When I last wrote to you, it seemed as though I was rushing headlong towards Thanksgiving and the craziness that pervades everyday until after New Year’s Eve.
The holidays aren’t just busy at home; they get a little manic at work too. I am primarily referring to my job as an electronics technician. This year, we had unusual circumstances that required me to work 40 extra hours the week before Thanksgiving.
Needless to say, I had no time to write my blog that week. My daughter came home for the weekend with a terrible respiratory infection. My gracious husband took care of her while I worked all weekend. He made some chicken noodle soup that I am sure helped her recover.
The next week was Thanksgiving week. It took me several days to recover from those extra-long days the previous week. I didn’t go to work Thursday or Friday but we cooked all morning on Thursday making a Thanksgiving feast.
My daughter and stepson were home to celebrate with us. Along with an amazing smoked turkey that my husband prepared, we had all the traditional sides. With my daughter’s help we prepared sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, dressing, a Swiss chard and kale salad, cranberry sauce, rolls, and my husband made the mashed potatoes.
Instead of our normal breakfast we ate gluten free pumpkin bread and snacked on slices of yellow squash and zucchini with olive oil and cracked pepper. We just snacked so that we would be plenty hungry for when we ate at 2:00pm.
Everything was made from scratch and simply fabulous. Cooking together as a family is just so much fun and rewarding. Because my kitchen is small, my stepson’s cooking duties were limited to helping with the turkey. He is quite talented on the grill and smoker.
After we ate as much as we could, my daughter and I went for a walk back to the river. We visited with the horses along the way. The dogs and a few of the cats joined in on the walk, as well. It was a lovely day to be outside and a leisurely stroll in nature was just the thing to stimulate digestion.
When we got back from our walk, we rested a little bit and then I made a pumpkin pie with some pumpkin we grew in our garden. Even though the pie crust was gluten free, it came out perfect. I finally found the perfect flour for pie crust. I use King Arthur All Purpose Flour and I use butter for the shortening. It has great texture and flavor.
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving; I am so thankful for being able to spend time with my family. My stepson had another family dinner to attend so he left after we ate, but my daughter stayed through the weekend.
We had a great time catching up on things and did a little shopping. We managed to avoid the Black Friday crowds and still found some good deals. The four days off work really helped to make up for the week before. I used the time off to have some quiet time and to just be present.
This past week was relatively uneventful, but this weekend we worked pretty hard getting the Christmas lights up on the house. Since the weather was so nice, I was able to get the nativity scene and other decorations all set up. We don’t put up a lot of lights or things in the yard. I am a little old fashioned in my decorating.
I hung some garland at the entrance to the driveway and a wreath on the gate. There is a wreath on our front door and a pine swag under each porch light. Christmas lights are just along the roofline at the front of the house. There is a nativity scene in the middle of the front yard, and a couple Christmas trees off to the side.
That’s all I really want for decorations. I expect as we get older, we will not be putting lights on the roof unless one of our kids does it; I’m fine with that. For now though, we will keep putting lights on the front gutter and eves of the house.
I am back into my regular routine with work and hope to get caught up on some writing. I missed putting out a November newsletter but I will make it up for December by posting the newsletter and a couple of recipes before Christmas.
I hope that your Thanksgiving was wonderful, and that you are looking towards Christmas with excitement.
May your next week be blessed.
Psalms 100:4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and praise his name.
