CARA MCCONNELL

42, vice president of a design firm, Atwater Village

Recipe: Roast Pheasants With Double Cranberry Sauce

FOR THANKSGIVING, because I am from Oklahoma and all of my family is still there, I don’t always go back home, and I love having Friendsgiving in L.A. And, because I personally find turkey overwhelming to cook, I turn to roasting small birds. It’s an easier task, and I like the personal-sized portions.

Before L.A., I lived in Chicago after college, and my boss there, Michan, spent his childhood splitting his time between Dublin and Paris. Dinners at his house in the fall were always roasting small game and making pâté from the birds for the appetizer.

Michan always made me feel welcome at his house in Chicago, and he and his wife opened my eyes to many types of cooking and also French wine for the first time. He was a mentor to me, not only as an architect but for opening my eyes to elevated cooking and entertaining. He was fascinated by my story and life journey. I think about him, especially on Friendsgiving, as we are willing to loosen up the decades of traditional family foods and we gather to experience the holiday in different terms that are just as delicious.