Growing up, my family always ate dinner together, despite the pull of myriad conflicting schedules. Michael also had family meals. We eat at the same table as often as possible given that our children now have their own households. Thanksgiving is a continuation of that tradition, with the added enticement of Michael’s stuffing.

It begins as a base of bread cubes hydrated with chicken broth. Onions and garlic boiled in butter. Then he starts adding vegetables to the onion butter. This year he added a red, yellow and green bell pepper, mushrooms, black olives, apples, celery, and the last of the collards from our garden. Sprinkled with black pepper and more poultry seasoning than the law allows, it goes into the bird with the overflow occupying its own casserole.

That is one of our 10 lb. broilers I am carving. It fed 10 of us, with leftovers. Michael is making gravy in the background…which also requires copious amounts of black pepper.

The chicken, potatoes and applesauce came from our gardens, as well as the rhubarb wine. The china was Michael’s grandmother’s, which makes it five generations who have used this set, if you include the grands.

Having very young children means we aren’t allowed to put food on the table and then wait while the final dishes of green bean casserole and twice-baked squash finish cooking. Not picture perfect but very tasty.

We took a break before dessert: apple, pumpkin and chocolate-pecan pies. Thankfully, my daughter took the missing pie home with her.

All the kids burned off some energy waiting for noon dinner by trying out our new elliptical machine. We began using it before hunting season started. We look forward to having our regular schedule back again soon. We got the elliptical to keep training during the winter and be bike-riding ready next spring.

The Grands engaged in their usual shenanigans.

After dinner we all crashed.

Then it was time to put on boots and say so long…which we hope will only be a couple of days.

Our first real snow fell yesterday.

We are thankful to have enough space for children to run yet small enough to remain cozy. We are thankful to be rich enough to run a subsistence farm. We are thankful to have enough strength and energy to work this experiment of ours. Mostly, we are thankful to be together.