Sunday, November 26, 2017

A Day of Gratitude



Hello, Dear Friends, I hope that those of you who 
celebrate Thanksgiving had a wonderful day! 

I was tasked with baking the pies, and the day before
the holiday, my kitchen was a busy place. 


A deep-dish apple pie ready for baking. 


It was an unusually warm November day (65 degrees), 
and even with the door to the deck opened wide, 
it was a warm, 76 degrees inside. 

But it smelled absolutely wonderful! 


I baked and baked all day long, and by the time I was done, 
the sun was setting, turning the clouds a lovely coral 
over the Cascade mountains. 


Besides the deep-dish apple pie, I baked some individual
apple pies for Ramblin' Man :) and a blackberry pie
from berries I picked myself. 

Can you see Kai coming in from his pet door?


A few raindrops illuminated by the outside spotlight, 
over my vintage gelatin molds, 
in the kitchen window as I clean up. 


By morning the clouds were lifting......


And as we approached the Narrows Bridge on our 
way to daughter, Jennie and Steve's, for Thanksgiving dinner, 
the skies were blue. 



The Narrows Bridge is actually two bridges - 
the older span on the right, and the newer 
span on the left, just completed a couple of years ago. 

Each side is one way. 


Its name comes from the waterway beneath, 
called, 'The Narrows' - a slender stretch of Puget Sound
which connects the Kitsap Peninsula to the mainland. 


Tall fir trees rise above the landscape on the other side. 

We are almost there. 




The beautiful table. 

There were 14 of us, including two little ones.


The sideboard holds the pies. 
A pumpkin pie was added later. 
Everyone contributed to the meal. 


Lots of yummy appetizers. 
I couldn't stay away from this spinach dip and bread!





The house is perfect 
for entertaining :) 


Flannel shirts are true Northwest style. 
xoxo


The host carves the turkey - charbroiled on the grill. 
There were two turkeys and a ham. 


We fill our plates. 


Turkey, stuffing, scalloped potatoes, green bean
casserole, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce and roll. 
Yum! 




Many toasts to all that we are thankful for. 


xoxo


We even celebrated a special young lady's birthday! 


The end of a wonderful meal. 


All too soon the day was over, 
and as we took the long drive home, 
we thought of all the ones we love.

The near and the far away, 
and those we've lost and miss so dearly. 

xoxo

So grateful for them all. 

xoxo


Thank you for joining me, Dear Friends! 
I am so grateful for all of you who 
fill my life with such joy and friendship! 

xoxo















28 comments:

  1. Such happiness!Blessings to you and your Family!Hugs,Maristella.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Karen, what an abundant Thanksgiving! Love all your pies! It would be difficult not to eat them before Thanksgiving! I'm glad the weather improved for your traveling. Isn't it good to be home!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Karen what a wonderful happy post,boy those pies look so yummy 💋

    ReplyDelete
  4. Such a happy post, Karen. Your family seems to have had a most blessed Thanksgiving celebration together. Gorgeous photos!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi dear Karen, what a lovely Thanksgiving celebration you had with your dear family. Those pies you made look amazing! Sounds like you had warm weather that day (we had record highs in the 90's). Hopefully, the wild, windy weather hasn't wrecked havoc where you live. I'm been reading the news about the wind and flooding in Western Washington. Have a wonderful week dear friend. It's always a joy to hear from you. Pat xx

    ReplyDelete
  6. Sounds like you had a wonderful day with all the family. Lovely photos. Have a good week. B x

    ReplyDelete
  7. Happy Thanksgiving. What a wonderful way to celebrate x

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hello, great memories of your Thanksgiving 2017 and your lovely family. Looks like a nice day and lots of yummy food. Your pies look delicious. Happy Monday, enjoy your new week ahead!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Happy Thanksgiving. What a wonderful spread, so much lovely food with so much lovely company xx

    ReplyDelete
  10. What a wonderful gathering. The house is a great place for a crowd for sure. Love the table setting. Your pies looked so good. How smart to make a big pie like your deep dish apple for a crowd. It's nice you got a window of sunshine for part of your drive. Traffic didn't look bad on the bridge, either. Hope your week ahead is a good one.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Whatever the food or drink, it's the family being together that makes Thanksgiving.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Everything looks so lovely! Beautiful table and the set up is wonderful with the drinks etc. Looks like a wonderful day! I sure understand about missing those we love, mine was very hard being I just lost my mom a couple months ago. Wasn't the same without her.... Hope you have a wonderful week!

