Thanksgiving

Here's hoping you had a peaceful Thanksgiving. We had a small and relaxed gathering at my parents' wonderful new home: a Butterball turkey that my mother said was the cleanest she had ever cooked in her 59 years of making Thanksgiving dinner, stuffing (yes, inside the turkey, thank you very much), brown rice, green beans, salad and rolls.
For dessert I was asked to bring cookies. I had planned to make pecan snowballs and ginger snaps, but on Wednesday evening my mother just happened to say, "You know, Tilda, your father loves those chocolate cookies you make." Fortunately I had all the ingredients for my triple chocolate/cinammon/walnut cookies on hand, and I baked a batch on Thanksgiving morning.
(I'm glad to share recipes; just email me at uvilleblogger@gmail.com.)
After our early dinner we watched the Washington/Dallas football game, which was about the best contest you can imagine for holiday viewing: exciting and actually suspenseful.
I know a lot of people who got up before dawn on "Black Friday" to do some serious shopping, but not me. Actually I can't think of much I'd less enjoy than fighting hyped-up crowds at a mall. I worked, cleaned up the yard a little bit, and played tennis (in late November!), much more my speed.

On Facebook, the line where you post your status normally says, "What's on your mind?" On Thanksgiving they changed it to, "What are you thankful for?" My response: "Health, family, home and friendships: old ones, new ones and renewed ones."