When asked by editor Tamara Steiner to recount the Wyner Thanksgiving tradition, I realized that it is not possible to single out only one dinner. One year blurs into the next, with memories replete with moments of dread, amusement, warmth, and exhaustion. The best I can do is to relate a somewhat typical three-day journal leading up to the caloric celebration itself. Interspersed among the recipes and cooking directions are some anecdotes and observations compiled from more than 20 years of Thanksgiving dinners. Disclaimer: names have been changed to protect the innocent—or at least the unindicted.

Day One (evening): Pick up the Willie Bird at Whole Foods and get it into the brine. Clean the bird, snip the wingtips, remove fat, gizzards and neck (reserve and refrigerate for gravy broth); discard liver. In large canning pot (or doubled up new garbage bag), combine 1-2 gallons of water, 1 cup kosher salt, 1 cup sugar and 1 tsp cayenne pepper. Immerse turkey (adding more water, but no other flavorings, if needed to cover turkey), cover and try to find space in refrigerator (use ice chest if necessary).

En route to the refrigerator, trip over cat and give him a brine bath. Turkey skids on floor, causing cat to flee. Chase cat down to dry him off before he finds the cayenne on his fur. Drying isn’t enough, so kitchen sink becomes kitty bath. Turkey just sits on the floor watching the spectacle, laughing with that wide open grin.

Turkey’s turn is next: rinse thoroughly (in an un-furred sink), then immerse in new brine. Successful on second try, cook now consumes one large glass of wine to calm down then resumes preparations.

Begin the stuffing: Cut loaf of French bread into ½ slices then cube. Leave to air dry on cookie sheets overnight. Oven toast and skin 1 cup hazelnuts. Chop coarsely when cool; bag and reserve. Chop celery and onion to yield one cup each; bag separately and refrigerate.

Day Two: Plan out rest of meal for nine family members: yams, potatoes, asparagus, broccoli, dessert items, hors d’ouevres. Finish shopping after work. Come home and pick up messages on answering machine. “Can we bring my mother-in-law?” “Oh, hey, the Arizona foursome is coming for the holiday weekend. Can I bring them?” No problem, you think; how difficult can it be to expand the meal to accommodate five more (actually six, if you’ve ever seen the way Cousin Leroy can pack it in)? After a few moments of reality sinking in, disconnect husband from ESPN and send him to the store to pick up extra items.

Prepare the turkey broth: Place reserved wingtips, fat, heart, kidney and neck in large saucepan. Add 1 onion, quartered, 3 stalks celery with leaves, 1 carrot, full handful of Italian parsley, 2 bay leaves and 10 peppercorns. Add 6 cups water and bring to a boil; skim if needed. Reduce heat and simmer for two hours or until the neck meat and gizzards are fork tender. Strain broth and refrigerate. Finely chop neck meat and gizzards. Carefully label the reserved meat (don’t forget the year husband thought the trimmings were for kitty!). Clean, trim and chop two leeks (white part only) and place in Ziplock bag. Trim asparagus and broccoli (bag and refrigerate). Toss bread cubes, check for dryness (bag if quite dry). Prepare cranberry-fig compote. Rinse and sort one bag of fresh cranberries, trim and snip 12 dried mission figs into fourths. Add fruit and 1½ cup (inexpensive) port and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally until thickened, about 30-40 minutes. Refrigerate before serving.

Prepare molded salad. Make lime jello (large box) according to directions. Using food processor, combine 1½ cups cottage cheese with 6 oz. softened cream cheese until nearly smooth. When jello is thickened (before set), add cheese mixture and stir until jello is light green and add one 8-oz can of crushed pineapple, drained. Add ½ cup chopped walnuts if desired. Pour into mold and refrigerate.

Refrigerate wine: Henry Estate (Oregon) Müller Thurgau and Ledson (Sonoma) Johannesburg Riesling. Haul out the holiday dishes and stemware. Clean and de-spot as necessary. (How can kitty hair get into zipped up dish protectors?) Do last minute ingredients check… pumpkin for pumpkin roll… whipping cream… flour… butter… apples… apricots. Telephone rings… add two more for dinner. No problem, dinner will be served in two rooms this year; lucky I don’t have to rent a hall. Head off to bed with visions of turkey legs dancing in my head.

