When it comes to feasting on Thanksgiving day the turkey is the star of the show so it's only natural to display it on something beautiful. And since large serving platters aren't as prone to being broken or worn out by daily use it seems worthwhile to invest in one you'll be proud to show off on special occasions like Thanksgiving and other gatherings for years to come. So what kind of platter will go best with your Turkey Day tabletop decor? Whether you choose one that matches your dinnerware or one that stands out on its own, there's literally thousands of choices out there -- see the gallery below for some ideas!

Denman College, the Women's Institute-owned Residential Adult Education College in Oxfordshire, is celebrating 60 years and to commemorate their diamond anniversary they are raffling off a diamond mounted cooktop. In partnership with Seventy Seven Diamonds and Stoves appliances this luxurious cooking range and oven will benefit a national Women's Institue-led initiative, Let's Cook!, which runs cooking programs for parents of disadvantaged communities. It is finished in a sparkling 'diamond-effect' silver paint and bears a certified half-carat diamond to complete this one-of-a-kind prize which raises it's price to £4,000. But the raffle tickets are only £2.50 which makes this prize open to just about anyone. If you want to see this stunning cooker on display it will be shown at the BBC's Good Food Show in Birmingham between November 26th and 30th. The winning ticket will be drawn January 1st -- good luck!

[via Lussorian]

The House Of Grauer is catering to the cigar smokers among us this holiday season by offering The Aficionados Collection of chocolates specially designed just for them. Depending on the assortment you choose, flavors include delicacies like Italian roasted hazelnut, milk chocolate with French organic bee pollen, and Sri Lankan cinnamon. Leaves, sticks, and rings of swiss chocolate are boxed up beautifully and formulated expressly to enhance the cigar smoking ritual and bring new levels of flavor and sensation to the experience. Prices range from $65 for 14 pieces to $275 for the 104 piece Magnum Mixed Collection.

Via ForbesLife

The other day I read that AmazonFresh, the grocery arm of Amazon.com will be delivering an entire Thanksgiving meal for people in the Seattle area. A total prepared meal serving up to eight people costs $80 and sides, desserts, turkeys and other items can also be ordered separately to be delivered on Nov. 25 and 26. If you aren't in Seattle, your best bet may be a local grocery store especially if you want specialty items like a tofurkey or an organic or free range bird (Whole Foods has a great holiday menu). Many stores do offer prepared meals and some will even deliver. But there is also a growing crop of turkey dinners that you can order around the U.S. online. You'll pay anywhere from around $70 to over $200 depending on how many sides you want and how many people you need to serve. Thanksgiving dinner in a click? Check out the gallery below for ten options.

We may all be cutting back, but at the the White House dinner Friday night for foreign leaders to discuss the global financial crisis, the meal was anything but spare. The menu for around 24 global leaders gathered in the White House State Dining Room included, according to the AP, fruitwood-smoked quail with quince gastrique; quinoa risotto; thyme-roasted rack of lamb; tomato, fennel and eggplant fondue; a salad course of endive, baked Brie and walnuts; and a pear torte. What's raising some eyebrows though is one of the wine selections, the Shafer Cabernet Hillside Select 2003, which runs for around $300 a bottle, if you can find it. This wine was served with the main course will more modest wines such as the Landmark Chardonnay Damaris Reserve 2006 (around $40 a bottle, served with the appetizer) and the Chandon Étoile Rosé sparkling wine (about $30 a bottle, served with dessert) rounded out the rest of the meal. The President pays for his own groceries in the White House but state dinners such as this one are paid for with taxpayer dollars. It is perhaps some comfort in this case that at least two of those attending: President Bush and French President Nicolas Sarkozy are said to be teetotalers. Others in attendance included Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd; Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper; Chinese President Hu Jintao;German Chancellor Angela Merkel; and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

As a food lover and avid cook a culinary-related gift idea always piques my interest. I recently discovered da Rosario's line of 100% organic truffle products which offers everything from organic truffle oils and savory seasonings to white truffle acacia honey and butters and fell in love with the idea of gourmet ingredients perfect for aspiring home-based chefs. The truffles are harvested from organic land in Italy's Umbrian Valley ensuring their authentic flavor and exceptional taste. I imagine that most truffle products are quite pricey so I found it appealing that da Rosario's options pair luxurious taste with a more affordable price tag. Ranging from $10 to $22 per jar these earthy foods can be combined in a gift basket for the luxury-minded foodie in your life...or just test them in your own cooking creations.

