Lisa Morehouse/The California Report

Chef Traci Des Jardins' Central Valley Roots

Plenty of amateur cooks will be digging up crumpled, food-stained and torn family recipes this holiday season. But when a two-time James Beard Award-winning chef offers to share a few -- who can resist? San Francisco chef Traci Des Jardins' Thanksgiving menu incorporates her childhood, spent in California's Central Valley. We visit Des Jardins in her home kitchen.Reporter: Lisa Morehouse

Rachael Myrow/KQED

Family Cultivates Persimmon History

Whether or not you enjoy eating them, you have to admit that persimmons are pretty awesome to look at. And the exotic looking orange fruit has a special history going back more than 100 years, when Japanese farmers first settled in California. It's not so easy to maintain that tradition, given the way farming has changed over the years -- but there are still a handful of families hanging on to the old ways.Reporter: Rachael Myrow

• More: In Search of the Chocolate Persimmon (Bay Area Bites)

Rachel Dornhelm/KQED

Food Bank Volunteer Becomes Client

It's ironic that a state with so much wealth and agricultural bounty like California also has so much hunger. A new calculation of Census data found that nearly a quarter of Californians live in poverty, by far the highest rate of any state. That comes as no surprise to food banks, even in places you might not expect.

• More: Hunger and Local Food Banks (Forum)

Alice Daniel/KQED

Heritage Turkeys Make a Comeback

The centerpiece of most Thanksgiving dinners will be a white broad-breasted turkey. But some will partake in another bird with a delicious flavor that's making a comeback: the heritage turkey. We talk to two California family farmers who sell these original breeds of domestic turkeys.

Suzie Racho/KQED

Baker Finds Love in an All-Butter Crust

You know what comes at the end of Thanksgiving dinner: dessert. More specifically, pie. Whether your favorite is pumpkin, pecan or apple, most pie fans say what really matters is the crust. The California Report's resident baker Suzie Racho visits a San Francisco pie maker who's using a family recipe to grow her business.

• More: About the Butter Love Bakeshop
• More: Recipe for Butter Pie (New York Times)