Red meat is not bad for you. Now blue-green meat, that’s bad for you! ~ Tommy Smothers

Thanksgiving is not too far off. We are staying home again this year, but going to my sister-in-law, Christina's, for dinner.

Christina and Bill sold the big house they built several years ago and with the profits from that house, they paid cash for the little house they are living in now. Then they took out a construction loan to build their retirement home up at Greers Ferry Lake. They finished building in May but won't retire to the lake house until their daughter graduates from high school in a year and a half. At that time, they will sell their small home in town and pay off their mortgage for their retirement home at the lake. Very smart.

The "lake" house is not on the water, but it sits in a wooded neighborhood within walking distance to the marina where Bill keeps his sailboat. This is where we will have Thanksgiving dinner.

I love Christina. She's sweet, funny and very caring, but she is a complete contradiction to the term Domestic Goddess. While she keeps a very neat and clean house, she is very much like her older sister, Carol, when it comes to working in the kitchen. As long as it is filling, it doesn't necessarily have to taste great.

My idea of garlic bread is to make a spread using butter, fresh chopped garlic, fresh grated parmesan and a touch of oregano. Slather a loaf of french bread cut lengthwise with the butter spread and broil until brown and bubbly. Christina's idea of garlic bread is a slice of Wonder bread with spread with butter (read: margarine) and sprinkled with garlic salt. Is it no wonder, then, why we always ask Christina to bring the pickles to a family potluck?

Luckily, Christina has a sense of humor about it. When she told her kids (2 boys coming home from college and a daughter in high school) that Thanksgiving dinner was at their house, the two boys asked, "Who's cooking?"