Thanksgiving

As we prepare for the Thanksgiving holiday, we are letting go of some old traditions and starting new ones.

Our son, his wife, and our two precious grandchildren live in North Carolina. New jobs, promotions, distance, term papers, and the economy all contribute to the impracticality of a family reunion this year. But we are thankful for them and for the many blessings they represent in our lives.

We are also changing our menu for Thanksgiving dinner. As the chef around here, I am rejecting the fat, cholesterol, and empty carbohydrates that have characterized holiday dinners in the past. No more pumpkin pie, sugar cookies, no-bakes, or caramel apple pies. The candied yams will have to go, along with the mounds of buttery, creamy mashed potatoes. No more scalloped corn or biscuits.

Well, we will have the roasted turkey, but I have a new recipe that adds flavor as it draws out the fat in the turkey. A pesto of cilantro or celery leaves inserted between the meat and the top skin cuts out a huge % of fat! I am still making dressing, but I am adding my own spices, using whole wheat bread and omega-3 eggs, and lean turkey broth.

Sweet potato casserole from fresh vegetables replace the oh-so-sweet candied yams of yesteryear. They will have an added crunch of pecans with some sugar-free maple syrup as a topping.

Mashed potatoes with skim milk and heart-healthy margarine will be served with thickened turkey broth.

For dessert, I am trying completely new recipes. We will still have pumpkin, but instead of the traditional pie served with whipped cream, I will make a pumpkin mousse made with low-fat ricotta cheese.

The other dessert, just to try, is a pear and raspberry strudel, made with phyllo dough. Fresh pears baked in the strudel and served with fresh raspberries.

Cookies to fill up the cooky jar will be oatmeal with dried cranberries and white chocolate chips. The secret to these delicious cookies is adding a little orange extract to the regular vanilla flavoring.

And cranberry salsa for the turkey.

Heart-healthy recipes from my cookbook library will add to the new holiday "flavor," as it were! :)

We are very thankful for all of the blessings we enjoy. Our children, our families, our church family, all the people God has placed in our lives.

We are thankful for our home and the beautiful kitchen I can work in. Our puppy Buddy, and of course, each other.

Thank you Father God for your Son, our Savior, and the life you have so richly blessed us with. To You be all the glory and the honor and praise!

Thank you, Jesus!

Manners are a good thing! Saying 'Please' and 'Thank you' and 'You're welcome' and 'Excuse me' are all good things. Yes, Martha, yes Emily, good things.

Sometimes we repeat those phrases to make a point, to emphasize our gratitude, to acknowledge another's consideration. And maybe sometimes it is a habit. A good habit, perhaps but a habit nonetheless. Manners should be deliberate and on purpose. They should be conscious and sincere.

I hear a lot of thank you, Jesus. I say it a lot, too. We have so much for which to be thankful to Jesus. But I want to make it a conscious deliberate acknowledgment of what He did for me, for all of us. Sometimes I find myself thanking a store clerk for a refund with more emotion than I thank Jesus for saving me from eternal damnation. I say excuse me or I'm sorry when someone bumps into me in a line, but what I really need to do is ask Jesus for forgiveness, with at least the same degree of remorse!

He suffered and died a horrible death, a lonely life. He was often misunderstood, often ill-treated. He was betrayed, denied, and tortured. No matter what we do, or did, or will do, He asks His Father to forgive us. And He is able and just to forgive us of our sins.

He is everything. He is all. Without Him, we can do nothing.
Thank you, Jesus!