giving thanks

i have many many blessings in my life and i am thankful Every day but the gathering of family on thanksgiving makes that last thursday in november such a special day. the abundance of wonderful food, the laughter around the table, and the anticipation of the winter months and the start of the holiday season. it seems as though the coming and going of thanksgiving turns the country from orange and brown to red and green! it's like little elves turn our world sparkly overnight. poof!

i like to focus on thanksgiving while it's still here. i believe that gratitude can transform many situations and i feel that children need to be reminded often to give thanks for what they have- especially during this season. i enjoy doing thanksgiving crafts with my daughter. if anything, it gives us alone time together and time to talk about all that we have and how we can help those who may need something. it also makes her feel good to have made something to put on the thanksgiving table. 

in years past, she did many turkey handprints as well as the pilgrim girl bonnets which i love. but last year she and i (mostly she) made a diarama of sorts of the first thanksgiving. out of playdough, she created all of the foods that were served. we then let them dry out over a few days. she made a tee pee out of patterned paper and twigs as well as a fire pit where she used small twigs and then squeezed red glitter glue for the smoldering fire. the beach where the mayflower arrived was made out of pebbles and painted water on plastic wrap. we bought the trees at a.c. moore. the piece survived our attic this year although i will have to modge podge the playdough food because it has cracked a bit.

this year she made a fun turkey bread basket for her nanny's table. we found the idea in family fun magazine. she used what we had in the house - which is always nice. the basket is made from a brown shopping bag turned inside out, the feathers are foam sheets, the head and wings are paper plates and the turkey wattle is a water balloon! 

a tradition around her is the annual baking of what we call the "maplestein pie." it's really just a crumb top apple pie. the name was coined the name a ways back when we were just us and living for a bit on the west coast in a divine little town, arcata, california. (a place i will definitely have to blog about one day - our goal is to visit this coming summer) that thanksgiving was a memorable one - the first away from our families, a "tofurkey" in attendance and the first pie my husband ever baked. every year since he is asked to bake that pie which is sooooo yummy. i will post some maplestein pics in a few days so you can see how scrumptious it is but in the mean time, here is the recipe which is quite simple:

maplestein apple pie

this yields 2 pies because the pie crusts usually come in twos.

about 9 baking apples (varied is better)

1 1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup flour, unbleached

1 tspn. cinnamon

8-9 inch frozen pie crust (thawed)

crumb top:

2 cup flour, unbleached

1 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar (packed)

* use organic ingredients whenever possible

preheat oven to 425 degrees. use an oven thermometer if needed.

peel and core apples. slice into 1 inch size chunks. put into a large bowl. add sugar, flour and cinnamon (to bowl of apples. thoroughly mix until all apples are coated and mixture is moist. pour apple mixture into pie crusts.

in a separate bowl, combine crumb top ingredients. using your fingers, blend until crumbs form. evenly distribute the crumb topping on top of the apple mixture completely covering.

bake for about 30 minutes. check to make sure that the top of the pie isn’t burning. the top should be a nice brown. cover with aluminum foil and bake for another 20 minutes.

serve with vanilla ice cream of course!

eden likes to help her daddy peel the apples and mix the ingredients. i few years back i came across this book and had to buy it for her. it's called "the apple pie that papa baked." i think it has become part of the routine to read this book around this time.

happy thanksgiving!