Happy Thanksgiving: Let's Count Our Blessings!

When I began looking for inspiration for this holiday post, I recalled Thanksgivings past and nearly included a video of the that famous parade in New York, which is where I spent eight Thanksgivings in years gone by. My favorite was the year it snowed, the year we walked up Central Park West at the end of a very long night of cocktails and saw the floats as they slept beneath their nets. The street was nearly deserted, it must have been very late, the snow flurries looked more like floating crystals than snow...it was enchanting.

But what really says Thanksgiving to me is cooking....which is what I've been doing this evening. We're spending Thanksgiving with friends this year and to make it both fun and fair, we've split up the cooking tasks, hence my head start on a couple of my assigned dishes. Tonight I've made two pecan pies with healthy doses of Bourbon and chocolate inside, I've brined my turkey, and made a stock for the gravy. Tomorrow I'll finish the gravy and make the garlic mashed potatoes before loading it all in the back of the Hummer and driving across town to join my friends.

There will be ten or twelve of us around the table, with not only be lots of food, but best of all, lots of friendship, and lots to be thankful for.....I hope this holiday will find you sharing a feast with friends, family, or any old assortment of loved ones. This year has not turned out as I'd hoped, all those goals on that vision board I made in January are still pretty much unfulfilled. I'll continue to document and discuss my journey in the coming weeks, but tonight I want to call a truce, take a moment and appreciate the simple pleasure of gratitude. Cooking does that for me, so does being with friends. As I count my blessings, you can bet that I am thankful for each and every one of you who have read this blog over the past year. Thank you!

And just in case it's your turn to bring the gravy....and you don't know where to turn, here's Martha with a super quick and simple solution.....