Thanksgiving 2

Sign I saw at a shopping center today: Do the math. Count your blessings. Hard to do when widowhood is new but worth a try.

And here's a neat way to do that. In Parade Magazine today there was an article by Jonathan Franzen, author of Everything is Illuminated, in which he talked about his childhood Thanksgiving dinners at his grandmother's home. She put a handful of popcorn kernels on everyone's plate. During the meal as each person thought of something he or she was thankful for, they'd take a kernel from their plate and silently put it in the middle of the table. By the end of the meal there'd be a whole pile of popcorn kernels enumerating everyone's blessings.

Today I'm listing two of my standard Thanksgiving dishes:

Strawberry Perfection Salad (Both my sister and I make this every year for our respective dinners)
2 pkgs. strawberry jello dissolved in 1 1/2 cups boiling water
10 oz. pkg. frozen strawberries with juice
3 whipped bananas
1 small can crushed pineapple with juice
1/2 pint sour cream

Mix first 5 ingredients and pour half into mold which has been lightly oiled. Chill until firm. Spread sour cream over this layer, then add cooled remainder of strawberry mixture by spooning over sour cream. Refrigerate 1 1/2 hours.

Spinach Casserole (My daughter's Mom-it's-not-Thanksgiving-without-this dish)
2 pkgs. frozen chopped spinach
1/2 pint sour cream
1 medium can mushrooms
1 can artichoke hearts, sliced

Cook and drain spinach. Add sour cream and mushrooms. Put half of mixture into a buttered casserole. Slice artichoke hearts and put on top. Top with rest of spinach mixture. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Enjoy! And please don't spend the holiday alone!

See you in seven