10 days until Thanksgiving!

No, I didn't already cook my Thanksgiving turkey! This was from last year I think. I love everything about Thanksgiving, but mostly the yummy seasonal food to cook.
My husband and I were thinking about the most memorable Thanksgivings we have had since we were married. Two stick out, one good, and one not so good. First for the good. It was our second Thanksgiving of our young married lives, and I was newly pregnant with my first daughter. I had the worst morning sickness with her, and I really didn't think I would be able to survive hosting the day, but somehow, it came together. Everyone came up that year, my in-laws, my dad and his wife, and Dave's grandfather. We were living at the time in a very charming little cottage in Eureka Ca. at the time(top picture), and for me, that house was the best to celebrate holidays. We didn't have fancy plates and linens, but the food was great, and everyone, at the time, got along. You know how Thanksgiving can be an emotional roller coaster with family personalities coming out and feelings getting hurt etc. Not that Thanksgiving. There seem to be a special promise in the air of happy years ahead, and everyone enjoying each others company. For us, that was probably one of the best memories of our family coming together on my favorite holiday.

I don't have any cooking disaster stories, that could easily ruin the day, but instead my not so good memory is of being invited to Thanksgiving dinner where the cook decided to throw away tradition and cook Lamb instead. Has anyone out there had this happen to them before? Never until that year, which was fairly recent, have I ever had this happen. While the hostess did decide to cook some turkey breast meat, it just wasn't the same. The tension was in the air too, everyone seemed to have some hidden feelings and it made for a very tough day. Most of the people there that day, were there in my first happy memory above, 22 years ago. Like most families though, there are difficult relationships that enter when we all gather, and for me this was probably my not so good memory of my favorite holiday. The following Sunday after, I invited my daughter and her husband to our house to re-do Thanksgiving with all the fixings! While standing in line at the grocery store, I saw another lady buying a turkey, and I had to ask why. I wanted some company in my sadness of the loss of Thanksgiving dinner. She too had had a not so great experience and was also doing a re-do. I got to wondering how many people out there have had this happen to them?

This year we plan to have all the fixings and just our close little family of five here at my house. No hidden agendas, just fun and good food.

Let us all take some time this year to think about how lucky we are to have what we have, and to always be kind to one another. For me Thanksgiving seems to be a time of reflection, I know for some, it is New Years, or maybe another holiday, but for some reason, I tend to think about life more around this holiday. I like to think about the word GENEROUS, and how I can be more Generous of my time, my love, and my gifts that I bring to this planet.
In the coming days before the big turkey day, I hope everyone can take a breath and reflect on what Thanksgiving means to them. Oh, and for goodness sakes, don't stray away from tradition when it comes to the food!