Thankful? You bet!
Orange Cranberry Relish
Being a vegetarian, the turkey thing is not exactly my idea of Thanksgiving. What the holiday does bring is the run-up to my annual heathenish/Jewish/I love Christmas anyway month of reflection on why, with a nod to Lou Gehrig, I am the “luckiest” person “on the face of the earth.”
I could start with the blessings of an amazing daughter and fabulous husband — or that I even have the opportunity to wake up each day with enough food to eat, the ability to work, hot running water, and an iPad, iPhone and Macbook to play with.
The point being that whatever sorrows and triumphs I may experience over the course of a day, a week or what has become the sum total of my lifetime, the process of saying “thank you” to the folks who make those experiences possible is one that requires more than just a day to sit back, overeat and watch football. Rather the point of it all is to live in a realm of “thank you,” where common courtesies, extending oneself to others even when one doesn’t have to, and otherwise being mindful of the other seven billion on the planet is a way of life.
So if I haven’t said so lately, thank you to all the friends who have extended themselves to me by reading Girlboxing. You’ve all made it a place where I feel comfortable enough to jot down my thoughts and opine to my heart’s content on the little things and big things that have meaning to me. Most importantly, you’ve all helped to expand my world and my way of thinking — something that has been an incalculable gift.
Please also accept my best wishes for a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!
Orange Cranberry Relish
(1) 12 oz. package fresh cranberries
(1) cup sugar
(1) navel orange
Grated orange peel from one orange
(2) – (3) cups orange juice
Rinse and pick over the cranberries.
Place in a heavy 2 – 3 quart saucepan, and cover with orange juice under medium flame.
Add in sugar and grated orange peel.
Bring to a boil and stir occasionally. (You should be attentive at the stove as the cranberries will start to pop.)
Reduce flame and simmer for about 40 minutes or until mixture reduces and thickens, stir occasionally throughout.
Place in a festive bowl and allow to set and cool (about an hour or so).
Cover tightly with plastic wrap before refrigerating. Will keep for three – four days.
Girlboxing 
Happy Thanksgiving, GB. I, too, am thankful for the friends I’ve met through blogging, and I count you as one of them.
Thank you Margaret, all the best to you and your family! And yes – I count you as the same. Blogging has truly enriched my life.
I have LOVED getting to know you and Amy and Margaret. It seems quite odd to me that we’ve never met! My how the internet has changed things, hmm?
Btw, your cranberry orange relish looks delish!
For our “feast” we ate trail food on top of a mountain. It was about 65 degrees, sunny, and absolutely wonderful to be dining out of our backpacks at 4 thousand feet in the Sauratown Range. We could see the Blue Ridge Mountains in the distance…! Yay for peanuts, dried cherries and M&Ms!
Thanks so much Lisa! And I know what you mean — who knew a “virtual” world could have so much meaning. It truly shows the power of words. As for your thanksgiving feast — what a wonderful concept and no better way to share than through that kind of experience! That is truly inspirational!