And 3, 2, 1... Thus begins Thanksgiving countdown madness in today's Food pages.

It somehow turned out that today's section was written almost entirely by guys. Am I the only one who finds that strangely delightful? Whatever your answer, our cover story -- columnist Neil Steinberg's ode to stuffing -- seems a fitting place to start our Thanksgiving hype, er, I mean coverage. People, Steinberg included, have strong feelings about stuffing. Indeed, he argues, stuffing, not turkey, is the holiday's "central foodstuff." He also says slightly crunchy celery and onions have no place in stuffing; I disagree. . . Discuss.

Today also is the debut of the Pour Man, our wine and beer column written by Chicagoan Michael Austin. Expect one wine column and one beer column a month from Austin, and zero pretension.

Our own Dave Hoekstra talks to cook-turned-musician Ben Weaver, who peforms Saturday at Schubas; Food Detective David Hammond looks at grass-fed beef's ubiquity, and Big Jones chef Paul Fehribach looks to the past, to when people put up food for the winter, and offers two delectable recipes -- for apple butter and fluffy Cheddar biscuits. Enjoy.