People Have More Fun If They Don't

I Absolutely Adore Thanksgiving. It's The Only Holiday I Insist On Making Myself.

You Can Get Bogged Down In A Recipe That's Got A Lot Of Steps And A Million Ingredients, And It Takes All Day To Make. And Then You Realize, You've Just Got One Dish. For Thanksgiving, You Want An Abundance Of Choices, And So You Want Dishes That You Can Put Together Really Quickly, But That Doesn't Mean Less Flavor.

If It's A Cocktail Party, I Generally Make Five Or Six Different Things, And I Try To Choose Recipes That Feel Like A Meal: A Chicken Thing, A Fish Or Shrimp Thing, Maybe Two Vegetable Things, And I Think It's Fun To End The Cocktail Party With A Sweet Thing.

I Measure Everything, Because I Always Think That If I've Spent So Much Time Making Sure This Recipe Was Exactly The Way I Want It, Why Would I Want To Throw Things Into A Pot?

I've Lived In The Hamptons Since 1978, When I First Bought My Store Barefoot Contessa.