Thanks!

I don't know about you all out there, but we had an excellent Thanksgiving.

The oldest daughter, her husband and the three granddaughters came up and stayed through the long weekend with us. They even brought their dog with them, which was a bit of a challenge. But, in the end neither of our cats were eaten, both of our dogs were unscathed and Grand Dog was his old goofy self, so things worked out well.

As part of our Thanksgiving we decided to use some of the foods that we had put-up during the summer. The green beans that we had canned tasted so much better than the canned store bought ones and the homemade jam we used for breakfast was also a huge hit. Things just taste so much better when they are homemade.

Each of the Granddaughters got the "go withs" for supper that they had requested: macaroni and cheese casserole for the middle one, homemade cheesecake for the oldest, and, believe it or not, Lucky Charms cereal for the youngest (I know, right?!). Hubby's 20 pound turkey was done to perfection and the collard greens were amazing. We ate like pigs without the troughs.

On Saturday, my Son In Law made me a big pot of his spaghetti sauce. Let me tell you, he makes a good sauce. He used some of the dehydrated mushrooms and basil that I had dried in October. I canned 5 quarts of sauce so that we could have some for later in the year.

Saturday night the guys went out in the boat flounder gigging. They managed to get a few, and we added them (the fish, not the guys) to our freezer.

Sunday came way too soon, and the kids packed up and headed home. And the house got way too quiet.

So, even though our Fall garden failed and the only herb I managed to plant this summer was basil, we were still able to enjoy for Thanksgiving some of the things that we had put up. Things not from our garden, but from supermarket sales on veggies and from local farmers markets. Our freezer is pretty much stocked with local shrimp we bought while they were running and with meats that we buy as we find sales at the grocery. I guess my point is, you don't have to have a huge garden to can stuff, or raise your own livestock to butcher and stock your freezer with. Check out your local farmers markets and grocery stores for sales. Do what you can with what is available to you. It may not be a big start, but it's a start.

Hope your Thanksgiving was filled with good food, family, and lots and lots of love.

Now, bring on Christmas!