Stone Soup

One of my favorite fables of all time is a story called Stone Soup. A man walks into a poor village and asks for food. When he is refused at each door, he then says he can make soup out of stones. He puts the stones in the boiling water, tastes it and tells the villagers it would taste much better if there was a little bit of carrot. The same villager who had told him she had no food to share, offers up carrots for the soup. Soon other things are added from each of the villagers, until the soup is made hearty by all the contributions. And they soon realize that by pooling their resources, they can all be better fed.

So, I am having 22 people at my house for Thanksgiving. It will be the biggest Thanksgiving I have ever hosted. I have to say, I LOVE doing the holiday meals. The planning, the organizing, the cooking, and the baking. I love it all. I love the challenge of trying to get everything to the table hot. But it is all over so quickly. All that work of planning and cooking is scarfed down in about 20 minutes (if you're lucky).

So, I am changing gears this year. We are having a stone soup Thanksgiving. This year I am only making the appetizers, the rolls I make every year, and of course the turkey. Everyone else is bringing their signature dish. And some wine.

I am guessing that this Thanksgiving will be a lot more fun than previous ones. Everyone will have a part in making it great. And I can stop pretending I am Martha Stewart. I don't think I was fooling anyone anyway.