Last Thanksgiving, I wouldn’t have been allowed to fix dinner on my own if I’d wanted to. I had guests visiting, chef Rich Treglia and his wife Stacy, who had just sold their restaurant in Sonoma Valley, Calif. There was no question that I would be anything other than the lowliest kitchen helper, and with this sort of kitchen talent available, I decided that something out of the ordinary was called for.

I had a couple of ducks in the freezer and a new smoker. Unfortunately, as is often the case in my kitchen, I did not have all the ingredients for any brine recipe I had. Rich, in the manner, I suppose, of any visiting chef, prowled about my kitchen, opening cupboards and inspecting the spice rack, occasionally pulling out something that seemed useful. We brined the duck overnight, cold-smoked it for four hours or so the next day, and then roasted it with a honey and vinegar glaze. It was amazingly good, and Rich has attempted to reconstruct the brining recipe for this article.

Another chef who considers duck a natural for the holidays is Gehrett Billinger at the Astoria Golf & Country Club, but when I visited him he was making another meal for the holidays: a pork loin rack glazed with balsamic vinegar and molasses.

Billinger graduated from Portland’s Western Culinary Institute in 2000, and was at The Stephanie Inn and the Lumberyard Rotisserie and Grill before moving to the country club, where he found “my own ship to sail.”

He brined the pork with cloves and cinnamon, and accompanied it with a tart cherry and shallot chutney. “The dish is full of seasonal flavors,” Billinger said, “and both sweet and tart in a way that is unusual but agreeable.”

There were also the kind of vegetables you might expect for Thanksgiving or Christmas: yams, sweet potatoes and red potatoes, but the brown butter roasting added a rich, nutty dimension. It was a new take on tradition.

Holidays bring to mind the traditional foods we enjoyed as children, but tradition does not keep Billinger from innovating. He likes warm stews for the holidays, and suggests that in addition to using seasonal spices, local ingredients are important. In the Lower Columbia region, that means seafood, and not simply crab for New Year’s. How about roasting a whole tuna loin? Or a salmon? Or stews of oysters, albacore tuna and salmon? Whatever you choose to cook, “the big thing about holiday meals is to serve family style,” Billinger says.

Of course, desserts are a special part of any holiday meal. “I like playing with chocolate, pears and ginger,” says Billinger. “I love poached pears in spiced bourbon, or pears with honey and mascarpone.”

Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s are occasions that demand tradition and warm, comfortable food. We may want to vary the meals from year to year, but we don’t want to go too far astray. So why not prepare the traditional meals a little differently?

In England, nothing could be more traditional for Christmas than a joint of beef, coated before roasting with olive oil and rosemary leaves for a delicious fragrance and crust. Or try roasting prime rib with a crust of thyme, garlic, olive oil, pepper and freshly grated lemon peel. Or if you have elk or venison in the freezer, who needs beef?

If you must have your turkey, why not brine it? The bird will be the juiciest you have ever had. Take the stuffing out of the ordinary, too, by playing with ingredients like cornbread, hazelnuts and oysters. Or you might grill your turkey this year. Tired of corn on the cob? Why not corn fritters or roasted corn soup? Why not turn the potatoes into a Scandinavian treat? Make lefse, either as a dessert with cinnamon, jam or lingonberries, or use them to roll up sausages. This year, instead of making a pumpkin pie, why not make a pumpkin cheesecake with a gingersnap crust?

The Internet can provide any sort of recipe you desire, but don’t feel that you have to slavishly adhere to any recipe. “Use your own intuition,” advises Chef Billinger. “Use your own personal taste palette. Have an army of spoons on the stove so you can sample and experiment. Play with the recipe.”

Holidays are about family and community, but too often, only one person is doing the cooking. To everyone else, I say: Don’t get in the way, but do lend a hand. There are more important things than watching the football game. The holidays can also be a great excuse to buy a smoker or drown some pears in bourbon.