My Thanksgiving Story

Happy Thanksgiving

Today I am so thankful for each and every one of you that reads my blog and watches my videos and supports my creative corner of the web.  For my American friends, I hope you get to spend the day surround by the ones you love.

To be completely honest with you, I wasn't feeling up to cooking the big Thanksgiving meal this year.  Usually I love it, even though it is a lot of work when it is just the 4 of us.  This year though, I've had so much going on and it has drained me.  I'm missing my extended family back in CA.  21 years ago on Thanksgiving I had a miscarriage, and to this day I feel the loss around this time of year.  Some years are harder than others, and I can't explain why.  This year is one of the hard years.

Add to that my husband has to work the morning of Thanksgiving and my oldest son is working swing shift.  That means just a 1 hour gap that everyone (might) be home.  Do you know how hard it is to time when the bird and all the fixings will be done?  I was going to just do a simple spread with only the basics and store bought pies to save myself the meal prep.  Then something happened while I was shopping on Tuesday.

I posted this picture along with the caption "I guess I better go grocery shopping if we are going to have Thanksgiving dinner".  Someone commented, "what is Scott pie?".  Others wanted to know as well.  I thought it was funny that anyone had even read my list, much less noticed that on my list.  Honestly?  I had not yet asked him what kind of pie he wanted this year for Thanksgiving.  He changes what he wants almost every holiday.  Someone may be wondering why that is even important.  It goes back to my first Thanksgiving with my husband's family.

  We were dating and not yet engaged.  I was meeting many of his extended family for the first time.  Scott's grandma asked me what kind of pie I liked.  You see, every holiday at her house she made everyone their favorite pie.  It made me feel so incredibly special that she would include me in her tradition, even though I wasn't part of the family (yet).  I decided right then that someday, when I was the one hosting holiday meals at my house, I would do the same.  Every time I make a pie I think of Grandma Bonnie and miss her.  That memory was rolling around my head as I was rolling my cart down the aisles of Fred Meyer, and somehow it lifted my spirits.

My husband always asked Grandma for Banana Cream pie.  He loved the pie, but even more importantly, nobody else did, so he got to take all the leftovers home.  :) One year I asked grandma if I could have her recipe and she said yes.  She mailed it to me with a sweet note and I treasure them more than any cookbook I've ever bought.

GG's Recipe

Scott's Pie

So, now I feel blessed and honored to be able to prepare this meal for my family.  Sure I wish there were a few more faces around the table, but my 3 favorite ones will be here, and really, what more could I ask for?

Blessings to your home from mine,

Heather

p.s.  One of my friends shared that she chuckled when she saw Chocolate Pie listed under the "vegetable" category, then she saw I had added "frozen" to that section.  I told her Chocolate is made from Cocoa beans.  Beans are vegetables.  ergo- Chocolate pie belongs in the vegetable category.  I haven't figured out how to justify cool-whip.  Give me time, I'll come up with something.  :)