All phases of Manhattan's glamorous, newly-restored Empire Hotel are now complete with the opening of Jeffrey Chodorow's chic new Center Cut restaurant. The red brick structure adjacent to Lincoln Center on the Upper West Side originally opened on December 5th, 1923 and was a hotspot from the Roaring '20s through the Swinging '60s. One of the highlights of the redesigned Empire is the luxe rooftoop pool and deck where the huge Hotel Empire neon sign, one of the oldest in the U.S., casts a warm red glow over everything.

The warm, glowing lobby and lobby bar have a retro Old Hollywood feel; it and the rooms and suites are designed with a nod to the hotel's history, but are thoroughly modern and luxurious. Center Cut features restored woods, the space's original terrazzo floors and sweeping curtains, while the menu is an eco-friendly take on steakhouse classics. See the gallery for more.

One great thing about the internet is that you can share your great neighborhood finds with others through sites like Spire, Yelp and others. The venerable Michelin guide is now seeking the wisdom of the crowds. Their new contest called "Michelin Discovery" lets anyone who goes to MichelinGuide.com to submit an entry on a discovery they've made using the new 2009 Michelin Guide. The entries should Be 150 words or less and each week Mchelin will choose one winner to receive a $150 gift certificate to use toward future dining experiences at restaurants in the Michelin guide. The content runs until December 31, 2008 and after that one grand prize winner will be chosen from the weekly winners and will win a trip for two to New York City, valued at $3500, which includes two nights at a NY hotel listed in the guide, two days of meals at restaurants listed in the Michelin guide plus $250 in transportation costs and $200 in spending money.

Holidays in New York City can be a lot of things: charming, classic, thrilling ... overwhelming, chaotic, expensive. While some travelers arrive in search of the quintessential Silver Bells experience, others may want to discover something new or stick within a budget. Luxist's friends at Nancy J. Friedman Public Relations, Gabrielle Etrog Cohen and Gina Masullo, came up with a comprehensive list of places to go and things to do for all NYC travelers as well as package deals, including hotels.

THE FAMILY: Crowd-pleasers for all ages-within a budget.

The show: The Off-Broadway production of The Gazillion Bubble Show is the first and only interactive stage production of its kind, complete with fantastic light effects, lasers, and jaw-dropping masterpieces of bubble artistry.

The sites: Gawking at the Macy's displays, a visit with the polar bears in Central Park, photo ops at the Rockefeller Center tree.

The meal: Dim Sum Go Go offers more than 24 kinds of dumplings, plus four variations on the dough-wrapper theme, four sauces, and microwave-safe takeout containers. Kids will love the creative finger food and parents will love the dim sum delicacies (beet flavored dumplings?).

The hotel: Apple Core Hotels -- a family-friendly vibe in the city's most exciting neighborhood.

The deal: Apple Core Hotels invites guests to explore New York -- including a trip to Toys "R" Us Times Square to create a stuffed animal at the Filled-With-Love interactive design shop. Apple Core's "Filled with Love" package is available January 2 - February 14, starts at $159.99 and includes accommodations in the heart of New York City, stuffed animal and breakfast, and in-room coffee. Children under 13 stay free.

For more packages, click on the continued link.

The one problem with Halloween is that you often end up eating a lot of mediocre candy. Let's get that taste out of your mouth with some really great chocolate. Amano is a new brand of artisan chocolate. Owner Art Pollard makes chocolate in his factory in Salt Lake City. Utah might seem like an odd place for a chocolate factory until you consider the fact that many Swiss chocolate makers do their work at similar high elevations. Pollard is on a mission to make the best chocolate possible and he and other chocolate start-ups have launched their own network, the Craft Chocolate Makers of America, a group of "bean to bar" producers.

What exactly goes on in the journey from bean to bar? It's actually a complex process. Beans are harvested, dried and then shipped to the chocolate maker. Like fine wine, which is the perfect marriage between nature and craft, excellent chocolate is made by a combination of choosing the right beans and processing them correctly. There are many decisions to be made, some of which Art Pollard has delineated on the Amano blog. Cocoa nibs that are carefully roasted, winnowed, refined and conched reach their full flavor potential. The goal is to bring out the "true essence" of each bean. I think you will agree they have succeeded. In fact, the Los Angeles Luxury Chocolate Salon Tasting Panel Awards recently voted Amano the best dark chocolate.

