I'm grateful for Food.

As I prepare my Yams on this Thanksgiving Eve I can't help but be grateful for food. Not only food, but good food. As a child I was a very picky eater and there are still a lot of foods I really don't like. But, there sure are a lot of foods I really do like and I'm glad to live in a day when food is so readily available. Whenever I drive through farm land...aka the middle of nowhere...I always think about all the farmers in the world. Not only the farmers, but the people who prepare the food and package the food and drive it across the country or world, just so I can go to the store and buy it anytime I want. It's pretty amazing how that works. Thank you to all the people that make that possible!

As a teenager I had a pretty cool experience that made me appreciate how easy we have it now days. Our church does something called Pioneer Trek. Every 4 years teenagers 14-18 get to take a few days to live a pioneer life. Literally. We left behind clothes and toothbrushes and food and treats and everything. I wore a pioneer dress and apron and bonnet...and was allowed one extra dress. That was it. Then we hiked several miles a day pulling a handcart and slept on the ground under the stars. I remember the first day we hiked 18 miles. When we arrived to our camp it was dark and chilly. The stars were beautiful. I was given a small cup of stew (normally not my type of thing,) but I really wanted seconds. It tasted so good. Then each morning we would make cracked wheat and for lunch have a few carrots and a roll or something like that. And it was AMAZING. I must admit, I loved having an excuse to not shower or do my hair for a few days (though we did 

Pioneer Trek with my sisters and dad

wash our hair in a river once.) I had several incredible experiences in those few days, which are stories for another time. But one experience I especially loved was our Turkey dinner. It was no ordinary dinner. They had gathered a bunch of wild turkeys into a fenced area and we had to catch it, kill it, pluck it, de-gut it, clean it and cook it. We had been divided into groups and most my group didn't want to do it. So me and another girl ran around chasing the Turkeys until we caught one. Then her and I and one other boy sat on the Turkey while another boy chopped it's head off. And yes, there was blood on my dress the rest of the Trek. And yes, teenage boys do cry. It was a pretty tough experience for some of the boys who had to chop off the head. And holding it was no walk in the park either. I remember hearing him chop and I think I counted 7 chops to get the head separated from the neck. I felt the warm blood hit me and the Turkey wiggle under my body. Poor guy. It almost felt wrong holding him down and taking his life. Alot of us felt that way. But it taught us more about the circle of life and how it really all works. Then came the fun part. Again, nobody in my group wanted to de-gut the bird, so another girl and I got the job. I will never forget sticking my hand into the hole we had created and feeling the warm insides of that dead animal. Pulling them out was pretty sweet though. The one part I didn't like was plucking the feathers. They were so tough to get out! Definitely got my work out for the day! After preparing the turkey we wrapped it in a shirt, threw it in a big pit and cooked it. Turkey has never tasted as good as it did that night. I felt like it was the first real food I had eaten in a few days, and it was so rewarding to have actually prepared my own food. Not from the store or a restaurant...but caught and killed and cleaned and cooked all with my own hands.

I've always been grateful to have been born in this day. There are so many luxuries we enjoy that we don't even think about. Food is just one of them that I am grateful to have. And as I sit around the table tomorrow, I will give thanks for the Turkey that was so easily thawed and prepared.

P.S. Here's a recipe for a fun Thanksgiving dessert.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Prepare and bake a crumb crust in an 8 in. springform or cake pan.  (Or you can buy a store prepared crumb crust...)

Have all ingredients at room temperature, about 70 degrees F.  Place a loaf pan or cake pan filled with hot water in the oven to moisten the air.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine in a small bowl:
 2/3 c. packed brown sugar
 3/4 tsp. cinnamon
 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
 1/8 tsp. grated or ground nutmeg

Beat in a large bowl just until smooth, for 30-60 sec.:
  1 pound (2 8 oz. packages) cream cheese
 and gradually add the sugar mixture and beat until smooth and creamy, 1-2 min.

Beat in one at a time until well blended, scraping the sides of the bowl and the beaters after each addition:
  2 large eggs
  2 large egg yolks

Add and beat in just until mixed:
  1 cup canned or cooked pumpkin

Scrape the batter into the crust and smooth the top.
Set the pan on a baking sheet.
Bake for 30 min. at 350 degrees F, then reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F and bake until the edges of the cheesecake are puffed but the center still looks moist and jiggles when the pan is tapped (about 10-15 minutes more).

Meanwhile, whisk together until well blended:
  1 1/2 c. sour cream
  1/3 c. packed light brown sugar
  1 tsp. vanilla

Scrape on top of the hot cake and smooth with a spatula.  Return to the oven for 7 minutes.  Remove the pan to a rack and cover the pan and rack with a large inverted bowl or pot so that the cake cools slowly.  Let cool completely before unmolding.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours.