Andy Tullis / The BulletinFor Jeff Hunt, the chef and co-owner of Spork restaurant in Bend, a Thanksgiving highlight is turkey sandwiches the next day on white bread with iceberg lettuce and Sriracha.

It’s fun to imagine the whole country — all 317 million of us — sitting down to pretty much the same Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday.

That’s a lot of gravy, folks.

We all have favorite foods that make the meal memorable and mouth-watering, from the turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes, to the cranberry sauce, homemade rolls and pie.

Of course there’s also Tofurky, sweet potatoes with marshmallows, green bean casserole, jello salad, peas with pearl onions and more pie.

We wondered what some prominent Central Oregon foodies would say when asked, “What’s the one food you can’t live without on Thanksgiving?”

For Cher Sullivan of Cada Dia Cheese in Prineville, it’s her grandmother’s cranberry sauce.

Brian Faivre, brewmaster at Deschutes Brewery, loves his family’s oyster stuffing recipe that goes back decades and a Paula Deen bourbon pecan pie that he started baking a few years ago to which he has added his own special touches.

Jennifer McCrystal, who is the Jen of Jen’s Garden restaurant in Sisters, shared her recipes for pumpkin mousse and triple ginger gingersnap cookies.

For Jeff Hunt, chef and co-owner of Spork, the best thing about Thanksgiving is the day after’s grilled leftover turkey sandwich that he makes with crispy turkey skin and Sriracha hot sauce on white bread with iceberg lettuce and mayo.

This Thanksgiving we’re grateful these local food professionals shared their recipes with us, along with some good stories. They’re looking forward to eating their favorite foods on Thursday. We hope you have a fantastic feast, too.

Mup’s Cranberry Sauce

For Central Oregon artisanal cheesemaker and cheesemonger Cher Sullivan, 53, of Cada Dia Cheese, (it means “every day” in Spanish), it’s not really Thanksgiving without her family’s homemade cranberry sauce (see recipe).

“Grandma Muppy’s been gone a good long time, but what a wonderful gal. This sauce can be frozen. I remember her putting jars of it in the freezer,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan remembers how the cranberry juice would spread on her dinner plate when she was a child.

“I didn’t mind the cranberry juice seeping into the mashed potatoes. I kind of liked the coloring of it all,” Sullivan remembered.

Nowadays, Cher and her husband Pat spend their time tending their herd of Jersey cows, and making handmade hard cheeses from raw milk in Prineville. Their bestselling cheese is a basic cheddar. They sell a variety of cheddar and feta cheeses. (See www.cadadiacheese.com for store locations.)

“We’re proud to be creating this gorgeous food for our children, our community and the environment. What I really love is that the cows are living the life that cows are meant to live,” Sullivan said.

Over the holidays Cada Dia sells a “Christmas Cheese.”

“It’s red pepper flakes with green chives in a cheddar-based cheese. It’s a spicy cheese that’s a seasonal favorite for us. We also have a double cream farm cheese that’s like a Camembert. I recommend it to anyone eating cheese during the holidays. Enjoy small portions of cheese worth eating,” Sullivan said.

Oyster stuffing and bourbon pecan pie

Brian Faivre, 36, has been making great beer in Bend for almost a decade. As one of two brewmasters at Deschutes Brewery, he’s responsible for managing the production facility in Bend.

Bend is Faivre’s (pronounced “favor”) hometown, and Thanksgiving is always celebrated here with his wife and kids and his parents, who host.

“This year it’s somewhat of a changing of the guard. I’ll cook the turkey — my first year of doing the main course,” Faivre said.

It will include his favorite Thanksgiving food — oyster stuffing — usually cooked by his mom (see recipe).

“She’s a great cook, and I thought the oyster stuffing originated because my dad grew up in Seattle and loves oysters. I thought she was making it for him, but when I talked to her recently, I found out it came from mom’s mom, my grandmother, who worked as a chef at the Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas. She got the recipe from a European chef who worked there. It’s kind of cool; a totally different idea of where that recipe came from,” Faivre said.

Faivre and his wife usually contribute side dishes or desserts for Thanksgiving. A few years back, they were in charge of pies.

“Five or six years ago, we probably made 10 pies a few days before Thanksgiving for the holiday season, and I dug up a Paula Deen bourbon pecan pie recipe (see recipe). I made some minor tweaks, and the flavor of bourbon with dark corn syrup and molasses and the crunch of the pecans — well, we’re hooked now. We’re starting our own food traditions. One of the things I hope my kids love someday is that pie with freshly made whipped cream,” Faivre said.

Of course, beer will be one of the beverages at the Faivres’ holiday table.

“Deschutes’ Jubelale is great to pair with a turkey dinner. It’s nice, malty with some dried fruit notes, good bitterness and a little bit of roast,” he said.

Faivre recommends a glass of The Abyss, an imperial stout, for the adults, to accompany the pecan pie.

“It’s dark, and in general, when the winter comes, our Obsidian Stout is a great beer. Abyss Imperial Stout is just a bigger version of that. It also goes really well with some really nice dark chocolate,” Faivre said.

Pumpkin mousse with triple ginger gingersnaps

Growing up, Jennifer McCrystal had unconventional Thanksgiving meals with her family.

“We all got bored with Thanksgiving food when I was about 7, so we changed it every single year. Really, who likes turkey? I don’t want to eat turkey because I’m supposed to.

“Both of my parents cooked, both were big foodies. So one year, it was a standing rib roast. It was like the best thing I ever ate. Next year was a leg of lamb, and from then it just morphed, and every year was something different. Every time people came, they loved to bring food to show what they could do — kind of out do each other. Everyone was assigned a course, and they could go wild with it. One year everybody had to bring a classic Mexican dish,” McCrystal said.

This year, McCrystal, who has been the pastry chef at her award-winning fine dining restaurant, Jen’s Garden, since it opened in 2006, will be joining friends for Thanksgiving dinner. She told us she’s taking a dessert she makes that has been a big hit at Jen’s Garden this fall: pumpkin mousse served in individual ramekins or martini glasses, decorated with a triple ginger gingersnap cookie.

“It’s a very traditional Thanksgiving party that I’m going to, so I wanted dessert to be Thanksgiving-ish, and also make them go, ‘Huh, I wouldn’t have thought of that!’ I’ll tell you what, this gingersnap cookie is amazing. The cookies make a great gift for Christmas and store well. Wrap them in tissue, put them in a tin, they’ll last for 10 days and freeze well,” she said.

Day-after leftover turkey sandwiches

Jeff Hunt, the chef and co-owner with Erica Reilly of Spork restaurant in Bend, loves Thanksgiving dinner, but his favorite part of the meal won’t be on Thursday.

“To be honest, my favorite Thanksgiving food would be a leftover turkey sandwich the day after, on cheap white bread with iceberg (lettuce) and mayo,” Hunt said.

That’s what he always ate at his grandma’s house after Thanksgiving. The sandwiches were delicious, and now are sentimental, too.

These days Hunt, 34, jazzes his sandwiches up with crispy turkey skin and spicy hot Sriracha chili sauce (see his recipe).

“You can get as fancy with this as you want. Use artisan bread from a local bakery. Add some cranberry sauce or stuffing, butter lettuce or arugula, crispy kale chips instead of crispy turkey skin. Bacon never hurt a thing. Gravy is delicious. You can lose the Sriracha if it isn’t your thing, but if your turkey is the least bit dry, do not lose the mayo,” Hunt suggested.

Hunt told us that crispy turkey skin is his favorite part of the turkey, so he saves it and fries it up on day two and day three, if there’s any left, to add to his sandwiches.

“I use the cheap white bread because it makes me nostalgic,” he said.

Spork opened on Northwest Newport Avenue last June after four years of being a successful food trailer. Hunt told us Spork’s spice-fried chicken is their top seller and one of their signature dishes, followed by Spork’s tacos (catfish and carnitas are the most popular varieties).

“In the colder months, I like to play around with hardier food, so this winter, Spork will have some hardier one-pot action,” Hunt said.

— Reporter: ahighberger@mac.com