Every year I announce that I'm going to make and present my own turkey for Thanksgiving. I even rattle for weeks, sometimes even months, that I'm going to do a dry run and practice. Well Thanksgiving dinner has come and gone and again, I chickened out! Shameful. But I did make a delicious Harvest Blend sausage and mushroom stuffing and a killer apple crisp dessert with homemade whipped cream!
My husband has the mashed potatoes down. No one makes potatoes like he does. He credits his late Grandmother Helen for his potato secrets. They're lucious, tasty and just simply the best!
My Mom makes a mean turkey and just simply a great cook and hostess. It's especially times like the holidays that I think of certain people while I'm organizing, coordinating and hostessing holidays.
- My Mom and Dad – who always made the holidays special. They had a lot of good, positive energy and there was a lot of love when we were all together. My Mom was tireless and managed to keep a beautifully decorated and warm, lovely home through the holidays with delicious food. One of her many specialties are her rugulachs. My late Dad, an exceptional man who brought life and energy to the holidays, had a healthy laugh, a big heart, and was the patriarch of several families.
- My husband's late Grandmother Helen. She had a lot of spunk. Active and tireless with her church and every year looked forward to making brittle for her church's craft fair and holiday pecan pies. Her cooking and the holidays were memorable for my husband as a child…being at Grandma's.
- My husband's Aunt Alice. Aunt Alice can put out a mean spread! She's an awesome cook and baker and I don't know how she manages all the amazing things she makes with the same amount of time that everyone else has. She's a lot of fun and it's evident that she took after her mother (Grandmother Helen).
Loved ones who make the holidays memorable. Thanksgiving is about giving thanks, family – near and dear ones, love. It should also be about forgiveness and regeneration of friendships and relationships.
I hope there is peace and love in your heart and that it fills your holidays.
To my husband…my friend, my love - I give thanks to you whole heartedly.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Cristina
