A wonderful and memorable Thanksgiving

I would imagine that most people have a general idea where their Thanksgiving holiday of the year will take place. Maybe not. I suppose there are many who don't really celebrate this holiday. Or maybe they get invited to someone's home as Thanksgiving approaches, but had no prior plans. I don't remember any unhappy Thanksgivings, even during the very lean years when I first moved to expensive San Francisco and held temp jobs (where the agency took 50% of my earning power--yet, they did give me a job when I needed one desperately).

This year we hosted Thanksgiving on Surrey Street for the first time since 1996. I'll admit I was a bit nervous because, frankly, I was out of practice,Thanksgiving-wise-- having enjoyed other people's cooking, or chefs' offerings in restaurants (American and Mexican) for the past 13 years.

Now we're doing Thanksgiving at our own house. Naturally, I wasn't going to pull this off alone. My husband had it all planned out-- listed, timed, organized. This, above all, was the reason that, on THE day, it all came together with the least amount of stress we've ever had planning a get-together. Here's the recipe we followed for a great Thanksgiving that we shall not soon forget:

1) Don't stress the "we have to clean the house from top to bottom" instinct. We figure everyone loves us and won't care that we didn't repaint, retile, replace everything we should or would or could. "We'll bedazzle their other senses" someone once said.

2) Buy the turkey at least five, if not six days before Thanksgiving. Thaw it in the refrigerator for three or four days, brine it in a large plastic (garbage) bag for one day. Chill-air dry one day in the refrigerator, uncovered. Put it in the oven early, (8 am latest). Roast at 350 degrees for four (4) hours. When the thigh temperature reaches 170 degrees, remove, tent with foil, rest for at least an hour. Carve and plate.* (*it can't possibly be done *it IS *are you sure?, i'm not! *the recipe said 'it is done' OK?)

3) Commit to only a fixed amount of side dishes, and once decided, do not cave into the "we don't have enough food, we have to add ......." syndrome. This was the hard part. As we planned, we both had to remind each other of this rule. At the end of the day, we were right to hold fast to this tenet. Just go with the traditions, right?--Stuffing/Dressing, Potatoes (we had scalloped potato this year), cranberry sauce, green beans, yams or sweet potatoes, beets (not for everyone, I know, some like Brussel sprouts, eh?), and of course Turkey and Gravy. We made a pumpkin pie to which Iva gave her imprimatur and everyone enjoyed a one of a kind pumpkin pie-see above.

4) Tell everyone else they can bring us dessert. And if they bring anything comparable to my sister's RUM BUNDT --the only solid food you can get drunk on--

they go to the head of the class.