My High Holy Day

It's official. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year. 

This year we had twenty people for dinner, including my stepdaughter who flies over a thousand miles to be here, my parents, my big brother, my mother-in-law and Granny-in-law. The other twelve people at our table(s) were friends who are quickly coming to think of Thanksgiving at our house as a tradition. Ranging in age from 26 to 80-something, it's a diverse, lovely crowd of terribly fun people.

Every year we host, I learn a few new things. Here are the things I learned as a result of Thanksgiving 2008:

• 15 pounds of potatoes is too much for twenty people. Even if you want leftovers.

• Brining a turkey is a lot of work, and I didn't notice a difference in juiciness. It did cook faster, which was nice.

• Putting a turkey in the oven upside down for the first 1 1/2 hours will make the breast tender and moist. (And if you play it off right, no one will know it was an accident.)

• I am never going to use my husband's good Wusthof knife again. I've now used it twice and cut myself both times. This time I managed to chop a carrot the size of a small log, wash the knife, and then cut myself drying it.

• Watching my parents play Rock Band with my stepdaughter was the funniest thing I've ever seen.

I'm already looking forward to next year.