Dungeness crab season started late this year in San Francisco because of the terrible oil spill in the bay. We were lucky that the spill wasn't worse, and Dungeness crab season was only delayed for a few weeks. Still, I was worried that we wouldn't have crab for Sunday night dinner before all of us left for the holidays.

My parents came to the rescue by sending Jane and Mark a Christmas gift, crab crackers and forks. I had no idea they were sending them a gift, and Jane was especially surprised and happy. Jane wanted to christen the crab tools with a dinner of Dungeness crabs. Way to go Mom and Dad!

On Sunday, Jane picked up crabs at Sun Fat Seafood Company, where they quartered and removed the gills for her. The crabs were a reasonable $3.99 a pound. With the dismantled crab, Garry made stir-fried garlic crab. It's a really simple recipe with a lot of garlic... think garlic fries. We used three heads of garlic for four Dungeness crabs.

Another Thanksgiving, another feast in San Francisco. All of us SNDsters are transplants from the East coast or Midwest and we avoid traveling during Thanksgiving. Instead, we celebrate Turkey Day by hanging out and cooking at Jane and Mark's place. It's typically an eclectic pot luck with friends who also don't have family in the Bay Area.

This year there were 14 of us and the food was more traditional and less of an East meets West affair. Dinner consisted of...

Savory Dishes

• Deep-Fried Turkey - brined, dry rubbed and fried (Garry/Chuck)
• Gravy - made from pan drippings and turkey stock from a roasted turkey wing (Jane/Chuck)
• Uncooked Cranberry and Orange Relish - chopped raw cranberries and oranges (Stacy)
• Spicy Artichoke Dip - jalapeno, cream cheese, sour cream, mayonnaise and other heart clogging ingredients (Stacy)
• Mashed Potatoes and Parsnips - potatoes, parsnips and chives mashed using a potato ricer - (Jane)
• Cornbread Stuffing with Sausage - sage, thyme, fresh corn, buttermilk cornbread and hot Italian sausage (Chuck)
• Brussels Sprouts Lardons - brussels sprouts and bacon (Stacy)
• Chinese Sticky Rice - sticky rice, Chinese sausage and BBQ pork, shiitakes, oyster sauce, green onions and cilantro (Hungry Bear)
• Spanish Seafood Salad - shrimp, squid, chorizo, sun-dried tomatoes and butter beans on frisée (Garry)
• Three-Seed Dinner Rolls - poppy seeds, fennel seeds and coarse sea salt (Karen)

Dessert

• Fruit Salad - cantaloupe, honeydew, watermelon, pineapple, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, kiwis, persimmons and mandarin oranges (Hungry Bear)
• Yogurt - fresh homemade (Sukhchander)
• Apple Pie - deep dish pie with pink lady apples (Stacy)
• Pecan Pie - from Bakesale Betty in Oakland (Ajita)
• Pumpkin Pie - from Bakesale Betty (Ajita)
• Chocolate Bouchons - small chocolate brownies (Chuck)

Hungry Bear and I did the majority of our cooking at home. It's more fun cooking together at Jane's place, but it's also more difficult with only one stove top and oven. When we arrived at Jane's, there was a buzz of activity in the kitchen as Stacy, Jane, Garry and Karen were prepping and cooking.