Saturday, January 18, 2014

Thanksgiving 2013


I feel that our Thanksgiving celebrations get better and better every year. Or perhaps my expectations for holidays have changed from a childish hope for "excitement" to a more mature appreciation of simply bonding with my family.

Here's our Thanksgiving menu:

Dill pickles, sweet pickles, artichoke hearts, and olives for appetizers
Roasted turkey
Breadcrumb stuffing
Whole berry cranberry sauce
Cornbread
Green bean casserole
Cheddar cheese and bacon sweet potato boats
Layered jello salad filled with cream cheese balls and fruit
Pumpkin pie
Pecan pie



We make almost everything from scratch with the exception of the stuffing, the green bean casserole (you just can't replace that processed food deliciousness) and the jello salad. But the cranberry sauce- that's from scratch. The corn bread is from scratch. The pie crusts, from scratch. Take a look at that scrumptious-looking pecan pie. Kayley made it with natural maple syrup, lots of maple syrup! If anyone is looking for a dessert for their last meal on earth, I suggest that one!

I got to participate in the cooking this year, the first time in five years that I haven't had to be either at school or at work the day before Thanksgiving (or the day after!) I made the pie crusts. I don't know when the last time was I did that! They looked flaky, but were a bit tough and we had trouble cutting through them. Still, not bad considering how little practice I've had.



After dinner, we made a Thankful wreath together. We each took a few leaves and wrote the names of things we're thankful for (of course). We didn't share what we wrote out loud, but as we tucked all the leaves into the wreath, we each definitely took a look at everyone else's leaves. For my family, that's just a more natural and less awkward way of doing things.

Then we looked at photographs of our recent trip to Tennessee. That took like two hours, since we all fancy ourselves to be photographers, and anytime there's something to snap a photo of, we each need to do it on our own camera!

I have a list of Thanksgiving songs that I listened to in the days leading up to Thanksgiving, to put me in the right attitude. Some of these my family sang together on Thanksgiving evening, with the beautiful YouTube videos to provide the back-up (That would be the Thanksgiving Medley, Let All Things Now Living, and Thanks to God- those have lyrics and pretty fall scenes in the background, but all of these are good corporate worship songs and hymns that focus on how good God is to us).

Thanksgiving Worship Songs and Hymns

 Now Thank We All Our God

We Gather Together

Come Ye Thankful People

Enough

For the Beauty of the Earth

All Creatures of Our God and King

Celtic Thanksgiving Song

My Heart is Filled with Thankfulness

Give Thanks

10,000 Reasons

Count Your Blessings

Thanks to God

Thanksgiving Medley

Thank You, Lord!

Forever Grateful

I Will Enter His Gates

Tribute Medley

Thankful Heart

Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing

It Is Well With My Soul

Everything That's Beautiful

Thank You

Let All Things Now Living

One of my Fall goals was to discover and listen to Thanksgiving music. It has been accomplished! About one-third of these songs I had never heard prior to my Thanksgiving music quest. I think I'll listen to this playlist year-round.

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