Thanksgiving is almost here. (This is your wake up call. Time to run like a turkey without a head to your nearest Stater Bros before they run out of cranberry sauce.) Now, holidays are different to me because they’re the few times a year when people not part of my family eat my desserts. Yes. This is a scary thought.
         In a way, I know it’s heartless of me not to be as nervous about giving my dear family food poisoning than I am of poisoning the guests. But that’s the way the cookie crumbles, I guess. My family will forgive me. The guests will try to avoid my very state of being in fear that I might offer them a lethal cookie or two. I think that’s why I’m getting the butterflies.

         Since my mother, the coordinator, wants to save the “dessert parade” for our Christmas Eve dinner, for Thanksgiving this year, I’m only making two desserts: Lemon Meringue Pie and Pumpkin bread. Slight problem: I don’t have experience with either. “Why, then,” you might ask, “would you make two desserts you’ve never tested before when you had all year to experiment?” Excellent question! Answer: I haven’t a clue. Those desserts just seemed like a good idea at the time. Now I’m freaking out.
         Will the pie turn out alright? Will my crust crumble before I can bake it? What if I forgot to buy a ingredient?! What if the pumpkin goes bad before I use it? What if the bread flops? What happens if I don’t have enough time to make both?
         The pressure’s sinking in . . . and I’m not even in a live kitchen! And it’s only TWO desserts. This is just pathetic. . . I guess there’s only one thing you can say in a situation like this, “bring it”.