With Thanksgiving here, I always like to reflect on what I have to be thankful for.  I think of my faith, my family, our friends, our health, Tom’s job, our business, and the list goes on.  Probably the biggest thing on my mind this time of year is how blessed we truly are.

Everyone handles this time of year differently.  Some look forward to having a meal with family.  Some look forward to the infamous “Black Friday” to jump start their Christmas shopping.  Others just see it as time off from work or school.  But how often do we reflect on the blessings in our lives?

Tom and I had a pretty stressful year with the move, the apartment, Tom’s job, etc.  But he brought up a good point that I absolutely cannot argue with.  Our problems are virtually non-existent compared to those around us.

We recently went to dinner with some friends.  During the course of the evening, we found out that they’re going through some financial hardship.  In addition, they’re also taking care of her mom.  As I’m talking to the wife about what they’re going through, I never once heard a hint of resentment in her voice.  There was no anger, no pity, no wishing for this or that.  Despite what they’re going through, they’re still able to find joy in their lives.  The wife puts it in a way that summed up what I feel this season is all about “Yes, we’re broke and we’ve maxed our credit to get by, but we’re thankful because we have everything we need.”

We have everything we need.

Those words resonated with me.  How can I hear about what they’re going through (as well as others around us) and feel like I’m lacking anything?  I was immediately humbled.

Tom and I had an early Thanksgiving last weekend with my side of the family and tomorrow, we’re going to spend Thanksgiving with his family.  Just the thought that we have family to spend time with is a blessing because I know this is not a luxury that everyone may have. 

As ironic as it may sound, Thanksgiving is one of the few times where food doesn’t become the center of my focus.  Turkey?  Dressing?  Potatoes?  Big deal.  I can make that anytime.  No, during this time of year, I try to reflect on what I have, versus what I don’t have.  And when I look around me, I realize that Tom and I have a lot.

In fact, we have everything we need

We have recently moved into our new house. As I sit here and write, my mind constantly gets distracted by my bookcase of recipe books sitting five feet next to me. I’m not sure what was the cause (or better yet, what was the breaking point), but my desire to take my cooking to new elevations has skyrocketed. I like to blame it on the stove in our old apartment.

When Tom and I were looking for temporary housing, I did not consider whatsoever what kind of kitchen our apartment would need to have. In fact, I didn’t care. In my opinion, a great cook can cook out of a shoebox, if need be. Hence, my deciding factors on where to live focused more on location, apartment size, and of course, let’s not forget cost. If only I knew how much motivation my cooking would lack, I may have considered something different. I suppose in some ways, I felt flat on a culinary level.

The kitchen we ended up getting appeared, on the surface, sufficient enough. Granted, it was an electric stove with coils and all, but it worked. I suppose the thing that stood out most for me in that kitchen was the granite center island. It made the room look more, I suppose, “contemporary.” It didn’t take me long to figure out that contemporary look would not have enough “oomph” to keep my culinary hunger sustained. Over the course of the six months in our apartment, I felt (and I know Tom sure did) my culinary cuisines somewhat lacking. Sure, there were some great adventures here and there but not nearly to the level it can be. I was waiting until the day I could use my stove in our new house.

We decided on the Blue Star 36” Pro-Style gas range . This range has everything I needed: cast iron porcelain-enameled top burners with up to 22,000 BTUs, a gentle 130°F simmer burner as well as a convection oven that can hold full-size sheet pans. I lovingly named my new range Charlie.

However, day after day of packing, moving and then unpacking again left me with little energy to order take out, let alone getting to know Charlie. Every time I walked past my kitchen, I felt a sense of guilt as I saw Charlie staring at me with that chocolate brown face of his. (Did I mention that Blue Star ranges come in 190 color options?) I knew it would take a special meal to make up for this lack of attention I was giving to my culinary art.

And then it happened.

I was on my way to the grocery store to do some much needed grocery shopping. As I turned out of the driveway, I noticed some of our new neighbors lining up what appeared to be plastic duck decoys on a boat. As I looked closer, I realized those were not decoys, but freshly shot ducks from a hunting trip in North Dakota. I got out of the car and went to take a closer look. I was in awe as I watched the men quickly and efficiently clean the ducks. When one of them offered me some fresh duck breasts, I knew my eyes lit up.

The next night I decided to prep the duck breasts for dinner. While carefully plucking away the remaining feathers, deboning the breast, making an Asian dry rub and then a honey-chile glaze, I felt right in my element. As the duck breasts sizzled on Charlie’s burners, I suddenly felt alive again…