Hi neighbors. Have you bought your turkey yet? Not too early to do that. It is too early to start cooking pies of course, but not to start the debate about which pies to cook. Ah Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday. Not because of the great food, but because of the great feeling of having family and friends over to eat together. I can hardly wait.

Last year my granddaughter, who is now three years old, helped make noodles. I'm sure she'll help this year and might actually make a noodle or two along with play-dough like snakes, balls and pancakes.

We all have favorite recipes we cook for special occasions. Those particular dishes become our "signature" dishes and we're expected to have them each time.

The kids always want homemade noodles and fresh baked bread from an old recipe I discovered in high school.

Other than that, I go modern on them. Sometimes I bake a pie from scratch, and even make my own pie dough. But more often than not I buy the pre-made pie shells and canned fillings. Can that be considered actually making the pie? When compared to buying one in a box already made -- particularly one not frozen but freshly baked --I guess a "manufactured" pie could be considered homemade.

Even tried and true dishes can sometimes not turn out right. We all have "horror" stories of turkeys not completely baked till 2 p.m., burned pies, flat bread, unsalted mashed potatoes or stuffing with some odd ingredient no one liked.

Are you one of those brave souls who try something new at Thanksgiving dinner? Some recipe that looked so simple when the chef on television threw it together can take forever to make and still turn out just awful.

Of course, there are always new recipes coming out, which I find amazing. How many ways are there to prepare the same food? Let's see, there is boiling, broiling, steaming, baking, frying (not good for cholesterol by the way) grilling and my personal favorite, nuking in a microwave oven.

Admittedly there are some times when a new recipe works out wonderfully and you get all kinds of oooohhhs and ahhhs. I would recommend trying them out at a regular meal a couple of times before driving yourself crazy in the annual Thanksgiving cook-a-thon.

Don't forget to leave some dishes for guests to help with. That's a big part of the whole celebration. Not just the eating together, but also the making the meal together.

Do you have men who help in the kitchen?

I think that's more acceptable and common now than ever. In my family my son helps cook -- at least his signature dish. Since he is usually the only male around he gets assigned the odd "stir this" and "dish up that" duties.

I think it depends on how many males are around. If there are two or three males and the kitchen is crowded with females, the guys will usually walk in and out, try to get a taste of something cooking, offer advice on adding more salt or sugar, and ask "how much longer before we eat?"

If the male count is higher, they usually just come to the door way or yell the familiar question from the television room during commercials.

When there are enough males to fill the television room, they are usually responsible for keeping track of the children while the women cook.

The women, temporarily free of the distraction (and ears) of the children, don't really cook any faster, but they can talk more freely about the men and the children.

In the hubbub of a crowded Thanksgiving kitchen women do a lot of bonding.

The children as well catch up on all the new adventures in their cousins' lives and exchange ideas on what to request for Christmas.

The men relax in the company of trusted males who have no ulterior motives other than eating a good meal and maybe cheering for the opposing football team on television. They might compare notes on politics, jobs and family issues.

The women are often comparing physical changes in themselves and other family members and how the kids are doing in school or at their after school jobs.

The kids compare how their levels of freedoms, chores and weekly allowances differ.

Everyone talks about family and how the rest of the world affects family.

Thanksgiving dinner with the extended family and friends is more than a tradition to cherish. It's a retying of the bonds that keep us balanced and strong.

Until the next time friends remember; enjoy the time you spend with your family and friends. Thanksgiving is about more than sharing food. It's about sharing our humanity.