Pumpkins are popular throughout Eastern Europe and they show up in soups, vegetables, desserts and, yes, Virginia, even pierogi.

If your family loves dumplings, try Pumpkin Pierogi with White Wine Cream Sauce. They would be a great addition to Thanksgiving dinner as an appetizer or side dish. Either way, serve them in bowls to catch every bit of that wonderful sauce. You can even turn them into dessert by leaving off the cream sauce and drizzling them with melted butter, and sprinkling on toasted pecans and granulated or confectioners' sugar.

Pierogi or filled dumplings are easier to make than you might think. Check out these easy how to make pierogi instructions.

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Edward Cullen isn't the only one to like the taste of blood. Drinking blood has been done since mankind first started butchering animals for food. Waste not, want not, and all of that. It was also believed drinking an enemy's blood would make one invincible.

Cooking with blood exists in every culture, but as fresh blood becomes increasingly hard to find, blood puddings, soups and sauces are now relegated to restaurants and specialty stores, and considered delicacies. If you can find fresh or frozen duck, goose or pig blood from a reputable source, try throwing a party to coincide with the release of "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" with these Eastern European recipes.

• Polish Blood Sausage or Kiszka Recipe
• Polish Czarnina Recipe
• Blind Czarnina Recipe

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Eastern Europeans are pork-lovers extraordinaire and the low piggy prices in grocers these days are a dream come true. For the past two weeks, boneless loin of pork has been $1.49 a pound in my neck of the woods. You can bet I've stocked up on this cut that has very little waste. Not only does it make a terrific Sunday dinner or party entrée but, at these prices, a wonderful weekday supper.

I divided a large pork loin into two pieces, cutting off 1-inch slices from one half to make boneless chops, and stuffing the other half with a link of Serbian dry sausage known as banijska kobasica (a dry-cured garlic pork sausage), and slow roasting it. Stuffing food in other food is a technique Eastern Europeans love and this spin turned out great. In addition to bread dressings, I've also stuffed pork loins with chopped prunes and apricots, and dried cranberries and raisins. Dried fruit and pork go so well together, something not lost on Eastern Europeans!

It's never been a better time to experiment with Eastern European pork recipes like Roast Pork Loin Stuffed with Sausage Recipe. I served it with kopytka or "little hooves" dumplings and, to continue with the "stuffed" theme, offered Hungarian stuffed pears for dessert!

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I have such fond memories of Christmas Eve in my Polish family. Wigilia seemed to eclipse Christmas Day, with its beautiful Star Supper consisting of up to 13 meatless dishes, the oplatki, sighting the first star of the evening, telling fortunes, waiting to hear the animals talk at midnight. I still get the shivers thinking about it.

I make sure we still have a traditional wigilia. In this fast-paced, throw-away world of ours, I'm not willing to relinquish this tie with the Old World and my ancestors.

Won't you share your Eastern European Christmas stories? Was Christmas Eve or Christmas Day more important in your family? Did you have a meatless meal on Christmas Eve? Did you break a wafer? What were some of the traditional recipes prepared? Share your stories here.

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If you're looking to shake things up this Thanksgiving, put an Eastern European spin on your dinner with these recipe ideas.

• Kasha with Mandarin Orange Stuffing Recipe
  
  
• Turkey Fillets with Gorgonzola Sauce Recipe
  
  
• Pumpkin Custard Recipe
  
  
• Poached Pears with Chocolate Sauce Recipe
  
  
• Cranberry Pudding Recipe
  
  
• Pear Custard Pie Recipe.

And for sandwiches with leftover poultry of any kind, try Polish Cranberry Mayo Recipe. In the village of Rogoznik, Poland, the women don't use mayo, they use vodka! Delish, especially with oscypek, a sheep's milk cheese made in the Podhale (literally "under mountain meadows") region -- home of the Polish Highlanders.

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According to the American Farm Bureau Federation, in 1986, it cost $28.74 to feed a family of 10 with a Thanksgiving dinner of turkey, bread stuffing, sweet potatoes, rolls with butter, peas, cranberries, a relish tray of carrots and celery, pumpkin pie with whipped cream, and beverages of coffee and milk.

This year the food cost for an identical meal is $42.91, but that's down from last year's $44.61. It looks like prices are headed in the right direction, with only a 65-cent increase from 2007's $42.26.

If you shop right, turkey really is bargain friendly. In Eastern Europe, turkey has replaced the more costly duck or goose and is served with everything from stuffing in Poland to mlinces or pasta tatters in Croatia and Slovenia.

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So the health-conscious Obama family likes pie. At least that's what Bill Yosses says. Yosses, who co-authored with Alison Yates "Desserts for Dummies" (For Dummies, 1997), is the White House pastry chef dubbed "The Crustmaster" by President Obama. Yosses recently told Nancy Benac of the Associated Press that his pies are enjoyed by the First Family about once a week (such restraint!).

I'm thinking my untraditional Pear Custard Pie would win over the disciplined Obamas. It's a spin on Serbian burek that came about when I was faced with two glorious Korean pears and half a box of thawed filo dough. Voila! A dessert burek. And it's so easy -- filo dough beats rolling out pastry crust any day and, even with all the melted butter, it's lower in fat. I think the Obamas would like it. Come to think of it, I think you would, too!

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If you keep up with the Joneses on the party circuit, don't be caught without a new, delectable nosh to bring to this season's round of soirees.

Choose from one of these 40 global recipes for food and beverages and be the hostest (or the guest!) with the mostest. Many of these can be made ahead up to a certain point and then defrosted or finished the day of the big bash! Party on!

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St. Martin's Day is celebrated on Nov. 11 throughout Europe. It originated in France, to honor Martin, the 4th-century Bishop of Tours, and spread to Germany, Scandinavia and Eastern Europe.

In the old days, after all the religious aspects of the holiday were met, St. Martin's Day was a time to party hearty with lavish feasts before the strict fasting of Advent began. In agrarian societies, it also symbolized the end of field work and the beginning of forest work for the men and inside work for the women.

Today, it's a time for prayerful reflection, lantern-lit parades, festivals and special foods like St. Martin's Croissants.

While Warsaw is the largest city and capital of Poland, Poznan is considered the capital of Greater Poland -- Wielkopolska Voivodship -- and it was here the tradition of St. Martin's Croissants was born. Read more about:

• How St. Martin's Day Is Celebrated in Eastern Europe
  
  
• St. Martin's Day Croissants Recipe

Not only is Nov. 11 Veterans Day in the United States, it's Narodowe Święto Niepodległości or National Independence Day in Poland. It commemorates Poland's assumption of independent statehood on Nov. 11, 1918, after 123 years of partitions by Austria-Hungary, Germany, and Russia. It's the date when many believe Poland was put on the map again.

In Poland, it's a cause for parades, cannon firings and gun salutes, not to mention a little wodka and good food. So break out your Polish flag and American flag, and find a Polish restaurant or, better yet, make your own Polish meal at home.

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