    Blessings,
    Jill

    ReplyDelete
  13. A beautiful way to celebrate the holidays! Family food love and happy endings for a most perfect day!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Dear Karen ~ What a lovely and delicious sounding/looking Thanksgiving you all had.

    Have a great week ~ FlowerLady

    ReplyDelete
  15. WoW!!! amazing, amazing, amazing!! whomever set that table did a beautiful job, it looks like a warm and wonderful place to spend the holiday!!!

    and your pies look wonderful!!!

    ReplyDelete
  16. I cannot get over the wonderfully beautiful view you have. Looks like a wonderful time was had by all.

    ReplyDelete
  17. So nice to have a nice place to go with people you love. It all looks lovely.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Karen, what a feast! It sounds like a wonderful day. Your daughter's home is very nice, and the table setting is lovely. Wow, I've never heard of cooking two turkeys and a ham! I think green bean casserole is my favorite side dish. Your apple pie looks Yummy, but what caught my eye more was your blackberry pie. That's one of my favorites. So nice of you to bake all the goodies for the day. I bet your kitchen had the wonderful scent of pies. What a beautiful picture of the mountains and sky.

    Let the Christmas season begin!

    ~Sheri

    ReplyDelete
  19. What a wonderful Thanksgiving you had, dear Karen, with all your loved ones! Jennie and Steve's home looked so beautiful and the table was so perfect for a day of thanks. Now, about those pies...my oh my! I'd be going for the blackberry, Karen, but I'd have to sample all of them, with my sweet tooth! Love and hugs are sent to you.

    ReplyDelete
  20. What a nice festivity!!! We haven't got Thanksgiving here. So, our day to join with family is Christmas. Enjoy family is the best

    Hugs from Spain

    Marina

    ReplyDelete
  21. Oh my it looks like you had a wonderful day together, so special those moments when the whole family can be together!! Wow I have never seen a pie so big in my life, apple pie sounds so good, I am going to make one with a crumble topping real soon :) Love all the pictures, we keep saying we need to make it up that way sometime.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Wonderful pictures and wow your pies look delicious, sounds like you had a very special Thanksgiving.

    Hugs Diane

    ReplyDelete
  23. I really enjoyed reading and looking at your post. Such a happy feel about it. So lovely to spend time with the family like this, special indeed.

    All the best Jan

    ReplyDelete
  24. Dear Karen,

    So lovely to see your thanksgiving post and how wonderful that all your family were able to join together and have a great time.
    The pies look delicious and all the food. We do have so much to be thankful for and enjoyed visiting you today.
    Hope you are having a great week
    hugs
    Carolyn

    ReplyDelete
  25. OH my gosh Karen...I cannot think of a more beautiful family gathering than this!
    And those pies!!! And that food!!! And that beautifully dressed table!!! Perfection!
    Thanks for your lovely comments on my newest granddaughter💕
    Cheers!
    Linda :o)

    ReplyDelete
  26. I like the idea of having 'a gathering room'. It represents so much that is dear to our hearts - a place where we can enjoy times with family and friends. Sharing a meal around a table is also a special time. Your daughter had set the table beautifully and it looks like you had a delicious Thanksgiving meal, including those apple pies that you made. Thank you for sharing the preparation, the views from your lovely home with that amazing sun set light in the evening, the journey to be with family and the day itself with a birthday celebration too.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Such a wonderfully traditional day! Looks like much fun and fellowship.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Ah...How Magnificent day with family dear Karen !
    your sharings enrich my soul with peace and gratitude.

    Reading you is like healing the pains that cause world's absurdity and sufferings.
    Peeking into your world full of love and serenity make me believe that life is beautiful even now when it seems some time so panic and miserable through news and observations.
    You are so amazing to create such divine world within and around you dear friend.

    thank you for taking a long such wonderful trip to family gathering .
    Charming bridge and gorgeous views you captured .

    Family gatherings are therapeutic always as meanwhile we always experience a fresh new version of us once again .
    your family is precious ,
    Food and specially pies you made look so appealing .
    may you enjoy many many more thanksgiving day with you loved ones. amen

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for stopping by! Your comments are important to me and are very much appreciated. xx Karen

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...