Feast of Thanks

An early Happy Thanksgiving to you all from our house to yours! We're celebrating early, potluck style, at some dear friends' house this weekend. (And there'll be some good eatin' and talkin', woo!) Yes, we two hermits do occasionally emerge from our cave a couple times of year ;-)

I was asked to contribute a few simple things. They basically amouted to Things That Require Stirring. Some are even more basic than that.

Six pans of good cornbread. Check!

Several gallons of fresh brewed tea, some sweet, some unsweet. Check! And ice. It's still warm here...

And pumpkin pies. Check! Doubtful on the pie crust, as I am one of those unfortunates who have not yet mastered the art of the pie crust. And those Pillsbury All-Ready ones? Well, dangit, I had to go and read the ingredients and sure enough, O Lard, there's lard in it. I have nothing against the piggies, but we just don't eat 'em, so I had to scramble to find some sort of easy crust to substitute. I found an easy recipe online with a simple list of ingredients that can be basically stirred and pressed into the pan using a bare hand and some waxed paper. It's not so pretty as the rolled out sort, but I need to work on my crust skills. So this sufficed for now and hey, the taste isn't bad. The actual pie is the same recipe we grew up with...my Grandma used the recipe on the Libby's label no matter what, and if you jazz it up with a few more shakes of spice than called for, it's tradition.

Oh, and the other true confession...I've never made homemade cranberry sauce. We've always chilled a few cans of the jelled sort from the store. I know this probably makes those who have real cranberry skills cringe. But alas, I am sticking to the familiar, so cans it is, woo! Nope, not even molded into the shape of pilgrims and turkeys, just the cylinder shape straight from the can, sliced into slices. No worries, we have cranberry-a-holics a-plenty and it never lasts long enough for anyone to critique.

I do have to say, having stocked up on frozen turkeys last year, and STILL having several in our freezer to date to cook and eat, we're looking at the Thanksgiving turkey with different eyes. We won't buy nearly as many this year, and will probably go for chicken instead so those turkeys we do eat are treats instead of standard fare (good fare, that is).

But anyway, that's our contribution to the full sideboard this year. Our hearts are even fuller than our stomachs will be. We truly have so much for which to be thankful. More than we can count.

Thank you, God. For so, so much!

I'm really grateful for my online friends here, too. Thanks each of you for what you add to our days every time you stop in here for a friendly hello!

Shabbat shalom!