Making a full holiday feast for guests can be daunting, for some perhaps even terrifying. The world, and especially Hallmark movies, is full of holiday disaster stories: ruined roasts, failed desserts, steamed hams. But I'm not bragging when I say that the first holiday dinner I prepared for my extended family-a little early this year-was an unmitigated success. My aunt couldn't stop talking about the black pepper in the biscuits and the sage on the carrots.