A few years ago, my sister and I took it upon ourselves to host a family Thanksgiving. The occasion presented a variety of challenges, not least of which was her aversion to gluten. Dietary restrictions and bickering aside, we managed to pull off a decent fete, thanks to a few good 1 recipes from Mom, Sugar Paper recipe box, $120, by special order at Paces Papers, 10 East Andrews Drive
and our patron saint 2 Ina Garten, Ina Garten, Foolproof cookbook, $35, Williams-Sonoma, multiple locations
Since then, I’ve been polishing my, 3 entertaining skills, Juliska Firenze cocktail plate, $96 for 4, Acquisitions, 660 Miami Circle
Using my hostess gigs as an excuse to buy all kinds of goodies for 4, 5, 6 setting, Royal Crown Derby Mikado bread plate, $60; salad plate, $80, Steve McKenzie’s, 999 Brady Avenue; Juliska Colette blue highball glass, $25; Maridadi Trading dinner napkins, $40 for 4
And 7, 8 serving meals, Olive wood bowl, $165, and tongs, $15, Huff Harrington Home; Plymouth Turkey large platter, $70, Williams-Sonoma
Of course, at any party where extended family is involved, alcohol is less a formality than a necessity. That year, we invented a Barefoot Contessa 9, 10 drinking game for kitchen prep (when Ina asks a rhetorical question, take a swig of Champagne!), which melted tensions right away. Cheers to that! Lunares Staghorn Champagne cooler, $185, Huff Harrington Home, August Morgan “Seeing Double” cocktail napkins, $36 for 4
Photographs by LuAnne DeMeo; Cookbook, recipe box, Turkey platter: courtesy of their companies