In this edition of The Recommendation, we’ve got our best tips and gear for making Thanksgiving more manageable, including rich and buttery premade pie crusts, an enamel splatterware sheet pan, and the best glass (and plastic) food storage containers.

I learned everything I know about baking from my dad — except how to make the perfect pie crust from scratch. That, I taught myself. Growing up, I’d spend hours glued to his side while he buzzed around the kitchen whipping up decadent potpies, fruit pies, and quiches. But my dad is the type of home cook that follows his instincts rather than a recipe. And as it turns out, eyeballing the correct proportions of flour, water, salt, and butter for crust is a lot harder than it seems.

After trying many recipes over the years, I’ve learned that the vessel for warm sugary pecans, spiced apples, and other wildly delicious fillings must be taken seriously. It cannot be rushed. In my experience, the perfect flaky pie crust takes patience, precision, a reliable kitchen scale, and at least 30 minutes in the fridge.

So it’s no surprise that on especially busy occasions — say, Thanksgiving — I often find myself wondering how much time I could have saved (or football I could’ve watched) if I’d just bought a premade crust instead. But can I, the daughter who finally mastered the crust that evaded my father for so many years, really buy pie crust from the grocery store?

This year I am going to give it a try — armed with the knowledge gleaned from the hard work of my colleagues, who spent many hours in our test kitchen taste-testing 15 different store-bought pie crusts. Their favorites are a breeze to work with and hold their own under the fillings baked in them.

Whether you’re a novice who’s nervous about making your own pie dough, an experienced baker, like me, looking for a reliable shortcut, or, like my dad, you just can’t seem to get your recipe right, I hope these pie crusts will help.

And if you simply can’t concede to store-bought — or if you’ve been on the frozen-pie-crust-train for years — here are a few other easy tweaks to consider for easing the inevitable Thanksgiving Day stress:

• Skip cooking the turkey: Order a smoked one instead
• This splatterware enamel baking sheet is pretty enough to double as a serving dish.
• Use a bench scraper to scoop heaps of ingredients from the cutting board straight into the pot (and to cut through sticky doughs with ease).
• These double-ended measuring spoons allow you to add the same quantity of two different ingredients without rinsing.
• Stop peeling your apples by hand — this old-fashioned gizmo is far, far faster.
• And if you’re a guest this year (lucky you): Here’s what to bring your host.