your bar right.

"I think that part of the appeal of sherry to cocktail bartenders is that it kind of bridges the gap between wine and spirit," says Dan Greenbaum, the bar manager of The Beagle in New York.

"Since it’s fortified and often bold in flavor and aroma for a wine, it appeals to people who are more accustomed to drinking plain spirits."

Five Reasons that Sherry is a Must-Have at the Bar: Dan Greenbaum
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Thanksgiving is hands down my favorite holiday. It’s the one day of the year that’s off-limits on my calendar for anything other than family, dear friends and my complete and total domination of the kitchen. No work, no crazy international travel schedule; it’s all about bringing loved ones together to share an amazing traditional holiday meal complete with turkey, stuffing, potatoes, the works.

This year, however, work and my favorite holiday collided. My team and I at EarthEcho International, the environmental education nonprofit I co-founded with my mother and sister, had just taken the wraps off of a new tool for educators and students to help them explore the environmental and health impact of daily food choices called What’s On Your Fork?

In fact, the main element of this resource is a guide created in collaboration with the Meatless Monday campaign to help students start each week with options for healthy, environmentally friendly meat-free alternatives. You can see where I might be feeling a little conflicted about my poultry-centered food extravaganza.

Should the bird stay on the menu?
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Sink your teeth into today's top stories from around the globe.

• Dear Thanksgiving hosts, "Don’t freak out, don’t forget the booze, and don’t be a hardcore foodie." - Gilt Taste

• "Green Bean Mile," "Beetless in Seattle" and all the fixin's for Hanskgiving - a Tom Hanks-inspired Thanksgiving. - Serious Eats

• A sobering fact during this week of being thankful: One million Zimbabweans need food. - VOA

• Do the hot dog crime, do the frankfurter time. A man goes to prison - 80 years to be exact - for buying hot dogs at the movies with counterfeit money. - Gawker

• Is your salt collection well-seasoned? - Guardian

We're sharing our time-tested Thanksgiving hosting tips and recipes, as well as plenty from chefs, hospitality experts, celebrities, hosts and home cooks we love. Our goal – sending you into Thanksgiving with a confident smile on your face, and seeing you emerge on the other side with your sanity intact.

Thanksgiving is happening. There's nothing you can do to stop it, but there's everything you can do to make it magnificent and memorable for your guests and even (gasp!) yourself.

Here's why: you're not alone. Not only are millions of people across the United States encountering the same stresses (and delights) - you've got Eatocracy on your side. We're here to help via comments and on Twitter @eatocracy to offer culinary triage and a soupcon of sanity.

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November is National Diabetes Awareness Month and for people who suffer from the disease, what to eat can be a daily life or death decision. Super Bowl champ Tom Crabtree of the Green Bay Packers is a National Spokesman for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and his wife, Chelsea was diagnosed with the disease when she was four years old.

Together, they share some great information, tips and recipes for parents and kids whose lives are affected by juvenile diabetes.
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While you're frying up some eggs and bacon, we're cooking up something else: a way to celebrate today's food holiday.

Not our gumdrop buttons! - November 21 is National Gingerbread Day.

Calling all man-shaped cookie cutters and edible houses: today is all about getting a jump on one of our favorite ways to herald the holiday season and making your house smell oh-so-incredibly good.

The confusing thing about gingerbread is that it can mean all kinds of things, but the best part is they're all scrumptious. Some folks like to bake up a sweetly spiced, moist loaf of actual bread, while others dig out their cookie cutters and start punching out crispy cookies.
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Pssst! Got a sec to chat?

We are utterly thrilled when readers want to hang out and talk – whether it's amongst themselves or in response to pieces we've posted. We want Eatocracy to be a cozy, spirited online home for those who find their way here.

Consider the daily Coffee Klatsch post as your VIP lounge – the primary comments thread for readers who'd like to chat about topics not related to the articles we're running. That way, everyone knows where to find each other, and each post's comments section remains on topic.
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