A Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving to All

 At the time of this writing, my home is redolent with the fragrance of freshly baked pecan pie and the magnificent (in my opinion) fragrance of cornbread dressing (or stuffing, if you prefer that term).  Yesterday, I cooked the celery and onions for the stuffing, and baked a loaf of bread, and the house smelled good, too.  Thank you, Lord, for the sense of smell... and taste.


My daughters'  and son's homes are redolent with the fragrance of baked turkey, sweet baked ham, yeast rolls, sweet potato pies, and all the foods our family tradition requires on this Day of Thanksgiving.  I throwing in a "ringer" this year by also bringing one of my favorite food memories of my younger days -- mashed turnips, sweet, and seasoned with black pepper and a bit of bacon drippings. My mama used to make this often, and I've not had turnips many times over the past 30 years.  This extra contribution can be blamed on Jim Sullivan, or Suldog, who gave me the idea in one of his blog posts.



Although the family numbers have decreased somewhat over the years, we'll have 18 folks for dinner today, each one bringing his/her specialty.  My daughter-in-law (the only one I have since I have only one son) makes an incredibly delicious carrot cake, and that will be one of their family's contributions to the dinner.


Gardening Daughter and her husband bought the home in which my husband and I raised the children, and which I occupied until about 18 months after his death.  It's a large home and has been remodeled to be even more open and accommodating of large gatherings. I warned my son-in-law when they bought the home that they were also obligating themselves to hosting large family gatherings, and thus it has been for the past several years, with smaller gatherings held in the homes of my other near-by daughter and my son.


It's time to check the stuffing to see if it's done.  

I leave you with one of my favorite seasonal quotations.:

Give us thankful hearts...
in this season of Thy Thanksgiving.
May we be thankful for health and strength,
for sun and rain and peace.
Let us seize the day and the opportunity
and strive for that greatness of spirit
that measures life not by its disappointments
but by its possibilities,
and let us ever remember that true gratitude
and appreciation shows itself neither
in independence nor satisfaction
but passes the gift joyfully on
in larger and better form.

~ W.E.B. Du Bois

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!