Thankful...

We have so very much to be grateful for. Maybe that is why I make a rather big deal about Thanksgiving. My parents always hosted large, delicious, Thanksgiving feasts, with lots of family coming to join in, and I have carried on the tradition.  This year was no exception.

 Rachel and I prepared much of the feast the day before. Dips for the appetizers, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes, corn bread dressing, bread stuffing (delicious redundancy!) rum cake, pecan pie, bread. Most everything is made from scratch, right down to the chicken broth used in the stuffing, dressing and gravy. All that is left to do on the day of feast is cook the turkeys, make gravy, and set up the tables.

Rachel made her first pie crusts. They were lovely and delicious.

The house looked welcoming. Yellow roses, in remembrance of my mother, who often decorated with them when she was the hostess of the event, were scattered about in old bottles. The day was cold, the coldest Thanksgiving in many years. Several inches of snow covered the ground, and the windows were painted with frost.

It made coming inside, where the air was warm and heavily scented with the aromas of all the good food, that much sweeter. Twenty people came in, and shared the day. As always, I loved listening to the sound of voices chatting, and bursts of laughter. One nice thing about our annual event is that there is a distinct lack of drama. We like it that way.

Clack, unimpressed with the cold, snuck inside every chance he got. This "barn" cat quickly discovered the comfort of the basket in front of the stove.

My niece bought me a funny shirt. It will be my cooking uniform forever more!

I cleaned up before our guests arrived. Rachel was off to spend the day with her in-laws.

Sister Deb is a huge help in making everything run smoothly. She has also become the queen of creating delicious gravy.

Though we cook up the major components of the meal, everyone else pitches in to help. It's a stone soup affair, with many contributions adding up to make everything  come magically together.

Fresh snacks from Aimee, beautiful pie from cousin Chrisy, and so much more. 

Love in every dish...

Chris pulled of a miracle of sorts, smoking a 22 pound turkey when the weather was in the single digits. Getting the smoker hot enough to do this was an epic feat, but he pulled it off with his normal aplomb. It was delicious, as always.

After we dined, nephew Dave and his girlfriend Marjory treated us to some toe tapping live music. A little dancing happened, too. I may have been involved.

Much to be grateful for, indeed.