Well, I have written and abandoned two posts now. Despite a surfeit of celtic blood, I hate being maudlin. So I will leave you with a recipe - one I'm not making this year, but which is probably the only constant (other than turkey and stuffing) at Thanksgiving dinners at Villa Cassandranita for over 25 years now.

Squash Casserole.

Even folks who hate squash like this recipe. I like a mix of flavors at a holiday meal. I've always thought that the Seven Sweets and Seven Sours was a great idea. Must be my German blood tempering the Celtic/English love of bland food.

Not me... I like to experience the full gamut of flavors! This recipe satisfies my love of spicy/hot dishes.

3-4 lbs mixed yellow and green (zuccini) squash
2 Med. onions, minced
2 bay leaves
6 sprigs fresh parsley (freeze dried works well too)
1/2 t. thyme
6 T. butter
6 T. flour
3 C. milk
Generous dash salt
1 T. seasoned salt. I like Morton's Nature's Seasons. McCormacks has too much paprika in it.
Several dashes ground nutmeg. I like to grate fresh.
Dash Worcestershire sauce.
4 egg yolks, beaten
1 1/3 C shredded Swiss cheese (I use way more, but this is what the recipe says). I treat recipes as suggestions, not dictats.
Cayenne pepper
Buttered breadcrumbs (Question for the ages: how in the heck does one butter a breadcrumb??? Good grief: just use the Italian seasoned ones from the can and forget about the butter)

Cut squash into 1/3" slices. Halve each. Place in large saucepan with minced onion, bay leaves, parsley, thyme. Cover with boiling salted water and cook until just barely tender. Drain, remove parsley and bay leaves. Set aside for a moment.

Celebrate by pouring the cook a glass of wine.

While the squash was cooking, you were *supposed* to be making the cream sauce. Of course it's too late now. Maybe next time you'll read the entire recipe first instead of loafing around the kitchen drinking Liebfraumilch. In a 1 qt. saucepan, heat 6 T. butter, whisk in 6T flour, gradually add 3 C. milk and a dash of salt.

Cook, stirring constantly, until it thickens. You want it thick b/c the squash will release a lot of water in the oven and that will thin the sauce down.

Celebrate w/another glass of wine.

To the white sauce, add seasoned salt, nutmeg, and Worcestershire sauce. Remove from heat. Gradually blend in the beaten egg yolks (What? You mean you hadn't beaten the egg yolks either? Maybe you should put the wine away.)

*cough*

Gradually blend in the *beaten* egg yolks by adding a small amount of the hot cream sauce to the beaten yolks in a small bowl. Whisk well, then add a bit more hot cream sauce and whisk thoroughly, then a bit more.

Have another glass of wine and pile the dishes in the sink for your spouse to do once everyone has left. When you have blended enough of the hot mixture in with the eggs, return all to saucepan and whisk thoroughly. Stir in 1 C. of Swiss cheese and add cayenne pepper to taste. I like a fair amount (two generous dashes) but taste and adjust.

Place layer of cooked squash in a large (9x12 is fine) buttered baking dish. Pour about 1/3 of the sauce over and sprinkle with regular or seasoned salt. Alternate layers of squash and sauce until casserole is full. Don't stir too much - you want the squash slices to be intact. Mix remaining cheese with equal or greater amount of breadcrumbs. Sprinkle over top. Add salt/pepper if desired or more grated Swiss. I like to top it all off with a scant layer of Parmesan or Asiago.

Bake at 350 degrees until top is bubbly and slightly browned. Even better the 2nd day - you may want to mix ingredients the day before and refrigerate until ready to cook. If you do this, increase cooking time slightly to adjust for dish being cold when it goes into the oven.