The rest of the table setting can be given to tweens.  This is a perfect time for them to learn how to set a table correctly and to get inventive with centerpieces.

Watch the Deans - so your children learn the steps and you don't have to teach it.

Let the children have their day!  Left to their own devices they are sure to come up with ideas ten times more inventive than Martha Stewart, or even dare we say, the Deans themselves.  One Thanksgiving Dean Pollak's eldest son placed his collection of ant farms down the center of the table, not necessarily something his mother would have thought of herself, but once in place it made the Thanksgiving unforgettable.

From thirteen on pie making, or even Medway Sweet Potatoes, are well within your grasp.  We wouldn't leave teens in charge without any supervising, in fact we would stay in the kitchen the whole time, but the idea is that everybody is helping.

Husbands, lovers, brothers, fathers, uncles, you get the idea without us actually saying it, this group needs to be carefully examined to see if there is a pearl that lurks within.  You want to make sure that any help they offer doesn't lead to more work in the end.  Sometimes the NFL provides the perfect resting area for these eager but not always able helpers.  While people in the kitchen are getting burned, body checked, yelled at and brought into line, so are the guys on the field.

Now that everybody is situated, here are a few ideas of what to actually cook.  You must have our book by now (The Charleston Academy of Domestic Pursuits) and the following recipes are pulled from it as tried and true holiday favorites.  The Medway Sweet potatoes, for instance, have been cooked every year for over 65 years.  Their longevity should be an indication of their delicious-ness.
 

An example of Dean Pollak's

THANKSGIVING JOB LIST - 2007