I was psyching myself up for a serving of my killer potatoes. Well, I was in the hospital last Thanksgiving, so my mother decided to commandeer the chore. I was given the task of preparing the pre-dinner vegetable tray. This simple task required a sleep session.

When faced with a problem of import, I generally sleep on in --that is to say I think about it as I'm falling asleep, which allows me to then "dream up" a solution. My solution was size.

I hit the local grocer yesterday, just after work, there taking charge of the produce dept. I selected the largest, freshest veggies this little sampling of the world had to offer, with a medley of bite-sized tomatoes, including brown, sunburst, cherry and various others, as well as white and green cauliflower, broccoli, green onions, red, orange, yellow and green bell peppers, avocado, celery and sweet baby carrots, along with a selection of veggie dip.

My "sleeping on it" solution was a simple matter of cutting large. Slicing the vegetables large turns them into tasty dippers.

I headed across town to my baby brother's lovely home, where my veggie tray was the hit of the party -- until my baby brother brought in his bacon-wrapped smoked turkey.

Oh, the fun, the joy!

I had also brought a pleasant rose wine, by Oliver, which was a slightly sweet compliment to the meal. We had a period of chat before pumpkin, mincemeat, apple pies, and a cheesecake selection, clinking glasses of Leelanau's spiced Witches Brew and Oliver's Mango Wine.

Cousins, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews, fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, grandmas and grandpas. A good harvest feast for one and all.

Be of good cheer, my friends, and good night.