Crawford, Tex. ? No last-minute, holiday grocery shopping for the president or first lady Laura Bush — they got the fixings for their Thanksgiving feast via express-delivery on Air Force One.

Military stewards unloaded oversized wholesale cartons of fruit, vegetables and fresh-cut flowers from President Bush’s jet after he and a bunch of relatives arrived from Washington for a long weekend at the president’s central Texas ranch.

Aboard the plane, White House deputy press secretary Scott McClellan asked Bush what he’s thankful for and relayed this reply: “I’m grateful for the prayers of our citizens, for my family, for the privilege of living in America and for the freedoms we enjoy.”

Bush’s parents, the former president and first lady, headlined the clan gathering at the secluded Prairie Chapel Ranch. The president’s twin daughters, Jenna and Barbara, brothers Marvin and Neil, Marvin’s wife, Margaret, and an assortment of presidential nephews rounded out the pack.

On the Bushes’ Thanksgiving menu is brined roasted turkey (soaked in a tenderizing solution of salt, sugar and water), cornbread dressing, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, fresh cranberry sauce, giblet gravy, fruit salad, green beans with anchovies and red peppers, crescent rolls and pumpkin and pecan pies.

Stewards were expected to do the cooking, and McClellan said he would have to check on whether the president, who disdains sushi as “bait,” would be picking the anchovies out of his green beans or forgoing that dish altogether.

The president returns Sunday to the White House to get Christmas and Hanukkah seasons under way. On Wednesday, he will light the White House menorah, and on Thursday evening he presides over the lighting of the national Christmas tree on the National Mall.