'What are you having for Thanksgiving?" It's a question many will hear before next week. Some will have answers at the ready, starting with the usual gobbler (roasted, grilled or fried) ending with the traditional pumpkin pie.

Don't count me among them. If pressed about what will be on my table on Thanksgiving, I'm still thinking about it. I know it won't be a turkey because I had one last year. My brother-in-law and I deep fried it, and boy was it tasty. But the preparation and clean-up was time consuming. I don't want to go there again.

Now, I watch the Food Network like some guys watch ESPN. Seeing Alton Brown ("Good Eats") or Bobby Flay ("Hot Off the Grill") is way more exciting than watching some quarterback get pounded. This viewing habit has me rethinking my menu almost daily.

With turkey out of the picture, other types of poultry have come to my attention, primarily rock Cornish game hens, which by the way were created by Tyson Foods, Inc., by cross-breeding White Rock hens and Cornish hens in 1965.

I love these little birds, which take to all kinds of preparation, from roasting to grilling. I'm thinking of spatchcocking (butterflying) them, then roasting them under a brick.

Alton and Bobby would be so proud of me.