Tag Archives: Happy Thanksgiving

Giving Thanks This Thanksgiving

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Happy Thanksgiving to all who are celebrating today! We hope you are surrounded by those you love, lots of good food, and plenty of pie. Below is a secular blessing for you and yours.

Thanksgiving

Let us be thankful to those who planted the crops, cultivated the fields, and gathered the harvest; for the plants and animals that have given themselves so that we can enjoy this meal together; and to those who prepared this meal, those who served it, and those who will clean up afterwards.

Let us remember those who have no festivity; those who are alone; those who cannot share this plenty; those who are hungry, sick, and cold; and those whose lives are affected by injustice, tyranny, war, oppression, and exploitation.

In sharing this special day, let us be thankful for the good things we have, for family and friends, for warm hospitality, and for good company.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING – AND YET A SAD ONE, TOO

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THANKSGIVING will be a different holiday this year. Although many can still celebrate with their family and friends, so many will not. It has been an extremely difficult year for most people—not only in America but around the world.

Thanksgiving

My heart breaks for all those who have suffered so greatly, with storm after storm, and Ian the worst Hurricane to ever hit Florida—devastating so many homes and families—ripping away their lives, their homes, their businesses, and for some, their hopes and dreams. Only a few days ago another hurricane, Nicole, made landfall on the east coast of Florida, destroying more homes and oceanfront. The beaches are being washed away.

I can’t imagine the pain of losing all your photos, all your special moments and memories, gone forever. Actually, I can. Unbearable pain. And yet, the citizens have plunged in to help each other, to rebuild what they can, keep their dreams alive, and refuse to be beaten.

How heroic is that? Around the world we see the same tragedies and atrocities and a very real danger, but the people come together and show compassion and a friendly hand in the worst of all times. Their resilience is to be admired, their strength and combined hope for a better world, a safer place for all to live in.

Hopefully, I haven’t depressed you all, and if I have, I’m sorry. Please enjoy this Thanksgiving and be grateful for all that you do have. Family, friends, neighbors, and your beloved pets are there to help lift you up.

Now, how about a nice Thanksgiving recipe to pick you up?

Sopapilla Cheesecake Pie

From AllRecipes—this top-rated cheesecake pie is shockingly easy to make with cream cheese and refrigerated crescent rolls.

Sopapilla Cheesecake Pie

Ingredients:
  • cooking spray
  • 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
  • 1 3/4 cups white sugar, divided
  • 1 teaspoon Mexican vanilla extract
  • 2 (8 ounce) cans refrigerated crescent rolls
  • 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 cup honey
Directions:
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9×13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
  2. Beat cream cheese, 1 cup sugar, and vanilla extract in a bowl until smooth.
  3. Unroll crescent roll dough, and use a rolling pin to shape each sheet into a 9×13-inch rectangle. Press one piece into the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Evenly spread cream cheese mixture on top, then cover with remaining piece of crescent dough.
  4. Mash remaining 3/4 cup sugar, butter, and cinnamon with a fork until combined. Dot mixture over top of dough.
  5. Bake in the preheated oven until crescent dough has puffed and turned golden brown, about 30 minutes.
  6. Remove from the oven and drizzle with honey. Cool completely in the pan for about 2 hours before cutting into 12 squares.
  7. ENJOY!

Here’s a romance series that is sure to brighten your day!

Serendipity Falls 3-book Set

This set is sold as an eBook Anthology for Kindle Readers. It is also available as a free read for Kindle Unlimited members.

Holidays Decorations

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Most of us decorate our houses for Christmas and the holidays. I get my fake tree up the first weekend of December to put myself in the holiday mood.

But do you decorate your house for other holidays?

My daughter has made it a tradition to decorate for Halloween and Thanksgiving. Spiders and pumpkins are set in the front yard, at the door, and in the living room.

Three years ago, when I screamed after hitting my head against a spider dangling from a lamp in the kitchen, the kids squealed in delight, and made sure they multiplied their cute decorations—I call them disgusting.

