Thanksgiving

Autumn is upon us and I so look forward to those traditions of Thanksgiving: Turkey, football and the seventh game of the World Series. MARK LIFLAND Santa Monica

With Christmas less than two weeks away, it's crunch time at the nation's shipping companies. What FedEx Corp. said was its busiest day of the year came Monday, when the carrier moved about 17 million packages nationwide. How do you handle that many boxes and parcels? At the FedEx hub at Los Angeles International Airport it takes hundreds of human handlers and miles of automated conveyor belts. At 1 a.m. Monday, the heart of the so-called a.m. sort, a dozen cargo planes emblazoned with the purple-and-orange FedEx logo, mostly Boeing MD 10s and Airbuses, sat on the tarmac.

Alisa was fitting the brown paper tail of her Thanksgiving turkey into the pine cone when her mother put down the phone and said, "Your Aunt Sylvia and Uncle Ed are coming to visit. Ed has business out here for a few days. " "That means Kristi will be coming!" Alisa ran to her mom and hugged her. Kristi was her favorite cousin. She taught her how to do French braids and how to make S'mores in the microwave. She was fantastic! "So they'll be here for Thanksgiving?" she asked.

Let's first get the caveats out of the way: No, the Chevron World Challenge is not a regular PGA Tour event. But it is effectively Tiger Woods' tournament; it was established to benefit his charities, and he is the host. Yes, there are only 18 players in the field, albeit very good ones. Yes, Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks is friendly terrain for Woods — he had already won the event four times. Even so, for the first time since Woods' life and career began careening out of control two years ago with a Thanksgiving night car accident in front of his Florida home, the player many consider the greatest golfer in history can finally say he has won another tournament.

An annual Thanksgiving travel forecast predicts 37,000 fewer airline passengers this year - about a 2%  drop over the same period last year. But U.S. carriers have reduced capacity to match demand and offset higher costs, the Air Transport Assn. says. That means few empty seats.... Of Americans planning to travel at Thanksgiving, 82% have not booked their travel (flight, rental car, hotel) a poll commissioned by Hotwire.com has found. Harris Interactive conducted the poll among 2,000 respondents....

Earl Chang's left hand slides smoothly up and down the frets of his acoustic guitar as he fingers the soft chords of a traditional Hawaiian song. His brother Kona picks rhythmically at the lilting melody on the ukulele. Behind them, the Pacific swell crashes on a reef that shelters the nearby beach. Both frequently play gigs at Waikiki clubs and hotels, and Kona also is a well-known DJ with his own radio show. But this is no concert. There is no stage or sound system. These two young guys are just relaxing, sitting on folding chairs in the shade of a blue canvas canopy, jamming and playing their hearts out. And the only audience privileged to enjoy the mellow sound is a small group of their immediate family, plus my wife, Annie, and I, who have the quirky good fortune to be here that day. It is Thanksgiving, and we are vacationing in Honolulu, as we do each November.

There are at least a couple of ways to deal with the fact that you have yet to plan Thanksgiving dinner: reservations at any of the dozens of restaurants that will be celebrating the holiday, or takeout. In addition to the listings below, check your local grocer for takeout options. And besides many notable hotel dining rooms, restaurants all over the Southland are offering wonderful menus for Thanksgiving dinner. You've got choices from the traditional to the not-so-traditional to the vegan.

Thanksgiving dinner puts a lot of pressure on a cook. But it's nothing compared with Thanksgiving leftovers. Of course, you can just reheat and re-serve the whole meal over and over until the stuffing starts drying out and cracking. But a good cook is supposed to spend the Friday after Thanksgiving doing something wizardly with all those leftovers, right? Take the remains of the holiday and turn them into something supremely special, perhaps a turkey pot pie with a flaky homemade crust, with lovingly hand-crimped edges.

There was something about the chicken splayed across his plate that triggered Gene Baur's gross-out reflex more than 25 years ago. As quickly as you can say "Tofurkey," the Hollywood native swore off eating meat. This week, his Farm Sanctuary movement brought veganism to New York's Tavern on the Green restaurant to prove that Thanksgiving can be decadent without turkey, sausage stuffing and buttery mashed potatoes. That's no small feat for someone who once appeared in McDonald's ads and was known to toss dried noodles doused with butter into the microwave and call it dinner.

Whether it's a holiday staycation or a busy attempt at entertaining family, the long Thanksgiving weekend is no time to hole up at home. After the tryptophan wears off, the city offers plenty of chances to catch a concert, sip a sophisticated cocktail or slam-dance next to a speaker. Here's a smattering of weekend happenings to get you -- and your houseguests -- out of the house and on the town. Friday Miss Kitty's White Trash Ball @ Dragonfly: The day after Thanksgiving, the "filthy family" from Miss Kitty's monthly soirees will be outdoing themselves once again with the White Trash Ball, a gay-friendly, trailer-park-themed fete, complete with live performances, "truck stop games" and two areas of music -- one devoted entirely to hair metal.

