Happy Thanksgiving

Can you believe it? I didn't get a picture of our Thanksgiving dinner. Wow, I'm slacking. You'll have to imagine it. Just 4 of us this year. Me, Danny, Yeshi and Gloria, Danny's mom. This year I got smart and made just about everything ahead of time. On Monday I made all the potatoes and put them in foil pans in the freezer. Tuesday I made Cranberry dressing, Chocolate chip pumpkin bread and green beans. Cranberry dressing was really yummy - we usually don't have it but the recipe I used called for cloves, nutmeg and pineapple tidbits. Sounded good and it was. For the green beans I put fresh green beans in one of those ziploc steamer bags along with garlic, oregano and butter. Wednesday Kristjan baked The Cookies and I iced them. Gloria made cornbread stuffing so the only thing we had to do yesterday was cook the turkey, make gravy and warm everything else in the oven or microwave. Even the dishes weren't bad since I had used some of the foil pans and since we didn't have all the prep dishes to wash. Nice. We got to spend most of our time doing what's really important....watch football! Since I don't have a family picture for you here are some nature pictures from one of my recent walks around the neighborhood.

 

Fall Colors

As you may have guessed, South Carolina is not known for a spectacular display of fall foliage. At least not the New England variety. Here we do have a unique fall color - PINK. This is sweetgrass. Our area is famous for sweetgrass basketry. All along route 17 (which is called Sweetgrass basket makers highway) you can see stands where baskets are sold. Usually with the proprietor sitting there working on another one. The grass is ideal for basket-making. The blades are smooth and round rather than flat like most grasses. And in the fall the grass blooms a lovely bright pink. 

Here is a woman weaving sweetgrass baskets at the open air market in Charleston. This art has been passed down for centuries in families of African descent. Baskets like these were made by West Africans who continued their art after being brought to the lowcountry as slaves.  

Sweetgrass Basket History