Celebrations of Gratitude on Thanksgiving

Gratitude at times is a struggle. And sometimes coming up with a new gratitude blog is difficult. But here it goes…

The truth is the past week was a day to celebrate gratitude in many ways. And Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.

Celebrations of Gratitude:

Getting to cook a Thanksgiving feast of fried turkey (Steve did that) and all the fixings.
Family gathering for a special day
Leftovers to enjoy and bypass cooking for a few days
Finding a new recipe for brussels sprouts
This year marks 40 years of being an RN and graduating from Oral Roberts University
And celebrating my 40^th wedding anniversary

The best part about being married for the long term is growing together and overcoming all those difficulties all marriages encounter. (Now I just kick my husband’s butt). Ha ha.

In all seriousness marriage is hard, but it gets easier after 40 years. We are still friends, enjoy each other’s company and have lots in common.

We’ve come a long way since those days of demanding our own way and Steve needing to be right about everything. (Me included 😊). The fact is, most of those things really don’t matter.

But we did seek help in difficult times. Counseling helped smooth things out, and I attended Al Anon for a few years. Al Anon is a support group for friends and families of alcoholics, and adult children of alcoholics. I did not have any active drinkers in my life, but it helped with other issues.

All that to say that being married takes commitment and work, but it’s worth it. Now we can celebrate good times and eat chocolate cake together.

Here’s the new recipe for brussels sprouts:

Roasted Brussels Sprouts Gruyère Gratin

Serves: 6-8 people Prep Time: 10 Minutes Cooking time 30 min

INGREDIENTS

1 tbsp (14g) unsalted butter (to grease the dish)
1.3 lbs (600g) Brussels sprouts, ends trimmed and cut in half
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp (30ml) Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 tbsp (14g) unsalted butter
1 medium onion, peeled and diced
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely diced
2-3 sprigs thyme, stemmed
2 tbsp (18g) all purpose flour
½ cup (130ml) heavy cream (35% m.f.)
1 cup (250ml) milk ( 2% or whole)
1/2 cup (50g) grated Gruyère cheese
1-2 tbsp bread crumbs

See link for recipe directions.