I never had pasta on Thanksgiving...even at my in-laws, who are Italian.

We'll have turkey (I favor the dark meat), mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, green beans and stuffing. After that a few other assorted side dishes make an appearance. There'll be apple and pumpkin pies, and if my mother-in-law isn't too annoyed with me, maybe a slice of coconut cream pie.

My 93 year old grandmother, who is virtually blind, still bakes and cooks, and I can expect something good there too. While her lack of vision doesn't interfere with her cooking, it did create a problem on Thanksgiving a few years ago when she mistook the base of an artificial tree for an ashtray, and set the thing ablaze.