Excellent Mom trick--really, is there anything that isn't made better with lemon? There's been a swath of recent articles claiming that the difference between stuffing and dressing isn't about whether it's cooked inside the turkey or in a casserole--it's more of a regional difference: In the North, it's almost always known as stuffing; in the South, it's almost always dressing. So often we hear about the special significance of a classic American holiday for families who immigrated to the US looking for a better life. Makes for a truly thankful Thanksgiving.

@Barbara Ballinger See the post here called Long-Distance Ginger. That's it!

This version does sound good, but I am committed to my mom's recipe, which uses candied ginger. And no nuts. Tradition!

Margaret and Barbara, Sounds delish. Last year, while researching an article, I learned that real marshmallow (from a plane called Althaea officinalis) was wildly expensive until the substitution of gelatin allowed for mass production. In 1917, a company called Angelus Marshmallows distributed a recipe booklet that matched them with sweet potatoes, and a classic culinary marriage began. 

Barbara and Margaret, tampering with tradition is such an interesting theme. One of my close friends always has a green Jell-o mold at her Thanksgiving dinner. Nobody likes it, nobody eats it, and it sits there forlorn among the splendid display of delicious things, but it was part of her family's T-day, and it must be there. Also, that olfactory effect is so important. If your mother based the turkey with butter and stuffed it with sage, the house wouldn't smell the same if she changed the recipe to use olive oil and thyme.

Oh, yum. I was always a mad baster. A few years ago, I decided not to be a slave to basting and did the cheesecloth trick. I actually got to take a bath while the turkey roasted. Do your French friends enjoy celebrating an American holiday, or is the meal for nostalgic ex-pats?

Ah, margarine, the misguided cynosure of thinness for so many of our mothers. It's in lots of the heirloom recipes we get, and it seems disrespectful to update it. The squeeze of orange is brilliant. Also the whiskey. So, now I want to know if your mom actually used a nail for the sausage? Surely a toothpick would not do?

I interviewed her years ago, before she was ready to talk about these dark issues—she was frank about some things, but bowdlerized some of her history. Her mother was taking care of her kids when she worked, and she alluded to her stepfather only as someone who “disappointed” her (like promising to take the family to the movies and then changing his mind). One thing she said always resonated with me, about being pigeonholed for roles like Gidget and The Flying Nun. She’d tell directors, “But I can be Norma Rae,” and they’d say, “Nah, do the nun again.” The same thing happens to journalists—editors like you to do whatever you did 20 minutes ago—and I suspect to women in many other professions. Sally and her mother are on the right in this photo. The secrets people keep….