Eighteen people for dinner, with a handful more joining for dessert. This is, for us, ‘very small’.

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Mainly, no change to the classics: my mother’s roast turkey, my father’s stuffing (the crowd favorite), pecan-crusted sweet potatoes.

This year, though, grilled vegetables are out in favor of garlic oven-roasted (my innovation), and the cranberry bread is now cranberry / corn / whole wheat (my mother’s, to her own regret).

Also new: along with last year’s tomato-basil bruschetta addition (a hit), some with olive and caper tapenade, others with manchego cheese and apricot jam or Point Reyes blue and fig preserve. (These the result of my and my father’s joint gastonomizing.)

And, finally: prosecco. Lots and lots of prosecco. I bought three bottles last year, and the normally non-drinking crowd sucked them dry in minutes. This could be dangerous.