We are giving away the Amano Variety Pack which offers three bars of Ocumare, three Madagacar, three Cuyagua
and three Jembrana. The Jembrana is a new bar. Pollard tells me that the beans used to make the chocolate came from the tropical island of Bali and that Amano is the first company to release a single origin bar who's beans exclusively come from the island of Bali. They just finished molding this new chocolate bar last week and so the winner will be one of the first in the country to taste this new chocolate from a new origin.

It would of course make a lovely gift but I'm pretty sure once you take a bite you might be keeping this all to yourself as a little antidote to pre-holiday stress. To win, leave a comment about your love of chocolate.

Some other important details:

* To enter, leave a confirmed comment below.
* The comment must be left and confirmed before Friday, November 7, 2008 at 5:00PM Eastern Time.
* You may only enter once.
* One winner will be selected in a random drawing.
* One winner will receive the Amano 10-bar variety pack, valued at $62.95.
* Open to legal residents of the 50 United States including the District of Columbia who are 18 and older.

See complete contest rules here.

This contest is closed. Thank you for your participation.

This Either-Or Dish Set by by troels seidenfaden for magppie and available from Unica Home is insanely simple considering it's designed to serve two very different purposes: beautiful candle-lit centerpiece or classic serving dish. Made of sleek, tough, and timeless stainless steel, the set consists of three bowls, three tea light holders that double as lids, and a specially-shaped tray designed to hold them all in elegant style. A high-quality and uber-useful party staple for yourself, plus it could make a great gift for the friend or hostess who already seems to have everything. $158

One of London's top celebrity chefs has gone belly up leaving his suppliers scrambling for money. The Telegraph gives us the tale of Tom Aikens, shown at right with wife, Amber Nuttall. Aikens is one of London's handsome and tempermental Michelin starred chefs. His Chelsea restaurant, Tom Aikens, has won 22 awards since opening in 2003. But last week it was announced that the companies running the restaurants had been placed into administration and now a whole host of suppliers, reportedly 160 businesses, are waiting to get paid.

The Telegraph reports you can still book a table and Aikens and his chefs are still cooking. Tom's Kitchen and the Tom Aikens restaurant were acquired by TA Holdco Ltd, allowing Aikens and his business to continue. Some suppliers are continuing to supply the restaurant in the hopes they will be able to get at least some money out of the situation. Others are angry that the business continued to buy from them as it slid into trouble. Some suppliers have had to lay off workers as a result of the money loss. The status of Aikens's personal wealth is not known at this time.

New items from France have been added to Horchow's very exclusive Estate Collection.

For the uninitiated, The Estate Collection is a smattering of one-of-a-kind collectibles from all over the world. The beautiful item you see at right is an iron scale from France, circa 1900. It just sold for $850.

There are still more beautiful new French items available, including candlesticks, serving bowls, and more. See the gallery below for items still available at time of post, and be sure to snap up anything you like right away; you're not likely to find items from The Estate Collection ever again.

The Borgata in Atlantic City, New Jersey seeks to draw foodies to the resort with "Savor Borgata", a culinary event that will include a reception with celebrity chefs Bobby Flay, Michael Mina, Geoffrey Zakarian, Michael Schulson and Thaddeus DuBois and a five-course meal prepared by all five chefs (each chef is responsible for one course). The event begins with a cocktail reception around The Water Club's indoor pool followed by the five-course meal paired with wines from Robert Sinskey Vineyards. The event costs $235 per person. The hotel is offering the "Savor Borgata" package which includes two tickets to "Savor Borgata" and accommodations at The Water Club in a Club Room. Prices start at $795.

As one of the UK's premier chefs and a favorite of the Food Network, Jamie Oliver is expanding his culinary reach by opening two restaurants in a luxury residential development as well as contributing to the design choices made for the kitchens within the development. The pair of eateries are not expected to open until 2011 in the Jumeirah Golf Estates' Water neighborhood. Oliver hopes to expand patrons' knowledge of healthy eating and may also include cooking classes and other educational offerings in his plans. It certainly seems Dubai is the place to see and be seen...or eat and be...um...cooked for...