The Most Overrated Tool: A

I Absolutely Adore Thanksgiving. It's The Only Holiday I Insist On Making Myself.

You Can Get Bogged Down In A Recipe That's Got A Lot Of Steps And A Million Ingredients, And It Takes All Day To Make. And Then You Realize, You've Just Got One Dish. For Thanksgiving, You Want An Abundance Of Choices, And So You Want Dishes That You Can Put Together Really Quickly, But That Doesn't Mean Less Flavor.

My Mother Would Never Let Me In The Kitchen. I Always Wanted To Cook, But I Was Never Allowed To. Her View Of The World Was, "cooking Is My Job, And Studying Is Your Job." I Think, In Retrospect, She Didn't Like The Chaos. She Was Very Orderly. It Had To Be Her Way.

My Favorite Fall Or Winter Lunch Is Big Steaming Bowls Of Soup. I Usually Invite People For Around 12:30 And Have Two Hearty Soups Like Shrimp Corn Chowder And Lentil Sausage Soup, Which Can Be Made A Day Or Two Ahead.

I Learned That The Hardest Party To Pull Off Successfully Is Saturday Night Dinner. This Meal Is Expected To Be Elaborate: Appetizers, First Course, Dinner, Dessert, And Coffee. People Arrive At 7:30 Or 8 P.m. And Stay For Hours - Definitely Past My Bedtime - And They All Go Home Exhausted.