But let us hold this thought before November days depart...not just for now..Thanksgiving is a season of the heart.....Catherine E. Berry

Soon Thanksgiving will be here. To me, Thanksgiving is the most treasured and overlooked holiday of all. Nestled in between Halloween and Christmas, it is often times the "forgotten" holiday and the one I personally look forward to and enjoy the most. For weeks prior to Thanksgiving I scour through my cookbooks and magazines, and watch the Food Network cooking shows looking for new variations on the old recipes we have all come to love and expect on Thanksgiving. Of all the holidays, Thanksgiving is the one that all expect to see their favorites on the table. You can fool around somewhat with Christmas, some have elaborate meals, some have a ball fixing different appetizers and desserts, some have turkey or ham, or prime rib or roast, some do Italian beef sandwiches. But, you just don't mess around with the Thanksgiving menu, lest you find a mutiny of relatives on your hands, at your dinner table. I spend weeks getting my menu in order and sit down to make the list of ingredients needed for all of my family's favorites. I go through my cabinets and throw out all my old spices and get new as I'm just not sure if they were bought last year. Just how many packages of poultry seasoning, sage, and cinnamon get bought new every year? Alot, I bet. I usually get started the evening before Thanksgiving, getting some of the prep work out of the way and I always check my turkey to make sure it is thawed out, I made that mistake one year and had to thaw my turkey in the kitchen sink, using very cold water and changing it quite often. I don't want to mess around with that, ever again. I usually buy my turkey the week-end before Thanksgiving and bring it right home to the refrigerator to spend the next four or five days thawing out. The night before is usually very quiet at my house, as the kids were always out with friends and hubby always found something exciting to partake of while I'm quietly at home chopping vegetables for my dressing. I love the quiet the night before and wouldn't have it any other way. Thanksgiving morning I am always up early and begin my day with my rendition of "Over the river and through the woods, to grandmothers house we go.." I fondly remember singing that in school right before Thanksgiving vacation began in music class. Miss Fogler starting us with a "toot toot" on her magical little round instrument that got us singing the right note. I don't have any idea what that was called, but I just loved it and wanted to have one when I grew up. I'll bet there aren't many of the old gang that attended Gibson City Grade School who don't have memories of Miss Fogler and her magical little instrument. Brings back memories, doesn't it? After I sing that little ditty, the television usually goes on to catch a couple of minutes of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, it's usually on in the background while I'm working away in the kitchen. There is something about cooking and listening to marching band music in the background that gets me going. I always run in to catch the big turkey with the batting eyelashes float and yes, I still run in to see Santa on his sleigh. I always love to watch the Rockettes and their number too. It's just not Thanksgiving without the Macy's Day Parade! I particularly enjoy the big balloons too, and always wonder, just how tired are those people that have to walk along pulling on those ropes for hours and miles and miles? Bet they are hungry and tired when their done! When I was a child I would always walk over to my Grandma Kreitzers house to help with Thanksgiving Dinner. I was fortunate to live right next door on the same farm next to my grandparents. My grandma Kreitzer was a spectacular cook and she would always save a few jobs that I could help with. I had my own special apron she made for me and I also had a special stool to stand on so I could reach the table and counter. I can remember walking into her kitchen and the aromas of Thanksgiving would overtake you. Thanksgiving would soon be here! I always got to help make the scalloped corn, whip the potatoes, butter the rolls before they went into the oven, put the finishing touches on the dressing, and help out with a pie or two. When I am in my kitchen today preparing these same dishes, I fondly think of her and give thanks for her patience with me in the kitchen. I make these dishes just as she taught me those many years ago. The menu at Thanksgiving at my house is the same as then and never will change, even though some additions are made by my daughter-in-law and daughter. I especially enjoy the quiet and peacefulness of Thanksgiving. There is nothing to do but cook and enjoy spending time with family, give praise and bask in it's simplicity. The decorations are so simple and lovely, turkeys, pilgrims, pumpkins, gourds, mums, cornucopias, and leaves. A new addition to my decorations last year is a framed picture of a beautifully colored turkey made out of my then, one year old grandson Jack's hand. It will always be put out along with my other decorations. Take a moment at the beginning of your Thanksgiving to just enjoy the peacefulness and simplicity of the holiday, remember past Thanksgivings and think of family members no longer with you, say a prayer for them along with a prayer of thankfulness for all you have been given, for your family, friends, good health, for all the blessings this life holds for you, for this wonderful country we live in, for all of those serving in the armed forces all over the world who will not be home with their families this Thanksgiving, and especially for those who won't have a Thanksgiving Dinner or a warm place to sleep. Happy Thanksgiving!