22.

Today I have to be thankful for Thanksgiving! It's my favorite holiday! I love what it stands for, the non commercialness of it, and truly, the FOOD! It's my favorite meal of the year! I love baking pies (and I think I am kinda good at it). I love cooking traditional foods that are filled with flavors and memories from my childhood. I stick with many of the oldies, but try something new each year, as well. This year, since I cooked most of the meal, we simplified the menu to only our favorites. No fluff. It was perfect! We had turkey (brined and rubbed with seasoned butter), mashed potatoes and gravy (Jonny's awesome contributions), Senator Russels sweet potatoes (brown sugar/pecan-topped forever old southern family recipe), thankful rolls (little "I'm grateful for..." rolled up in each one, like a fortune cookie), Brussel sprouts cooked with bacon and Parmesan, corn bread stuffing, and my own cranberry sauce.I made four pies: Dutch apple, chocolate pecan, pumpkin, and chocolate cream. Everything turned out yummy! And everyone seemed to really understand why we were celebrating this day, which warmed my heart.

I am so grateful for those pilgrims and Indians and their shared feast long ago! I am so blessed and really love celebrating and dwelling on that!