I'm a food guy. I have been since I can remember. Even when I wasn't in the restaurant business, I was reading about food, learning about it, playing with it, killing it with fire and inflicting various culinary adventures and misadventures on friends and family.

Most people like me draw on childhood memories when they're asked what inspires them. Other than wicked good fried chicken and cream gravy, I don't really remember my mom as being much of a cook. I know she cooked, or I wouldn't have survived to my teen years, but I don't have any memories of helping in the kitchen or anything like that. In my teen years, my dad was chief cook, and he's a very precise recipe-driven artist not given to too much futzing about with ingredient lists or cooking methods. I learned the value of precision in certain things from him, but every time I throw an extra handful of bread crumbs or an extra pinch of herbs into something, it's a 40-year-old's version of teenage rebellion.

My oldest son, Alex, at age 3 ½, has already piled up a fair share of kitchen memories, I'd like to think. He has his very own whisk and spatula, and is my right-hand man when it comes to beating eggs, laying anything on a baking sheet or (his favorite) dumping ingredients into a bowl. He's learned the importance of washing his hands between jobs and other rudimentary bits of food safety. At Thanksgiving, he'll be helping his mom make pumpkin pies and sweet potato casserole, enjoying the supreme power of wielding the hand mixer to blend the ingredients together.

So, with a budding foodie in the house, when I heard that Alex's preschool teacher had asked the kids some Thanksgiving-related questions, I figured my boy would have belted out answers that would make Escoffier clap with joy.

I was wrong.

However, as I read the responses from all the kids in the class, kindly compiled for me by their teacher, Aimee Nalley, I saw that Thanksgiving might just be a bit more interesting, not to mention a lot more sugar-filled, if we let the munchkins plan the menu.

The first question was "How do you cook a turkey?"

Alex: "You put it on the grill. Add some salt and pepper. Then cook it as long as the time says. Then you heat it in the microwave and eat it up."

I've never grilled a whole turkey in my life, and the only time any part of the turkey has gone into the microwave was Alex's first Thanksgiving, when he was 8 months old, when I had to nuke the leg quarters to get them done.

The rest of the class:

Megan: "You fry it on the stove. Put some pepper and potatoes on it. You cook it all night and then you eat it all up."

Leanne: "You put it in the oven with salt and pepper and butter. You cook it for five hours and then you eat it."

Walt: "You put it on the grill. Then you put butter and bread and salt and pepper and pancakes on it. You cook it for 20 hours. Then you take it off the grill and spin it around on the stove. Then you eat it."

Andrew: "You put it in the oven and put bread, salt and pepper and butter on it. Then you spin it around and cook it for two hours. Then you take it out and put an egg on it. Then Nana puts it on the grill for two hours. Then we eat it."

Travis: "Put it in the ground and put something on it. Then you eat it."

Tasha: "Put it in the oven with a pan. Put chicken on it and put your name on it. You cook it for four hours."

Yvette: "You put it in the oven and then you eat it."

Henry: "Take it outside and cook it for three mornings. You add chicken nuggets and bread to it. Then you eat it."

So we see a recurring theme of chicken nuggets and bread, and some really interesting cooking methods. Let's move on, though, to the meal itself. Surely that groaning-board feast has made an indelible impression on our youngsters, right?

Wrong.

Alex: Turkey, potatoes, green beans and peas.

Alex actually got pretty close on this one, although peas have to my knowledge never been part of our menu as their only good use is in soup made with a ham bone.

Megan: Candy, macaroni, candy corn, candy pumpkins and we eat chicken nuggets.

Leanne: Vegetables and four hot dogs.

Walt: Chicken, turkey and cookies.

Yvette: Turkey, peanuts, crackers and you watch Mickey Mouse.

Andrew: Turkey, green beans, popcorn, lima beans and chicken nuggets.

Tasha: Chicken, pizza, bread and mashed potatoes.

Henry: Bread, mustard, ketchup, mashed potatoes and turkey.

At least almost everyone got the turkey part! The chicken nuggets appeared again, I see.

How about dessert? That's got to have made a big impression, right? Well, sort of ...

Alex: Pumpkin pie, corn and cake.

His mother will be very happy, but my Texas pecan pie gets no love, and we're a pie-only household on turkey day. The corn? Got me.

Henry: Candy corn and pumpkin pie.

Yvette: Chocolate pudding and apple pie.

Tasha: Pancakes and green pie.

Travis: Cookies and rabbit pie.

Andrew: Halloween cookies.

Walt: Brown candy pie.

I'm going to go hunt recipes for green pie and rabbit pie. I'm guessing the latter involves Thumper eating a bullet, so that might not fly too well for a family dinner. You never know when you'll need recipes, though!

So, now that you've seen what the kids are having for Thanksgiving, go plan your own menus. And a very, very happy turkey day to all of you!

Got a question? Comment? Topic you'd like to see covered? Drop me a line, anytime!