Happy Thanksgiving

It's been a while since my last post. I thought I'd keep up with things better than I have and I suppose I can always use the excuse that the holidays are upon us, but I don't really believe in excuses, so I'd better just say..."sorry" and work on getting better at staying on top of my posts. :)

While on the topic of the holidays, I'm hoping everyone's Thanksgiving was filled with love and the giving of thanks. Mine was beautiful. I'm German/Swiss, and don't normally celebrate Thanksgiving simply because it is not a tradition outside of the USA. Of course, I love the ideals behind the holiday...I mean, the thought of giving thanks to all of those we are truly grateful for is a beautiful thing. The sad part for me, of course, is the fact that we slaughter 'gazillions' of turkeys and think nothing of it besides the fact that our tummies are full and our bodies content (well, I'm guessing that's what turkey eaters would be feeling anyway).

My Thanksgiving too entailed a turkey...a 22 pounder...and all of the trimmings, like mashed potatoes (with butter and milk), a fat juicy slab of smoked ham, green beans swimming in cream of chicken soup, potato salad (with real mayonnaise), bread rolls made with milk and butter, chocolate cream pie, apple pie, and pumpkin pie (with whipped cream smothered all over them of course).

But, I had my own recipe on the side and didn't suffer of starvation a bit. My rolls were not made from dairy products, and instead of the mashed potatoes, I roasted some yams in olive oil and various spices. Green beans were left out for me before the rest were doused with chicken gunk and my mom brought one of my favorite dishes, Rotkohl (cooked red cabbage)...yumm. Oh, and after the (very casual) meal, we grilled up some stuffed chili peppers, some filled with Cotija (a Mexican cheese) and others filled with a mixture of soy churiso and soy cream cheese. I think that was my favorite part of the whole meal. If you've never tried stuffed chili peppers and love spicy food, you MUST try these. Just mix up some soy churiso and some soy cream cheese, cut, slice and gut a few yellow chilies and stuff them with this mixture. Grill them (outdoors, not indoors...EVER, because you will never stop coughing and tearing...trust me, I speak out of experience) and eat them....they are heavenly!!!

Though the food was wonderful, the company was what was really needed and the thing for which I am the most grateful. I'm so lucky to have such beautiful, wonderful, genuine, good and loving people in my life. In the end, that's really all that matters.