We got so much accomplished today! At any given moment there were at least five of us bumping around the kitchen. Although they won’t be here for dinner tomorrow Amy, Kirstie, Kyle, and Josh wanted to help with the baking so they came over right after breakfast. Jae and Robyn got up early to start working on the fudge and Nett took the day off work to join the fun. When they weren’t helping in the kitchen, the kids played outside in the perfect autumn weather.
We started on the pies first. Nett once commented that there seems to be at least one pie per person at our yearly feast. She might be right. This year she was in charge of the old fashioned pumpkin pies while I made a dairy and sugar free version. As those baked, Amy got to work on my mom’s special cherry pie recipe. As a young financially challenged bride, Mom couldn’t afford the four cans of pie cherries her favorite recipe called for. In desperation she went to her pantry in search of a substitute to stretch the two cans of cherries she already had. She found the perfect ingredient and passed her secret down to her children. I have passed it to mine and today, Amy passed the secret to hers. We’ve often been told, “I don’t know why but this is the best cherry pie I’ve ever tasted!”
As Amy worked at the left of the sink her daughters and I started the dinner rolls at the right. Kirstie and Kyle reveled in the gooey fun of mixing flour by hand into the warm yeasty water and then helping me knead the dough. After setting the dough to rise near the warm oven they ran outside to join Josh, Chris, and Nic in the climbing tree, making me promise to call them in when the dough was ready to punch down and be shaped into rolls. In a few hours we enjoyed a lunch of hot bread dipped in melted butter.
After lunch we headed back to the kitchen to finish the desserts. Lemons, cornstarch, Hershey’s Cocoa Powder, pecans, maple syrup, and lots of sugar were waiting on the kitchen counters to be turned into pies.
By 3:00 the pies were cooling on racks beside the fudge on the kitchen and dining room tables. But there was still much to be done to make tomorrow easier. We chopped and sautéed onions and celery for the stuffing and put them in the fridge to cool. More celery was chopped for the Waldorf salad and put in the fridge, while a bowl of apples, bananas, and chopped walnuts was set aside. Jae and Robyn took turns climbing the step stool to the upper cabinets to retrieve the seldom used bowls we would need. They then washed and dried them and put them aside to wait for the meal.
Dishes and counters cleaned, pies, fudge, and veggies awaiting tomorrow’s appetites, my daughters and I relaxed on the sofa, exhausted and satisfied after the long day.
“You know...” I interjected into the conversation “This is the first Thanksgiving since Steve died that I feel okay looking forward to the day. The last two years I kind of dreaded Thanksgiving, knowing he wouldn’t be here. This year I know I’ll miss him. I might even shed a tear. But I really am okay. And I really am thankful for all God has blessed me with.”
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