Gobble Gobble!
Thanksgiving is my absolute favorite holiday! It makes me feel happy, warm, thankful, and full of wonderful goodness. As you already know, I don’t have to search far for a gagillion reasons to be thankful. My gratitude list begins at the very basics– breathing, walking– you get idea. I know, for sure, that this will never leave me. Having come so close to losing my life, I will forever be aware that we forget to be thankful. We just plain forget.
One of the things I am most grateful for this Thanksgiving is also what I am most excited about. Nicholas and Dean will be home from college. I can’t wait to laugh with them, play Mario, sing “Under the Sea,” pick apples at the apple farm (gonna have to drag them here, but I know they’ll have fun,) walk out on the Avila Pier, go to the Avila Barn and play in the hay maze, take Larry on long walks, and explore the great outdoors in as many places as we possibly can!
On Thanksgiving Day, my family and I are going to my Gramma and Poppy’s house. They prepare the most delicious Thanksgiving Feasts, and even better than their Thanksgiving Feasts are their warm, kind, and loving hearts. It always feels like I am wrapped in a great big blanket of love when I am at Gramma and Poppy’s. Gram will be making her traditional Steamed Date Pudding with hard sauce. She needs to make threee times the sauce, and I have been trained since I was a wee one on how to dip the spoon in the sauce and turn it around just right so that all the sauce ends up on the pudding and not on Grams’ fancy tablecloth:) The bowl with the sauce gets passed around and the entire family will comment on the skills of each “Twirlee.”
Speaking of food, I love cooking and baking. Today, I created my infamous “Buns.” Nicholas gave me a breadmaker a couple of years ago (when I was in my mad, mad world of gourmet food preparation frenzy,) and I make these amazing Buns. While the Buns were rising, I whipped up three pie crusts with intricate leaves I made out of the dough all around the ridge of the pie plate. Mom finished up, putting two pumpkin pies in the oven. Tomorrow will be apple pie day:)
Are you licking your lips and dreaming of stuffing and turkey and pies??????????
Now that I have you in the Holiday Spirit, I will close with this video my mom took when I performed as a soldier at a community event promoting the Civic Ballet of San Luis Obispo’s Nutcracker.
Nutcracker Soldiers Perform at Apple Farm:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5nqvIchtlk
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Thank you God for each and every one of my tremendous blessings. Help me to always be thankful and to always give from my heart.
Melinda Marchiano 