Thanksgiving is only a few short days away - have you finalized your menu yet? Share with others what's on your Thanksgiving menu this year - what's new, and what dishes are traditional must-haves?

Answer my survey: What's on your Thanksgiving Menu?

If you're not expecting a huge crowd for Thanksgiving dinner, then cooking up a turkey breast, rather than a whole bird, might be a good option for you. And one elegant way of preparing it is to butterfly it, which allows you to roll the breast up with a filling, which can both moisten and flavor the meat. Check out my step by step instructions for how to butterfly a turkey breast, and try the technique out with recipes like Pesto Turkey Breast Roulade.

A big slice of pumpkin pie is one of the things I most look forward to on Thanksgiving Day. For years, my family served the version made from the recipe on the back of the pumpkin can, but this year I want to try something a little new. This recipe for Fluffy Pumpkin Pie With Walnuts is perfect; it has all the classic flavors you've come to expect, but whipped egg whites give it a fluffier texture, while the richness of the pumpkin is enhanced with maple, vanilla and brown sugar. I used homemade pumpkin puree (Here's how to cook pumpkins) but it would be just as good with the canned pumpkin. Yum!

If you need to stock up on baking ingredients and supplies for the holidays, now's a good time to do it - King Arthur Flour is offering free shipping on orders over $75, until midnight tomorrow (November 12). Unfortunately, the deal doesn't include appliances and their attachments or cookbooks, but it does include other cooking equipment, such baking pans, gadgets and the beautiful "bake and give" paper baking pans, which can give your baked goods a professional look. As for me, I'm on a pie-making kick now that I've mastered a super-easy pie crust (See my Basic Pie Crust Recipe), so I might buy a new rolling pin and rolling pin rings, which can help you roll out your dough to an even thickness, something I always have trouble with.

If you live in Atlanta, or if you plan to visit anytime soon, you won't want to miss the new Cook's Warehouse flagship store, opening at Ansley Mall in Midtown. It's going to have the largest recreational cooking school in the Southeast, as well as 15,000 kitchen-related products and three separate kitchen setups (one of which is the country's second-largest Miele-equipped kitchens).

Even if you're nowhere near Atlanta, you can still enjoy shopping on the store's website; the store offers a price-match guarantee and shipping is free on orders over $49.

A couple of weeks ago I was in the baking goods aisle of my supermarket and couldn't find any cans of pumpkin for the pumpkin bread I wanted to make. Later, my sister in law told me that she'd learned that there apparently is a pumpkin shortage this year. Manufacturers claim that by Thanksgiving, shelves should be stocked, but I don't plan to take any chances. When we made our annual pilgrimage to the pumpkin patch before Halloween, I stocked up on a few pie pumpkins to cook my own pumpkin puree.

Cooking pumpkins from scratch may sound daunting, but it's really not that difficult or time-consuming. And your Thanksgiving guests will be duly impressed that you made your pie from "real" pumpkins! My step-by-step instructions will show you a foolproof method for how to cook a pumpkin.

If you're looking for pretty serving pieces to dress up your dinner table for Thanksgiving, or any time this fall, Pfaltzgraff has some great options. I love the Plymouth dinnerware collection, with its harvest motif of pumpkins, squash, acorns and leaves. The Pfaltzgraff Plymouth Pie Server (Compare prices) is a great option if your metal pie pans are a little worse for the wear - just pop the whole pie, pan and all, into the server for a gorgeous presentation at the dessert table.

New pieces in the Pfaltzgraff Plymouth collection this year include a celery-shaped dish, a a squash-shaped vegetable bowl and a covered squash-shaped serving bowl. They look almost as delicious as whatever you put inside will look!

Image courtesy PriceGrabber.

Chances are, if you frequent this site, you love to cook. And with all the cooks I've met over the years, no two stories are the same about why they have a passion for cooking, where they learned how to cook, and what their favorite dishes are to make.

So I'd like to hear from you: Why do you love to cook?

For inspiration, check out some of the answers that readers have already submitted about why they love to cook.

Do you Twitter? If so, be sure to follow me at JessicaCooks to get all the latest cooking equipment news, sales updates, and even the occasional glimpse at what's going on in my own kitchen!

Amazon.com is celebrating "crock-tober" by offering up to 30 percent off selected slow cookers. One of the best deals is for Cuisinart's 4-quart slow cooker, which is marked down to $78 from $145, but other brands available include West Bend, KitchenAid, Crockpot, Dr. Weil and Euro-Pro. With the cold weather coming, this is a great chance to stock up.

• Tips on buying and using a slow cooker
• Slow cooker recipes
• Comparing Crock Pot and West Bend Slow Cookers