The Simple Scents of Life

Thanksgiving has come once more, and as usual, passed by much too quickly. Yesterday was overflowing with reasons to be thankful and was so inspiring to live life to it's fullest, never wasting one precious moment. We had two families over to share in our feast, and shortly following, some more friends arrived for dessert. We had a fabulous time cooking some of our traditional Thanksgiving favorites, such as our Cajun Dressing (a recipe that goes back a few generations in my mom's family), Cranberry Sauce, Wassail, Turkey with gravy (but that goes without saying ;)) and Sweet Potato Casserole.

This time around, we decided to make this Thanksgiving memorable...soooooo, we caught the Sweet Potato Casserole on fire, in the oven (yes there is a photo below)! The men were able to successfully place a cookie sheet over the top and before long, the fire was out, the excitement was over (well, that bit of it, anyway) and dinner was served! Okay, so I'll stop rambling now and let the pictures speak for themselves...

Here stands mom, on the day before Thanksgiving, trying to decide what she's going to put in her pralines. :)

This year was Melissa's year to dress the turkey. Here she is, thoroughly disgusted with that turkey neck...but, honestly, I don't blame her.

Mother's unbeatable Pralines...scrumptious!

The first roasted turkey.

Sugar coated cranberries...they almost look like a centerpiece.

It has been an unchallengeable American doctrine that cranberry sauce, a pink goo with overtones of sugared tomatoes, is a delectable necessity of the Thanksgiving board and that turkey is uneatable without it. ~Alistair Cooke

So, you see my dear friends, who also happened to be partakers in our feast yesterday (You know who you are... ;)) you can eat turkey with cranberry sauce poured over it...especially when it's warm and homemade. :)

Melissa with her finished place cards...she looks pretty satisfied to me.

Mother and daughter.

Singing our traditional song, "Five Kernels of Corn."

William had a place set for him at a different table, but he insisted on sitting with Peter.

Sisters.

My sisters.

Oh yes, and here is the little bit of evidence that we caught the sweet potato casseroles on fire just as we were getting ready to eat! They wouldn't open the oven again for me to get a "better" picture, so this will have to suffice. :)

Now, I was told that the burned marshmallows were quite tasty...I'm not too keen on S'mores, nor marshmallows, so I didn't take the adventurous route and try them.

D1 racing to the food line.

One of the tables of hungry friends.

Dad and his Turkey Carving Class of '08! If you'd like to register for next year, sign on the dotted line... :)

Mom surveying the carving of the main dish...probably thinking of how good it will taste smothered in cranberry sauce (yup, that was just for y'all...again, you know who you are. ;)).

Ahhh...such a beautiful sight that comes but once a year.

Little girls.

Auntie Em and her leaf.

The dessert table. I believe there were well over a dozen pies...and then there were the pralines!

Another GF Apple Pie. This time without the caramel, but it did get some leaves.

A close-up of our place cards. A tradition that's been carried down through the years.

The table is set.

O Lord that lends me life,

Lend me a heart replete with thankfulness.

~William Shakespeare

Jessica named the turkey Theodore Roosevelt.

The finished pumpkin pie.

More leaves.

William is looking awfully sneaky. :)

We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures. ~Thornton Wilder

After eating for some time, I looked down at my plate which contained a few more bites of mashed potatoes, a wee bit of cranberry sauce and one sliver of turkey. I said something about being full, whereupon my dear friend, Melinda said, "Make your plate happy!" So, taking her advice, I did.