For each new morning with its light,

For rest and shelter of the night,

For song of bird and hum of bee,

Father in Heaven, we thank Thee.

For health and food,

For love and friends,

For everything Thy goodness sends…

Father in Heaven…we thank Thee.

~~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Our wish for you this Thanksgiving is that you will be able to gather those you cherish closer to you, and that you may feel Heavenly Father’s love this day—and always.

We are grateful for you. Thanks for reading–

Have a warm and wonderful Thanksgiving!

Click HERE for all the Gracious Rain Holiday ideas in one convenient place!

As we gather to prepare our Thanksgiving feast for tomorrow, it’s fun for us to think about many of you–with your loved ones–perhaps doing the very same thing and likely for the very same reason…to show love and gratitude for our many, many blessings.

During the hard winter of 1620-21 the food supplies of the Pilgrims fell so low that each person received a ration of only five grains of corn at a time. After many later years of plenty, it became a custom in early New England to place the five grains of corn at each person’s place as a reminder of the hard winter the Pilgrims had weathered in their first few seasons.

Can you imagine?  Wouldn’t this be a wonderful way to help our families realize and appreciate the love, abundance and bounty we enjoy in our lives?

Savor these moments…

“We often take for grated those things for which we should be most grateful.”

Cynthia Ozick

————–

One year ago today: Photo Journal

Click HERE for all the Gracious Rain Holiday ideas in one convenient place!

So, if you had to choose–what is the one thing–the dish that means Thanksgiving to your family? Oh, I don’t mean the Turkey–that’s a given–I mean the thing that makes the meal unlike any other of the year?

We–of course have our most celebrated STUFFING–whose praises we sang last year, and Jenny’s homemade cranberry sauce, but for the past 25 years, we’ve had this interesting fruity Jello that means a lot to us. I realize that most people don’t have Jello for Thanksgiving–let me explain.

Long ago, and not so far away, we used to have Thanksgiving at my parents house…always. Now this was a big deal because my father was a chef–which supremely intimidated my mom so she was not really big on cooking. We ate meals and stuff, but it was never anything fancy or that made a lot of dishes.

Except for Thanksgiving. That was the one day that my mom would go nuts–the turkey, the stuffing the potatoes, the gravy, the pies. Makes me woosey thinking about it. It was just so fun to watch her–this one time of the year, really enjoying herself in the kitchen. In fact, my dad was usually banished to his shop to make his famous “Monkey Bread,” as a consolation for all the other stuff she wouldn’t let him cook. This was her day to shine all by herself.

Being the baby of the family and getting married last in the group, by the time I came to Thanksgiving dinner with my husband, the dishes that mom would let others donate to the meal—Laurie was allowed to bring yams, and Sabrina could bring mashed potatoes—were all doled out. I remember calling and asking, “What can I bring?” and the answer was, “Ahhhhh….I don’t know, we have pretty much everything. Bring whatever you want.”

That first year was particularly lean for us newlyweds so we brought–Jello. When I walked in with it my dad said, “What’s that for–dessert?” Another year, we forgot to put it on the table at all–until the meal was over. Nobody really knew what to do with my dopey Jello…until the year I didn’t bring it. That year, my cute sister acted like she was crushed and that the meal wouldn’t be right without my silly offering.

Hence–ever since that year—our peachy, fruity jello—comes out for Thanksgiving. My kids don’t know this holiday any other way.

And now…

you know the rest of the story.

:]

Autumn Peach Jello

1 large Peach Jello

4 cups water

1 can pineapple chunks

1 can mandarin oranges

1 can peaches cut up

8oz. Cool Whip

Prepare the Jello according to directions. While it’s cooling, pour drained fruit into a large bowl. Add 2/3 of the jello the fruit mixture. Pour the remainder of the Jello into a shallow Pyrex dish. Chill both Jellos until set. Just before serving take out the Pyrex Jello and drag a table knife through it in a checkerboard-type pattern.  Scoop Cool Whip into a small bowl. Lift the cut up Jello out and fold it gently into the Cool Whip. Spoon the Jello topping onto the fruity Jello and serve to your guests.

You never know when you’ll be starting a new tradition in your family!

Click HERE for all the Gracious Rain Holiday ideas in one convenient place!

—————-

One year ago today: Gratitude Tree

Couldn’t resist the cake pops again–only this time we’re making turkeys.

You will need:

cake mix

tub of frosting

colored mini chips

red Starbursts (2 should do it)

peanut m&ms (red, orange and yellow)

food color markers

sucker sticks

candy corn

Start with the cake pop recipe from a few months back–this time we used chocolate cake and frosting. Dip them in Chocolate melts, and insert the sucker sticks. Now take them to the freezer to chill up a bit.

Sort out some yellow and orange mini chips–these will be your beaks.

You will use the markers to draw on the eyes.

Stick the mini chip beaks onto the M&Ms with the candy melts. We took tiny pinches of red Starbursts and shaped them into little waddles–and stuck them on the same way.

Then draw on the eyes with the edible markers.

Aren’t they just dang cute?

Stick the candy corn “feathers” on with the chocolate melts. It worked best to lay the turkey down like this to hold the feathers on while they dry. The candy melts set up quickly–so while they are setting you can add the cute little turkey heads–stick them on with the chocolate as well.

