A Time to Give Thanks
Pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin spice cookies, pumpkin spice candles, pumpkin pie… I love pumpkins! And I love fall, just in case you don’t know that by now.
My mom was recently diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disease. While she’s doing better than she was thanks to lots of prayer and medical treatment, she just really wasn’t where she wanted to be in the healing process by Thanksgiving.
To give our mom a break, my sister and I decided that we would take on the task of fixing the entire Thanksgiving meal at the old farmhouse this year. If we did it in her kitchen, we knew she’d be the wonderful mom that she is and want to start cooking as well. She needed to rest, not cook!
After two years of slow progress on the restoration of my home, my whole family seemed to be looking forward to celebrating this special day. While I started the preparations, I couldn’t help but wonder about all the 120-plus Thanksgiving meals that were held at the old table in the kitchen. From the things I have heard about the McCuistons, Clinards, Shaws, and Carlsons, I am sure there was a lot of great food and wonderful memories that came out of this old kitchen.
The kitchen had a good workout a few weeks earlier when a group of my friends gathered for our annual Pastor Appreciation Month dinner for our pastor and pastor’s wife. We started the Young Adult Group Fellowship at our church when we were in our late teens and early twenties. Since then, we’ve added some wonderful folks to the group, several of us have married, had little ones, and crossed the 30-year mark. We’re still stickin’ to our title, though. 😉 I made chicken and dumplings from scratch (I dragged Gramma’s recipe out of her, finally…) with green beans and dessert. You just can’t beat good Southern cooking, or friends that are more like family than just friends.
On to Thanksgiving!
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My sister, Heather, came over early to give a helping hand in the kitchen.
Our grandmother wanted to get involved, so we let her mash the potatoes. This lady right here is one of the best cooks you would ever meet. Back when she and my grandpa had their tobacco farm, folks would work for them just to get her cookin’ at dinnertime.
Yeah, she’s THAT good! |
I made my pumpkin pies a day before Thanksgiving to allow the flavors to blend. I like making a big deal out of holidays, so I made my first attempt at fancy-pants crusts. The turkey crust was for my family’s meal, and the braided crust was for a family friend.
Of course, Little Miss Joy just had to check things out. (Don’t worry, the oven was cold. No paws were injured. I was using my special pie plate I purchased a few years back from a pottery in Seagrove, North Carolina. Pottery should always go into a cold oven, else you’ll have no more pottery!) 
Joy was on hand (or on paw…) to keep the floor clean…
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The spread. Everything made by scratch by my sister and myself.
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We were trying to live up to the long line of great cooks in our family. I don’t think we did too badly. 😉
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Miss Joy even had her own special plate. What’s those teacups doing on the floor, you ask? Why, those are for Miss Joy! The princess pup gets her water and food straight off of china.
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“O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.”
Psalm 107:1