Look to the pie

We've all been looking forward to a relaxing week leading up to Thanksg--Come on!

But if you need something to get your mind off the news, this week, #ScaiPod (Now available on Apple!) is taking you on the journey to help you figure out how best to cook Thanksgiving dinner for 90,000 family and friends. It can really come in handy if you've been procrastinating.

The Dallas Cowboys' Legends Global reports you'll just need these items which are surely available at the local supermarket and surely in these quantities:

• 16,320 pounds of famous Cowboys Mac n Cheese

• 5,300 pounds of Ham

• 210 Gallons of heavy whipping cream for dessert toppings

• 252 Gallons of cranberry sauce

• 2,685 pounds of yukon gold potatoes

• 14,002 pounds of turkey

• 5,131 pounds of cornbread for dressing

• 310 Gallons of gravy

• 425 pounds of pecans for scratch-baked pies

• 830 pounds of fresh green beans for signature bowls and hand pies

• 970 pounds of pumpkin for scratch made pies

• 2,340 pounds of sweet potatoes

• 260 pounds of greens for salads and sides

• 5,000 Thanksgiving Rolls – a Thanksgiving innovation from the AT&T Stadium Concessions team

You'll notice some changes from last year's menu. They're cooking less ham and have two fewer gallons of whipped cream than last year. Perhaps the team at Legends doesn't understand the importance of honoring the pilgrims by spraying whipped cream directly into your mouth (as was surely the custom of the Wampanoag people, of course).

But this year, the crew has found another way to bake Thanksgiving to a golden brown. We've previously discussed how the Thanksgiving Hand Pie and Thanksgiving Bowl can give people an easy way to enjoy the different flavors of Thanksgiving from their seats.

Because 90,000 are expected for the game, the Cowboys can't give everyone a long table to set up their Thanksgiving feast. We've previously discussed how the Thanksgiving Hand Pie and Thanksgiving Bowl can give people an easy way to enjoy the different flavors of Thanksgiving from their seats. Now, they've introduced the Thanksgiving Roll: Savory herb dressing, green beans, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce and house pecan-and-hickory smoked turkey bundled and fried in a crispy delicious egg roll wrap. Served with turkey gravy for dipping.

"I'd better inspect these rolls," I declared, heroically.

The cranberry sauce played well with the sweet potatoes, but they were balanced by the savory nature of the turkey. Perhaps at this time of uncertainty, the Thanksgiving Roll can show us how different flavors can work well together.

Especially if we all carried with us an accompanying cup of gravy for dippin'.

I went down to the kitchen to inspect everyone's work. The cocktail sauce-smith explained they're never finished. They would continue tinkering with it until it was spicy but not so spicy as to overpower the other flavors.

The executive chef and Legends vice president say they started planning months ago, making sure vendors would have enough of each ingredient. They also started cooking things that were more shelf-stable like the Cowboys Mac and Cheese. That's already one of their best-sellers; they might do even better if they explain it's been aged deep in the AT&T Stadium Mac Vault.

But this year, the Cowboys had a quick turnaround, hosting the Eagles Sunday and then having to be ready for the Chiefs Thursday, so the staff at Legends had to stop doing prep-work for Thanksgiving and get the regular game-day mac and cheese ready, even if that meant a pause on shredding several tons of ham.

Loyal Scaiaholics will recall from that blog I linked to above, last year, I was concerned cutting thousands of chicken nuggets into the shape of a star might be too time-consuming. Everything worked out, though, and the Chicken Stars have been a great success.

The executive chef, Marcelo Vasquez, says it's an honor people think highly enough of the food they cook that they're willing to make AT&T Stadium their destination for their family Thanksgiving tradition.

"They choose to come here," he says. "You can see in the morning, three, four in the morning when we're coming in, you'll see people smiling because it's a big day for everybody. Especially for employees, they're happy, we're so happy to be here. It's a privilege to serve this amount of fans with great meal options."

At this time of divisiveness, this time of uncertainty, we can look to the positive: This holiday started with a holiday celebration among people from different backgrounds.

Today, we can still celebrate inclusivity by enjoying apple, pumpkin and pecan pies. Together.