Now they are ready to grace your Thanksgiving table or—if you’re like us–they will make the perfect little neighbor treats.

Or you could just eat them all by yourself…

Hmmmm….splendid idea…

gobble-gobble.

Click HERE for all the Gracious Rain Holiday ideas in one convenient place!

“This is a wonderful time to be living here on earth. Our opportunities are limitless. While there are some things wrong in the world today, there are many things right, such as teachers who teach, ministers who minister, marriages that make it, parents who sacrifice, and friends who help.

“We can lift ourselves, and others as well, when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude. If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues”

~Thomas S. Monson

——————-

Click HERE for all the Gracious Rain Holiday ideas in one convenient place!

Happy Birthday Molly!

Awwww….Wouldn’t you just love some cute little pilgrims–like this, on your own Thanksgiving table?

Or maybe you’d prefer–a handsome devil like this? Trust me…it’s simple. All you have to do is:

Print out the pattern–at the bottom of the page and cut out the pieces.

Using the pattern, cut out enough pilgrim pieces for each member of your family.

Roll the black rectangle and staple it in place.

Wrap the white collar around the black tube–and staple.

Using embroidery scissors–cut along the line on the pilgrims bonnet.

Print out pictures of your family–I made them all about 2-1/2 inches tall. Cut them out.

Glue the pilgrim hat on the boy pilgrim’s head. Slide the girl photos into the white caps.

Now you’re ready to put your pilgrim together. Oh, and for the babies bodies, I trimmed the black body pieces about 1-1/2 inches–so they were shorter.

Slide the heads between the black piece and the white collar and glue lightly in place. Let them dry for about 30 minutes and they’ll be set for your feasting table.

No need to write anyone’s name on these guys because the kids will love finding themselves on the plate!

For the Personal Pilgrim Place Card Pattern–simply click on the link below.

Happy Harvesting!

Pilgrim Placecards

Click HERE for all the Gracious Rain Holiday ideas in one convenient place!

I first saw these little do-dads in Taste of Home Magazine and thought, “Oooohhhh…” and then, with it being National Homemade Bread Day–I know, I know, but it IS–I figured these would just about qualify.

They don’t have any of the pumpkin spices that you would expect in a pumpkin bread, but it is nice to know that there is a good dose of vegetables in that little biscuit. They are soft and flaky besides. Beat that. Oh, yeah and they taste really, really good.

Ask Chompy.

Ingredients

1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
1/3 cup buttermilk

Directions

In a large bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Cut in 1/2 cup butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Combine pumpkin and buttermilk; stir into crumb mixture just until moistened.
Turn onto a lightly floured surface; knead 8-10 times. Pat or roll out to 1-in. thickness; cut with a floured 2-1/2-in. biscuit cutter–the top of a mason jar works great. Place 1 in. apart on a greased baking sheet.
Bake at 425° for 18-22 minutes or until golden brown. Brush butter over biscuits. Serve warm.

Click HERE for all the Gracious Rain Holiday ideas in one convenient place!

So, in honor of this fabulous, unforgettable holiday I present to you this sweet napkin holder. Doesn’t it just look like a cob of Indian corn? It was actually really fun to make by myself, but it would be a wonderful project for the kids too. So if you find yourself up to your neck in pie dough and you need to keep your sweeties occupied, this could very well be just the activity you are looking for.

All you need is a bag of craft sticks–like popsicle sticks, paper tubes, random corn colored buttons and craft clue.

You simply put a stripe of glue on the stick…

and glue the buttons on—in any order that suites you. You can use red, brown, yellow, black, white, cream and orange.

I even used dark blue and purple ones here and there.

While the button sticks are drying–if you want to–you can paint the tube yellow or orange. It’s fine left the way it is–but I wondered if it would look better painted, so I gave mine a coat of orange acrylic.

Once you’ve glued the buttons to the sticks–then glue the sticks to the paper tubes.

Once they are dry and set–they are ready to pretty-up your Thanksgiving table.

And a very happy National Button Day–to you!

Click HERE for all the Gracious Rain Holiday ideas in one convenient place!

How wonderful it would be if we could help our children and grandchildren to learn thanksgiving at an early age. Thanksgiving opens the doors. It changes a child’s personality. A child is resentful, negative—or thankful. Thankful children want to give, they radiate happiness, they draw people.

– Sir John Templeton

——————————

Happy Birthday Mom…

…with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting. The kind that makes your eyes roll back in your head because you think you’ve expired and gone to Heaven.

I tried to resist. I did.

I tried to make something–anything–without pumpkin…

but it was to no avail. It’s just so dang fabulous.

When you taste these, I promise, you’ll forgive me. The original recipe can be found at  Taste of Home.

Ingredients

3/4 cup butter, softened
2-1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin
2-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 cup buttermilk
FROSTING:
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
4 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add pumpkin. Combine the flour, pie spice, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, baking soda and ginger; add to the creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk, beating well after each addition.

Fill paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths full. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.

For frosting, in a large bowl, beat cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Add the confectioners’ sugar, vanilla and cinnamon; beat until smooth. Frost cupcakes. Refrigerate leftovers. Yield: 2 dozen heavenly cupcakes.

Y.U.M.

Click HERE for all the Gracious Rain Holiday ideas in one convenient place!