Two days before Halloween, my grandchildren invite a dozen of friends who arrive in costume and with a pumpkin to carve and decorate in the backyard. Pizza is served to the hard-working artists and at the end of the party, they fill their basket with candies.

On the following weekend, the Halloween decorations disappear in a plastic container and the Thanksgiving ones come out. This time the celebration is a family gathering with adults and children around a big table. During the traditional dinner of turkey, green beans and sweet potatoes, and dessert of pumpkin pies and pecan pies, each guest, grandparents, parents and children take turns telling us what they are most grateful for.

Setting traditions and building memories is important to raise happy children according to my daughter, a pediatrician who knows her business.

SAILING AWAY PLANS

DATING PLANS

RESCUE PLANS

WEDDING PLANS

BABY PLANS

Family, Friends, Fun, Food, and a Good Book

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Hello! This is Alyssa Bailey and I’m so excited to chat just before my favorite family holiday, Thanksgiving! My son would also add to the above list … football!

My contribution to the fabulous boxset Love, Christmas 2 – In the Spirit of Christmas begins the weekend after Thanksgiving so now would be a great time to pick up the book and have a read.

Amazon US UK iTunes Kobo

Thanksgiving is my favorite time of year, with Native American Heritage Month (my family is Irish and Native American), Thanksgiving, fun and family snuggled in the wonderland of the autumn season. Because of the military and my adventuresome husband, I have had the pleasure and privilege of experiencing holidays in many parts of the country and world.

We have a large family and for years, have been blessed with a great number of friends, foster children, family, and whomever wanted to visit for the holiday. In the island in Alaska where we live, there is always the expectation of a Thanksgiving Storm and we often lost electricity. Early on, we learned to cook quickly if bad weather was expected. In our early years, we always had a huge cast iron earth stove to finish out the cooking if needed. The sturdiness of the power lines has increased as our number of children still home has decreased. But everyone comes if they can for Thanksgiving.

In the Spirit of Christmas shows Tara in search of the warmth of family and yearning of the traditional, the security of home and family, no matter the size of that family or the age of the person. She finds it. May your season be all you hoped for and you have family and friends to share your good fortune.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Excerpt from In the Spirit of Christmas

The hot air from the heater warmed her. “By the way, I’m Chase Nichols.” He eased the truck back onto the highway.

“Thank you for picking me up, Sheriff Nichols. My ex must have had a flat and neglected to tell me, among other things,” she murmured.

“Just Chase, and it’s obvious your ex neglected to repair it as well.” His tone was condemning. Tara’s first inclination was to defend Roger, but she closed her mouth. Roger was the reason she was even doing this, in the dead of winter.

“Ex-husband?”

“Boyfriend.”

He nodded. “I’ll get you to the garage. They’ll fix you up in no time.”

“Thank you for your trouble.”

“No trouble. I was going this way and it’d be wrong to leave anyone on the side of the road in this cold.” He turned and grinned in her direction. “Besides, it wouldn’t look good if the Sheriff left a motorist stranded, would it?” She didn’t know what to say to that, so she didn’t respond with more than an answering nod of her own. He continued to watch her. “You shouldn’t be out here alone. New Yorker like yourself should understand about cold weather.”

“I’m from Wyoming and I didn’t plan it, all right? It just turned out that way.” Her tone snapped, but she was dangling precariously at the end of her rope. If she weren’t so close to the ranch, she would have just stayed the night in the next town.

“You sound worn out.” Concern laced his words. “We’re almost there.”

“I’m sorry. I left New York in the early hours day before yesterday, it’s late, and I’m ready to be home.”

He whistled. “You drove that far, alone, in a couple of days, in the middle of winter? Your daddy knows you did that?”

He did listen, she’d give him that. “I’m an adult, Mr. Nichols—”

“It’s Chase, and I get you’re grown but I bet you’re always a little girl to your daddy.”

She hesitated, his correction putting her off her line of thought. He was right. “In answer to your question, yes, he knows I’m coming. And it isn’t that far. I was careful.”

“Mmm hmm.”