What we are having for Thanksgiving dinner

� A big-ass turkey.

� My grandmother�s fabulous stuffing recipe The recipe�s a big family secret. And I have a vegetarian variation so I can eat some too.

� Mashed potatoes (my husband�s favorite).

� Sweet potatoes (made by my mother-in-law).

� Creamed onions (my family�s tradition. Probably no one will eat this but me)

� Cranberry-orange sauce (a recipe of my own invention).

� Green beans fixed in a manner TBA by my husband, who tends to improvise these things, although they generally involve mustard.

� Carrots in a maple glaze � a recipe cut from last weeks NY Times. I usually do a Moroccan spicy carrot thing, but my husband was practically drooling on the paper over this one.

� Pumpkin pie � recipe off the Libby�s can (why mess with perfection?) spiced according to my current whim.

� Mystery pie � my culinarily-impaired brother-in-law is bringing one or two from a bakery.

� Mystery bread � my only slightly less impaired sister-in-law is bringing this.

� Assorted appetizers � in case the turkey takes an hour longer than expected, like last year. Nothing too fancy here � the oven�s all tied up with other things.

The first time I hosted the family for Thanksgiving three years ago we ended up with a pie/person ration of 1:1. This is a family that has its priorities straight. When we were growing up, we would always invite someone orphaned by the Thanksgiving holidays to share our meal. Often it was someone from another country who either worked with my dad or went to our church. After we kids went away to college, seldom able to return for the holiday, my mom and dad took to inviting other empty nesters. One year that lives in memory even to those of us who weren�t in attendance was the year one of the guests was a social worker and she talked graphically about her counseling of anorexic girls during the entire meal. There were a lot of leftovers that year. My mom was still thawing out turkey tetrazzini by the time I got home for Christmas break.

Have a great holiday, everyone!

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