Today I am thankful …
that I didn’t go out into the madness! 
I am also thankful that we have had two nice days in a row of visiting family.
Yesterday, we had dinner with dh’s father and stepmother. Smom and I each made complete meals. She cooked the turkey, made sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes (dairy filled), rolls (glutenous), corn, and pecan pie (glutenous and eggy). I roasted a pork loin, dh made mashed potatoes (dairy free), the Little Guy helped me make Mexican Bean Salsa Salad (free of gluten, birds and their byproducts, milk, soy, and canola and rapeseed oils), and GFCFEFSF pumpkin pie (for the flour, I used extra virgin olive oil instead of light olive oil – not sure what the difference is, sorghum flour instead of buckwheat flour , and Thai Kitchen’s full fatted coconut milk instead of hemp milk, which I had never heard of until this recipe).
The pork turned out okay, the mashed potatoes not so good, the MBSS turned out nice except that I forgot to buy cilantro , which was sorely missed, and the pumpkin pie was great!
If you followed the link, you probably saw that the pie was made without a crust. It was easy to get out of the pie plate and tasted very good considering it is full of substitutes to make it pumpkin pie like. It actually tasted like pumpkin, wasn’t sludgy, and didn’t look like something I probably didn’t want to eat. I will add more spices to it next time – and there will be a next time – because it seemed like maybe it could’ve used a little something more, flavor wise, but not much.
I’ve recently made a discovery that makes me feel a little sad. It seems that my husband is losing or has lost the ability to taste simple things. 
I’ve been doing a lot of cooking over the past couple of weeks, and have not been able to please him without really dumping in the salt and spices. The boys and I have have really liked a few of the things, but he doesn’t and asks if I have considered adding some salt or pepper or other spices. WITW??? The Little Guy, Mr. Somewhat Picky, was raving over a bowl of steaming hot vegetable beef soup, while The Mister thought it tasted like veggies, beef and water, which I can assure you it was not, and yet how sad that he doesn’t seem to be able to taste the natural flavors of the vegetables!
My stomach has been really bothering me for the last few days, and I think it’s because I have added so much extra pepper and other spices so that he can taste something. In the future, I will make a separate concoction for him so the rest of us don’t have to suffer from burnt innards. In the meantime, I’ve got to search for answers about taste bud health. 8-|
Today, we had dinner with my sister’s family, but this time, we weren’t the only people dealing with food sensitivities. My Mom has discovered that she is at least gluten intolerant, so we worked out the menu so that it would be as everybody friendly as possible. Still, certain staples were required which some of us simply had to avoid. There was turkey, pork, fresh veggies and dip, pickles, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes and gravy, rolls, fruit salad, MBSS, two kinds of pumpkin pie (one GFCFEFSF), one me-friendly blueberry pie, one pecan pie, and one spectacular fruit crisp dessert that I wung which turned out, well, spectacular! I’ll have to make it again and write down what I did, but the two main flavors are pumpkin and apple, and it was delicious!
We did not lack for food, and I am thankful to God for providing so much variety in nature so that those of us with a lengthy “Stuff to Avoid” list can enjoy tasty food, too!
I am also thankful to have had the opportunity to spend time with my family. I haven’t seen my in-laws or my side of the family much at all lately, so it was nice to slow down and have some time with them. You know, as much as God has shown himself faithful lately, I still worried about a couple of things and cast a shadow over some of the festivities. I feel bad that I didn’t let the things go and spend more time concentrating on how I could be a blessing to them. Both sides of our family are having their own difficulties. We had a good time both days, really, we did, but I could cry over one of the things I wish I could’ve done, but God knows about that situation, and thinking it over, I know that He would’ve impressed a thing upon my heart if He had wanted me to do something about it. I guess I can take comfort in that. I shall take comfort in that.
I don’t mean to end on a downer. Difficult things happen, but God is still faithful, and I don’t mean to whine away every bit of thanks I’ve expressed. It has been a pleasant week, and I am thankful for it and all that it brought our way. And I am especially thankful that I did not join in the shopping madness! 
I Corinthians 15:56,57
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
