Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving from Pilgrim country! The air outside is crisp and the sky is blue. The turkey's in the oven roasting. The gingered sweet potatos & wild rice pilaf are waiting to go in after the turkey. The sourdough is rising & the cranberry relish looks delicious. We have prepared our meal this year with about 95% local ingredients. Local turkey, veggies, apples & cranberries. Mac & I dug carrots & picked kale (in the pouring rain) yesterday for the meal. We're using local maple syrup & honey for our sweeteners. If I could figure out how to find local coconuts, lemons, oranges and olive oil I could say that we're 98% local....but, last time I checked those things don't grow in Massachusetts, New Hampshire or Vermont. Sigh....maybe I'll give those up next year....somehow it's just not a Thanksgiving meal without those flavors!

My sister Jeni, her husband Joe and their son Tilson (age 21 months) are here for the festivities. Jeni & Tilson flew in Saturday and Stokes & Joe arrived last night via the rental Volvo that Joe sweet talked Patti & Judith into driving as an upgrade with no extra charge. We've all joined "Team Relax" for Thanksgiving this year....aka "The Circle of Calm"....aka "Camp Cool." We're hanging out, drinking coffee, catching up, savoring the scents of the day from the kitchen...it's turning out to be a perfect holiday so far. There's hard cider chillin' on the side porch & a fire pit ready for a bonfire when the sun goes down.

This year, in the midst of the Wall Street hysteria, the settling down from the election and uncertainty about what's to come in 2009, I am grateful for all the blessings that we enjoy...good food, friends and family....when it comes right down to it....what more could any of us need?