Baking night

Baking Night 2022

I start a few days ahead and get the dining room table covered with oilcloth.  I bring out all our cooking supplies and recipes from years past.  There are about 10 aprons I iron and display on the chairs ..for easy access to anyone  who  might need one.   The best menu is finger food.. mini croissants, cheeses, meats and fruit.  No need for dessert, but there is coffee and something cooler too. 

We have pictures from long  ago when friends would join us to bake sweet treats for Christmas

This favorite recipe is called stained glass windows

You melt chocolate and then "mix" colored marshmallows and nuts

together, roll into logs, refrigerate

When you slice them, they look like stained glass windows

they are very sweet

kids love them

Adults not so much

This is one of the favorite parts of the recipe 

This year we had some new and delightful additions.  The heart shaped are gluten free and who would guess...they were delicious.  Everyone takes home a basket of cookies... I get to keep some too

The group this year... photographer brought her little helper ...

(   notice the fun oilcloth ...tipsy angel, ..smiles.. )

Little helper brought us treats, but stayed close to her Mama in our kitchen

My little man, the only male this year, pulled out a huge musical toy to entertain Little helper.  She pushed a few buttons and smiled.     Maybe next year she will get into the action.


It was a great year

Every year seems a little different

Blessed with friends and family that work and play well together

I live an exciting life 

Thanksgiving

Something else that happens every year... 

                  ...how much we have to be thankful for.

My son in law enjoys making almost the entire meal 

Some things are pretty cute, even is they are store bought 

And yes there was pumpkin pie and pecan pie and.....

Happy 11th Birthday Tanner 

We watched a funny movie.   We had a very relaxing evening.  Always good to be together with family. And yes, he got to stay in this pj's all day.  

. but tonight I read the following and took the time to think about ...how much we have to be thankful for.

 

An old Thanksgiving piece from Parade Magazine, 2013. Why We Give Thanks

We didn’t say grace at our house when I was growing up because my parents were atheists. I knew even as a little girl that everyone at every table needed blessings and encouragement, but my family didn’t ask for it. Instead, my parents raised glasses of wine to the chef: Cheers. Dig in. But I had a terrible secret, which was that I believed in God, a divine presence who heard me when I prayed, who stayed close to me in the dark. So at six years old I began to infiltrate religious families like a spy—Mata Hari in plaid sneakers.

One of my best friends was a Catholic girl. Her boisterous family bowed its collective head and said, “Bless us, O Lord, and these thy gifts. …” I was so hungry for these words; it was like a cool breeze, a polite thank-you note to God, the silky magnetic energy of gratitude. I still love that line.

I believed that if your family said grace, it meant you were a happy family, all evidence to the contrary. But I saw at certain tables that an improvised grace could cause friction or discomfort. My friend Mark reports that at his big southern childhood Thanksgivings, someone always managed to say something that made poor Granny feel half dead. “It would be along the lines of ‘And Lord, we are just glad you have seen fit to keep Mama with us for one more year.’ We would all strain to see Granny giving him the fisheye.”

I noticed some families shortened the pro forma blessing so they could get right to the meal. If there were more males than females, it was a boy- chant, said as one word: “GodisgreatGodisgoodletusthankHimforourfoodAmen.” I also noticed that grace usually wasn’t said if the kids were eating in front of the TV, as if God refused to listen over the sound of it.

And we’ve all been held hostage by grace sayers who use the opportunity to work the room, like the Church Lady. But more often, people simply say thank you—we understand how far short we must fall, how selfish we can be, how self-righteous, what brats. And yet God has given us this marvelous meal.

It turns out that my two brothers and I all grew up to be middle-aged believers. I’ve been a member of the same Presbyterian church for 36 years. My older brother became a born-again Christian—but don’t ask him to give the blessing, as it can last forever. I adore him, but your food will grow cold. My younger brother is an unconfirmed but freelance Catholic.

So now someone at our holiday tables always ends up saying grace. I think we’re in it for the pause, the quiet thanks for love and for our blessings, before the shoveling begins. For a minute, our stations are tuned to a broader, richer radius. We’re acknowledging that this food didn’t just magically appear: Someone grew it, ground it, bought it, baked it; wow.

We say thank you for the miracle that we have stuck together all these years, in spite of it all; that we have each other’s backs, and hilarious companionship. We say thank you for the plentiful and outrageous food: Kathy’s lox, Robby’s heartbreaking gravy. We pray to be mindful of the needs of others. We savor these moments out of time, when we are conscious of love’s presence, of Someone’s great abiding generosity to our dear and motley family, these holy moments of gratitude. And that is grace

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Something to think about

Lots more to think about

Lots more to talk to the Lord about

Feeling very blessed

I live an exciting life

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