By Laura Grimes

A little-known blog fact: The Scatter family has a hand-made recipe book.

Nearly a decade ago, we started collecting our favorite recipes that went with some of our favorite food stories. We loaded them up in notebooks and gave them to our close family and friends for Christmas. It’s called Star Pie: A Galaxy of Recipes and Remembrances.

It got its name because exactly 10 years ago today I wrote down a conversation I had with the Small Large Smelly Boy, who was not so large and not so smelly at the time. In fact, he was downright adorable. He was 4.

THE SCENE: Our kitchen. The SLSB scribbles earnestly with a black crayon on stiff cardboard.

SLSB: This is my gingerbread house. There’s a little gingerbread man. And there’s a giant gingerbread man helping him reach up to the sky. He’s the daddy because he’s the biggest.

ME: Why is the little gingerbread man reaching up to the sky?

SLSB: Because he’s getting stars.

ME: Why is he getting stars?

SLSB: Because he needs them to make a star pie. The brother gingerbread and the mommy are still in the house. They’re getting ready to make dinner.

ME: How do you make star pie?

SLSB: Just put stars in it.

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This year, The Small LSB wrote up the Thanksgiving menu. If you do the math carefully, you will realize he’s now 14.

I love this menu. It’s a rare snapshot of catching The Small LSB in all his true funny self without his guard up. Apparently we’re having “punkey pie.”

Here’s what we’re cooking up today for our Thanksgiving meal.

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Today the Scatter Family is thankful for family and a day devoted to cooking and breaking bread together.

Happy Thanksgiving from all the Scatters, smelly or not.

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ILLUSTRATIONS (from top):

• Gingerbread drawing that inspired “Star Pie,” Small Large Smelly Boy, Nov. 24, 2001.
  
• Scatter Family Thanksgiving menu 2011, written by Small LSB.