Visitor tips for Pearl Harbor --Because of security, no purses, backpacks, diaper bags, camera bags or other such items are allowed at the visitor center or on the memorials. Bag storage is available for $3. --Carry bottled water. --Dress comfortably and appropriately (no swimsuits). Be prepared to do some walking. --The center is open 7 a.m.-5 p.m. every day but Christmas, Thanksgiving and New Year's Day. --More info: (808) 422-3300, http://www.nps.gov/valr

After a glut of family films opened over the Thanksgiving holiday, no new movies are slated to hit theaters nationwide this weekend — leaving a clan of felt "Muppets" to rule the box office. The post-Turkey Day weekend has traditionally been one of the slowest moviegoing periods of the year, as Americans emerge from their tryptophan-induced hazes and begin their holiday shopping. In 2010, it was the second-lowest-grossing weekend of the year, according to Box Office Mojo. This weekend, Walt Disney Studios' modern spin on "The Muppets" is expected to ring up about $20 million in ticket sales, according to those who have seen pre-release audience surveys.

The good news for studios was that, overall, people liked what they saw in theaters over the long Thanksgiving holiday. The bad news was that there were a lot fewer of them than in years past. In fact, despite some highly regarded new movies, it was the slowest Thanksgiving moviegoing weekend in the last four years. Ticket sales were down roughly 11% compared with the same period last year. So far this year, attendance is off about 5%, and box office receipts are down about 4%. "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1" was easily the No. 1 film, taking in $62.3 million Wednesday to Sunday, according to an estimate from distributor Summit Entertainment.

Our family Thanksgiving celebration didn't come off exactly as planned. We'd imagined a long-postponed reunion of siblings, aunties and cousins from around the country, gathered at my brother's grand new home in Palo Alto. But circumstances conspired to unravel that plan. Some East Coast relatives were forced to back out by sky-high airfares, unexpected medical bills and budget-choking college tuition hikes. One cousin just lost a job; one is allowed no time off at his new one. Another was grounded by worries that looming foreclosure might make this the last Thanksgiving his family will celebrate in their own home.

Muppets and vampires are enjoying a bountiful Thanksgiving weekend, while Christmas elves and little boys in train stations are feeding on a more meager meal. "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 1" is easily topping the holiday weekend box office in the U.S. and Canada, followed closely by "The Muppets," the strongest-performing new film to open Wednesday. The animated "Arthur Christmas" and Martin Scorsese's 3-D "Hugo" are lagging far behind. "Breaking Dawn," the fourth of Summit Entertainment's planned five movies based on author Stephenie Meyer's bestselling books, sold $20.3 million worth of tickets Wednesday and Thursday and is on track to collect roughly $56 million by Sunday.

Leftovers are one of the best things about Thanksgiving, and no doubt you've already had your turkey-stuffing-potatoes-cranberry-sauce sandwich, the official meal of post-Thanksgiving Friday. But even though the perishables may be in the refrigerator they're still vulnerable to bacteria, so let's have a little primer on food safety. First, it's a good idea to make sure your refrigerator is at or below 40 degrees Fahrenheit and the freezer is 0 degrees or colder, said Ruth Frechman , a Burbank-based registered dietitian and spokesperson for the American Dietetic Assn.

In my household, passions run high every year when we discuss the Thanksgiving menu. My husband favors dishes with bacon, pork sausage or lard. One year he suggested altering the lineup to eliminate mashed potatoes ("bland prison food"), which prompted threats from the kitchen staff to retaliate by withholding their father's favorite dessert (angel pie, with shaved bacon). The one dish that rises above controversy is the turkey, the centerpiece of that glorious meal. But it is also the biggest challenge of all. Over the years, we have tried many different approaches to cooking it, including brining, barbecuing, grilling it on a rotisserie, slow-roasting, tenting, un-tenting, butter basting, bouillon basting or rubbing it in exotic spices, such as bacon.

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords marked another milestone in her recovery Thursday, serving Thanksgiving dinner to troops at a Tucson military base in what her office said was the first constituent event since an attempt on her life in January. Giffords and her husband, retired Navy captain Mark Kelly, joined approximately 400 airmen, military retirees and their families at the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in her district. On the menu: a traditional Thanksgiving meal, plus prime rib, baked ham, shrimp, assorted cheeses and desserts.