Happy Thanksgiving!

The first thing I am thankful for today is the fact that it looks like the bleu cheesecake turned out well, though I still need to come up with a topping for it. It really wants a port reduction but I don't want to go buy port. So it'll either be a balsamic reduction or some lemon-macerated strawberries.

On a less foodie note, I'm feeling reflective this morning. A few weeks ago I didn't think I'd have anything to be thankful for this year at all. I'm happy to say I was dead wrong. I don't have a baby (yet), but I have my health and the ability to try again; I have a body that can recognize when something isn't proceeding as it should and deal with that. I have a loving husband - the most perfect match that could ever be made - and I have a large, loving family who I'm grateful for every day even when they're far away. I have a beautiful house to call my own, I have three beautiful sweet cats, I have four healthy chickens (three of whom are laying regularly now!), I have terrific friends who are supportive and funny and were right there with me when I needed them recently. Really, I've got more than I have a right to ask for. I'm proud to be so blessed.

This is why Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday; it simply can't be commercialized. I guess that's why corporate America starts Christmas earlier and earlier every year. You can't turn too much profit encouraging people to appreciate what they already have. Celebrating Thanksgiving might actually be our strongest tool in fighting the commercialist abuse of our culture.

So take a day, everyone. Tell people you love them and give thanks for what you have, whether or not you have a deity to thank. And then chow down and enjoy the carb loading. And don't forget to participate tomorrow in Buy Nothing Day.

I'm off to make breakfast and have a nice walk on the beach before I start cooking, but I want to share a blessing for the day. My brother reminded me of it this morning and I've always loved it. When I was little, my uncle used to say this grace before holiday meals: "Good bread, good meat, good G-d, let's eat." Some people frowned but it always seemed like the perfect (if succinct) expression of everything this holiday is about. I think I'll start my meal with it this year to celebrate the truth that, whatever else has happened, G-d and the food are still good.