I'm In Total Control

I am pretty excited about staying home for Thanksgiving this year, especially because it is our first, both in the new house, and with each other.

I normally get together with my extended family. Maybe it's because we're related that we always did it potluck style. I thought that was how it was done.

J. strongly disagrees with me on this one, believing that when you have people over, they shouldn't have to bring anything.

Making the whole dinner is going to be a lot more work and cost a lot more money. I think it has some perks, though, like designing the whole dinner to your own tastes.

I like most food, even brussel sprouts, but traditional Thanksgiving dinners feature a couple of things I am not crazy about...things that aren't awful, but I would be perfectly happy to never eat again: sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie.

Maybe I haven't had them prepared the right way. I know for a fact I've had a limited experience with pumpkin pie. Several years ago, my Grandmother made a little spiral bound cookbook entitled "Grandma's Favorite Recipes" that she gave to everyone for Christmas. It includes a recipe for Libby's Famous Pumpkin Pie that she took right off of a can of packed pumpkin. I do have to say her pie crusts are exceptional, though I prefer a different filling.

Sweet potatoes just don't have any personality, and I hate the Thanksgiving version with melted marshmallows on top.

Needless to say, I won't be including pumpkin pie or sweet potatoes at my dinner. I hope people aren't as attached to them as I am to mashed potatoes. The first Thanksgiving I spent away from home my freshman year of college was with a family who didn't include them as part of their Thanksgiving dinner, and I called my mom in tears.

Our guests are a lot older than I was then. I don't think sweet potatoes or pumpkin pie will be missed because I'm making a couple of great extra things to make our vegetarian friends happy. And how could a pumpkin pie possibly trump a cranberry mousse?