On Being Thankful at Thanksgiving

In a strange way, this year's series of tough times (from high gas prices during the summer to our financial crisis) has made one even more sensitive to the ways that we are blessed. Somehow, you dig in and dig down. We'll make it through. In the meantime, we gather and express our gratitude for the good things - family, health, the opportunity to make things better.

Nationally, though challenged, we are grateful for the new opportunities a watershed election has brought. We wish our President-elect and our nation well.

Happy Thanksgiving, and may you similraly be guided by an authentic sense of thanks (and enjoy the turkey and football).

Here are some of our favorite Thanksgiving features that always manage to put us in the right mood for the day:

* Bob Edwards' Thanksgiving Fantasy Feast (NPR)
Getting ready for Thanksgiving and don't know what to make ?For every Thanksgiving from 1993 until he left NPR a couple of years back, through the miracle of audio editing, Morning Edition host Bob Edwards would create an annual tradition that brought together the creme de la creme of cookery for a fantasy holiday feast. Here is celebrity chef potluck sampling from 2003 featuring Julia Child, Maida Heatter, Paul Prudhomme and Wolfgang Puck -- and one would-be party crasher.This link includes a pair of recipes from the invited gourmet guests -- and a link to the party crasher's recipe.http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=857578



* Charles Kuralt on Thanksgiving In Prairie, Mississippi (You Tube/CBS News)
From You Tube - Originally from CBS News:Charles Kuralt tells the story of the homecoming of 9 children of Alex and Mary Chandler for parents' 50th wedding anniversary and Thanksgiving in 1978. The family remembers the old sharecropper's cabin and lifestyle. From humble beginnings, now all 9 children are college grads.Watch it and be thankful.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adsc6kW1Spk



*Susan Stamberg's Cranberry Relish Tradition (NPR)
From NPR News:Here's another Thanksgiving tradition, courtesy of NPR.Every year since 1971, NPR's Susan Stamberg has managed to sneak on the air her mother-in-law's recipe for cranberry relish. She's sprinkled it into dialogue from movies, tricked celebrities into reading it and even had it put to music. The Thanksgiving tradition continues.http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4175681Mama Stamberg's Cranberry Relish Recipe:http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4176014