I'm Thankful For

• the first text message I received on Thanksgiving, cryptic and hysterical: Kill A Turkey!
• waking up knowing that cooking is my only assignment for the day
• five days off + three days off with M.
• red slippers (and wondering if my mom is wearing her identical ones)
• the sound of the under-cabinet lights flickering on in the kitchen
• the red red red of cranberry sauce in the refrigerator light
• the clatter of measuring cups
• jazz organ + dancing all day in the kitchen with my very own Bill Cosby dance impersonator
• the sizzle of bacon in the oven
• coffee (and someone who likes to pour it for me and knows to put in two spoons of sugar) 
• the squeak of the biscuit cutter on the countertop
• eating said biscuits with pumpkin butter at the kitchen table
• Brilliant Food Tips & Cooking Tricks by David Joachim
• an empty dishwasher when I start cooking
• watching waves roll in while I wash dishes
• hot water (even though it's been smelling a little mysterious lately)
• parsley, sage, and mint in jars on the windowsill
• Mrs. Meyer's pine-scented soap
• a well-seasoned iron skillet
• a long walk on the sand and a handful of beach glass to prove it
• bacon-wrapped pork wearing a turkey costume
• Hendrick's gin wearing a martini costume
• pineapple-mint cocktails wearing no costume
• bare feet during Thanksgiving dinner
• not burning, overcooking, or undercooking ANYTHING this time!
• Beautiful Home Home Cooked Meal For Pure And Simple Living
• all this love + all this laughter + all this everything
• knowing my family and friends are safe and being loved, even though they aren't with me
  
• building a memory at the table
• falling (no, really, falling) into bed at the end of it all
• being headache-free in the morning and not having to go to work
• Thanksgiving for breakfast (sans martinis this time, I swear)