Hello, Rural Sprout readers,
We are having pie for breakfast this morning: apple crumb and pumpkin custard. We are having pie for breakfast because no one had room for pie after our huge Thanksgiving meal last night.
It’s always amazing how much work goes into something that takes about twenty minutes to eat.
But it was a lovely feast for the five of us. I decided to skip the turkey since we’re celebrating early, as the boys are doing Thanksgiving with their dad this year, and the adult kids are having Turkey Day with my son-in-law’s
family.
Instead, I brined and roasted two chickens. And now I have a large pot of stock simmering on the stove.
Our family has a lot to be thankful for this year, and even more to be grateful for. As we raised our glasses in a toast, I felt full to bursting, and that was before we started eating. I am so grateful for my family.
It got me thinking about past Thanksgivings.
Gatherings that were much larger, with more family, more food, and decidedly more football. (None of us are fans in this household.) But kids grew up and moved away. Family members have passed away. Over the years, how and where we celebrate has
changed.
I remember how we went through a streak where every year there was something wrong with the pie.
One year, an aunt mistook a canister of salt for sugar, and we had a very salty pumpkin pie. Another year, a different aunt forgot to remove the wax paper from her store-bought pie crust, and we ended up with waxy, papery
pie. And in the final year of our misfit pie streak, my mother, deciding that anything Martha Stewart could do, she could do too, made her pie extra special by cutting out a turkey shape from the dough and put it in the center of the pie.
As it baked, her turkey shrank, so that by the time it was finished, it looked more like a malnourished roadrunner.
Our little gathering yesterday went off without a hitch, and the only pie problems were that we didn’t leave enough room to eat any until this morning.
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Did you miss a newsletter or want to read a few for inspiration? Find past newsletters here. Don't forget to check out our Facebook page for daily updates.
That's all for this week, Rural Sprout Readers.
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