My Top 6 Favorites at Thanksgiving

Two days to Thanksgiving. I know. How did THAT happen?

Thanksgiving is an occasion when we pause to reflect on what we are most thankful for in our lives. Some families even have a tradition of going around the dinner table and having everyone share something they are grateful for in their lives.

Today I want to share some of the little things that I’m most grateful for.

It’s so important to take a little time to “Count your blessings instead of sheep,” as Bing Crosby said in White Christmas. Listen to this while you read the rest of the article.

Here’s my list:

1. I am thankful every day that I still have my mom with me. She had cancer last year, and it was really scary. She had successful treatment and is doing well, but I know that everyday is a gift. We have ups and downs, but I would not trade my life and relationship with her for anything. There is something really special about growing a mother/daughter relationship into a life together like we have.
2. Of course, my Golden Retriever, Willie, is at the top of this list. He’s such a sweet dog and has taught me so much about what’s really important. I’ve learned more about life in 6 years with this dog than I did in my previous 44 years with 100s of people. That’s quite a dog.
3. ’m super grateful for the incredible access I have to all things YARN!!! You knew that was coming! Honestly, the fiber arts industry is in such a great place. We have so much choice and access to products now. I am also really encouraged to see the growth in the American wool industry. If you can, purchase this holiday season from Quince and Co. and Brooklyn Tweed. They both use American Mills and American flock in their yarn production process.
4. I’m grateful to live in an area with wonderful LYS’s within just a few minutes of my home. I don’t get to spend nearly enough time in them, so maybe resolving to change that should be top of my list. Before I moved back to Virginia Beach in 2011, my LYS was 63 miles away ONE WAY through the mountains. It was pretty challenging, but that’s what I did to get started in knitting. Which leads to….
5. I’m so grateful for online education! I don’t know where I would be right now were it not for the incredible resources we have quite literally at our fingertips. I started with Craftsy when it launched. Between Mimi at The Needle Lady in Charlottesville and Stephanie Japel on Craftsy, I learned to knit. I don’t know where I would be now if it wasn’t for Creative Live. That website has quite honestly changed my life. It’s provided me with access to course content and instructors I would never have been exposed to. Of course, my trip to San Fransisco last September to be in the studio audience is a major highlight in my life, and I’m so, so grateful I was able to travel out west for that course.
6. Lastly, I’d like to say I’m really grateful for the abundance of food we have in America. We have access to fresh fruits and vegetables every day of the week. It’s almost miraculous to walk into a grocery store and pick up whatever it is that’s on the shopping list. Oh, and also thankful for the money to actually purchase that food. That’s kind of a big one.

What are you thankful for? I mean honestly thankful for. Spend some time really thinking about that as you prep the food for your Thanksgiving.

Because the best ingredient in any recipe is the energy of gratefulness from the cook while making the dish. Click To Tweet

What’s a Thanksgiving themed post without some sort of recipe? This recipe is a Martha Stewart concoction for a Pumpkin Chocolate Whoopie Pie recipe. It’s AH-MAZING and you can find the recipe on my new “Sweet Tooth” board of my Pinterest site. If Pumpkin Whoopie Pies don’t float your boat, I probably have something else you’ll like.

This is a HUGE recipe and perfect when having over holiday guests. Martha suggests making and eating them the same day. Um yeah. Unless you have a staff to help you cook, that is not happening.

So, here’s how I do it. Make the cookie part of this on Tuesday. Use the small ice cream scoop to get similar sized cookies. When they are cooled, put the cookies into zip lock bags and seal. Wednesday, make the frosting and let it sit over night. Thursday morning take out the frosting and let it come to room temperature. This might take about an hour. Pipe the frosting to make the sandwiches, place on a seasonal platter, and shower with powered sugar. The kids are going to love these! Heck, everybody will love these!

Enjoy your holiday, and your meal.

Pause and think about what makes your heart happy. Send a couple of silent thank you’s out to the universe. I guarantee somebody is listening, and they’ll be glad you checked in.

Author: Pattymac

Patty McGuire is a knitter who designs beginner knitting patterns. Video tutorials and online classes are currently in the works. She resides in the resort city of Virginia Beach where she has a small container garden and knits for her much loved Golden Retriever, Willie. She photographs and writes all the content on this blog (including this byline which seems weird because I’m writing about myself in 3rd person, but people like this sort of thing so I’m including it.)