Day Three (T-Day): Up early. Prioritize day: bake pumpkin roll, prepare stuffing, roast the turkey, prepare hors d’ouevres and set table.

Pumpkin Roll

¾ cup flour ½ tsp each baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and ground cloves ¼ tsp salt 3 large eggs, separated 1 cup and 2 Tbsp sugar, divided ? cup prepared pumpkin puree 1 cup whipping cream powdered sugar

Spray jelly roll pan with non-stick spray, line with wax paper which has also been sprayed with non-stick spray. Combine dry ingredients, stir to mix.

Separate eggs. Beat yolks and 1 cup sugar until thick and light yellow. Beat in pumpkin. Whip egg whites to stiff but shiny peaks. Add flour to egg yolk mixture and stir to blend. Fold in egg whites. Spread in even layer in pan.

Bake in preheated 375°F oven for 12-14 minutes or until cake springs back when touched. Immediately place cake onto linen or thin cotton towel sprinkled with powdered sugar and roll up cake and towel together beginning at narrow end. Cool on wire rack.

Whip cream until quite thick, adding sugar mid-way. When cake is cool, carefully unroll, make even layer of whipped cream, narrowing at ends, and re-roll cake. Refrigerate until serving. For stuffing, sauté onion and celery (from Day 1) until onion is translucent. Melt one cube (¼ cup butter) and add 1 can chicken broth. Combine dry bread with sautéed vegetables, hazelnuts, 6 oz dried (sweetened) cranberries, 3 tsp salt, 1 tsp dried crumbled sage (or 2 tsp minced fresh sage), and ½ tsp freshly ground pepper. Add butter-broth mixture and toss to evenly moisten. If necessary, add very hot water 2 Tbsp at a time. Cover and refrigerate. Reheat before serving. Remove turkey from brine and drain. Stuff with fruit and vegetable mixture (1 coarsely chopped onion, lemon and apple, 2 tsp ground sage, 2 bay leaves (crumbled), 1 tsp fresh thyme, 2-3 sprigs rosemary, large handful of coarsely chopped Italian parsley, 3 Tbsp canola oil (not olive oil). Truss legs. Rub with butter. Sprinkle ½ cup flour in bottom of roasting pan (to catch and brown roasting juices). Roast to 180°F internal thigh temperature (generally about 3 hours for smaller turkey). Let me quickly add here that if you are not a fan of brining (really, the salt does not add that much more sodium to the meal), and you are going to go with a turkey au natural, PLEASE be sure it is thoroughly defrosted before baking. When I was 10 we went to an aunt’s home for Thanksgiving and a beautifully browned turkey awaited us; however, looks can be deceiving and I never did develop a taste for rare turkey. In my way of thinking, the only thing gobbling at the Thanksgiving Day table are the diners!

While turkey is roasting, you can prep the mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes (which I most often mash with brown sugar and butter), and get ready to steam up the broccoli and asparagus when the turkey comes out of the oven. The gravy will be made in the roasting pan, using the drippings and browned bits of flour. Sauté the prepared leeks in the drippings, and slowly whisk in the turkey broth. If necessary add flour slurry (flour and water) to further thicken the gravy. Add the reserved turkey trimmings (again, assuming el gato has not had his fill).

If you’re lucky, your relatives will begin to arrive about an hour before dinner. By that time, you have either dragooned the husband to do KP or found an empty corner in the garage to hide the dirty bowls, spoons and pans from sight. Festooned in your clean, crisp apron, each hair in place and a smile plastered to your face (from which you have wiped off cake dough spatter at the last minute), greet your guests and pass the hors d’ouevres (which you either made around 3 a.m. or ordered in from the Safeway deli).

It won’t take long for the cooks to separate from the crowd and join you in the kitchen. They all want to lend a hand and can be disappointed when you have everything under control. One year, I had an inspiration and led a wonderful cooking lesson while the cooks jointly prepared a tarte tatin, a wonderful upside down apple and dried apricot dessert prepared on the stove and finished in the oven while everyone enjoyed dinner.

Sitting around the table after the meal, tummies full of food, good humor all around, we take a moment to bless our good fortune, health and fellowship. Even the cat is cleaning his face after noshing on a few scraps that the children around the table sneak his way. Thanksgiving is a uniquely American holiday, recognizing our freedoms and privileges that we as a nation sometimes overlook. May you share the abundance of the season at your table this Thanksgiving holiday.