I'm so thankful that it's turkey and chocolate truffles month! Thanksgiving is my favorite all-American holiday. When else can you stuff yourself silly with a feast that might include some veggies and turkey, but most definitely offers mounds of rich desserts? And, it's considered a good thing - a tribute to those fun-loving Europeans who came over and partied with the Wampanoag Indians on this day.

Arnold Schwarzenegger loves this holiday, too, perhaps due to his fun-loving European background. He's been quoted as saying, "I love Thanksgiving turkey... it's the only time in Los Angeles that you see natural breasts." He might even be more fun than the Puritans who ate turkey and corn, and I believe chocolate truffles, at the original Thanksgiving table.

Since there was no Thanksgiving Day football game or Macy's parade when all this got started, they focused totally on food. Chocolate truffles were everywhere! They used them to decorate the top of the pumpkin pies; dropped them in their champagne-filled flutes; squished them between slices of warm bread (thus making the first pain au chocolat); and mixed them with their bowls of popcorn to munch on during the turkey races.

I'm proud to say we continue all those chocolate truffle traditions in my family except, being city dwellers; we don't have any turkeys to race. My Uncle Milton has his own tradition that I'd like to put a stop to. I'm thinking about gluing some truffles to the seat of my dress so when he goes for his annual grope - surprise! He might get mad, but so what? I think he'd enjoy dinner at Arnie's better anyway. They could gaze at those big, natural breasts together.

Sorry, I fear I've digressed. This is about thanksgiving, an exercise in personal development we are all reminded of at this time of year. However, I happen to be a very thankful person year round. I always say, 'thanks for last night,' 'thanks for the Lexus,' etc. But I'm especially thankful (and not afraid to show it) when I receive a beautiful box of chocolate truffles. To me, those bite-sized babies are worth their weight in gold.

I've been told that the true measure of a person's thanksgiving nature is when you can be just as thankful for someone else's gifts as you are for those bestowed upon yourself. That's kind of a tough one for me. But I'm working on it and want to take this occasion to tell you all that I hope you get tons of chocolate truffles to go with your turkey. And, I'm going to include that when we go around the table at our house to say what each of us is thankful for. Really, is there any better way to show the family what kind of person I am? Mmmm, I think not. So, thank you for giving me something else to give thanks for. I'm also adding Black Friday to my list - the perfect day for stocking up on chocolate truffles for Christmas gifts.

Hope to see you at the mall!

(P.S. For anyone naïve enough to believe all the above is true --- it's not! But, I'd like to talk to you after dinner.)