Thanksgiving for Foreigners and Other Misfits.

If you are far from family or from a culture that does not celebrate Thanksgiving, you will be a good fit at my table on Thursday. California is a wonderful place to collect multi-national flotsam and jetsam when holidays come around. The mixture makes for some lively gatherings. I had thought to keep the group small; just immediate family,not even the in-laws, but once I added a couple with three kids, all sense of restraint seemed futile, as usual.

My biggest problem is going to be the teeny-tiny size of my oven. I have back-up plans for lighting the barbecue and using it as a warming station. I made my sausage rolls yesterday and froze them. They will defrost perfectly to be served as appetizers with aperitifs of egg-nog and champagne.

I have pretty much decided that Sherry Trifle will be for dessert. I hope that the few "True Americans" on my guest list will not be devastated by the absence of pecan pie and pumpkin cheese cake.

I still remember the reaction a few years ago from a friend, who is away in Mexico this year, when I suggested cooking beef instead of turkey. "Well O.K." she said. " We'll just go and have turkey at a diner before we come to your house "

Turkey is an imperative, as I have learned. I don't mind. It's an easy thing to cook and the house will be deliciously perfumed.