Our wish for you this Thanksgiving is that you will be able to gather those you cherish closer to you, and that you may feel Heavenly Father’s love this day—and always.
As we gather to prepare our Thanksgiving feast for tomorrow, it’s fun for us to think about many of you–with your loved ones–perhaps doing the very same thing and likely for the very same reason…to show love and gratitude for our many, many blessings.
During the hard winter of 1620-21 the food supplies of the Pilgrims fell so low that each person received a ration of only five grains of corn at a time. After many later years of plenty, it became a custom in early New England to place the five grains of corn at each person’s place as a reminder of the hard winter the Pilgrims had weathered in their first few seasons.
Can you imagine? Wouldn’t this be a wonderful way to help our families realize and appreciate the love, abundance and bounty we enjoy in our lives?
Savor these moments…
“We often take for grated those things for which we should be most grateful.”
So, if you had to choose–what is the one thing–the dish that means Thanksgiving to your family?
Oh, I don’t mean the Turkey–that’s a given–I mean the thing that makes the meal unlike any other of the year?
We–of course have our most celebrated STUFFING–whose praises we sang last year, and Jenny’s homemade cranberry sauce, but for the past 25 years, we’ve had this interesting fruity Jello that means a lot to us. I realize that most people don’t have Jello for Thanksgiving–let me explain.
Long ago, and not so far away, we used to have Thanksgiving at my parents house…always. Now this was a big deal because my father was a chef–which supremely intimidated my mom so she was not really big on cooking. We ate meals and stuff, but it was never anything fancy or that made a lot of dishes.
Except for Thanksgiving. That was the one day that my mom would go nuts–the turkey, the stuffing the potatoes, the gravy, the pies. Makes me woosey thinking about it. It was just so fun to watch her–this one time of the year, really enjoying herself in the kitchen. In fact, my dad was usually banished to his shop to make his famous “Monkey Bread,” as a consolation for all the other stuff she wouldn’t let him cook. This was her day to shine all by herself.
Being the baby of the family and getting married last in the group, by the time I came to Thanksgiving dinner with my husband, the dishes that mom would let others donate to the meal—Laurie was allowed to bring yams, and Sabrina could bring mashed potatoes—were all doled out. I remember calling and asking, “What can I bring?” and the answer was, “Ahhhhh….I don’t know, we have pretty much everything. Bring whatever you want.”
That first year was particularly lean for us newlyweds so we brought–Jello. When I walked in with it my dad said, “What’s that for–dessert?” Another year, we forgot to put it on the table at all–until the meal was over. Nobody really knew what to do with my dopey Jello…until the year I didn’t bring it. That year, my cute sister acted like she was crushed and that the meal wouldn’t be right without my silly offering.
Hence–ever since that year—our peachy, fruity jello—comes out for Thanksgiving. My kids don’t know this holiday any other way.
And now…
you know the rest of the story.
Autumn Peach Jello
1 large Peach Jello
4 cups water
1 can pineapple chunks
1 can mandarin oranges
1 can peaches cut up
A pinch of cinnamon
8oz. Cool Whip
Drain all the fruit into a large bowl or trifle dish and save the juice. Prepare the Jello according to the directions–except use some of the juice in place of the cup of cold water. Add 2/3 of the warm jello to the fruit mixture, Add the pinch of cinnamon and stir. Pour the remainder of the Jello into a shallow Pyrex dish. Chill both Jellos until set. Just before serving take out the Pyrex Jello and drag a table knife through it in a checkerboard-type pattern. Scoop Cool Whip into a small bowl. Lift the cut up Jello out and fold it gently into the Cool Whip. Spoon the Jello topping onto the fruity Jello and serve to your guests.
You never know when you’ll be starting a new tradition in your family!
Couldn’t resist the cake pops again–only this time we’re making turkeys…a pack of them.
Or is it a gaggle?
Who knows…
You will need:
cake mix
tub of frosting
colored mini chips
red Starbursts (2 should do it)
peanut m&ms (red, orange and yellow)
food color markers
sucker sticks
candy corn
Start with the cake pop recipe from a few months back–this time we used chocolate cake and frosting. Dip them in Chocolate melts, and insert the sucker sticks. Now take them to the freezer to chill up a bit.
Sort out some yellow and orange mini chips–these will be your beaks.
You will use the markers to draw on the eyes.
Stick the mini chip beaks onto the M&Ms with the candy melts. We took tiny pinches of red Starbursts and shaped them into little waddles–and stuck them on the same way.
Then draw on the eyes with the edible markers.
Aren’t they just dang cute?
Stick the candy corn “feathers” on with the chocolate melts. It worked best to lay the turkey down like this to hold the feathers on while they dry. The candy melts set up quickly–so while they are setting you can add the cute little turkey heads–stick them on with the chocolate as well.
Now they are ready to grace your Thanksgiving table or—if you’re like us–they will make the perfect little neighbor treats.
“This is a wonderful time to be living here on earth. Our opportunities are limitless. While there are some things wrong in the world today, there are many things right, such as teachers who teach, ministers who minister, marriages that make it, parents who sacrifice, and friends who help.
“We can lift ourselves, and others as well, when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude. If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues”
Father in Heaven…we thank Thee.
