The Thanksgiving Post
my favorite vibes
I love waking up on Thanksgiving knowing that I’ll spend most of the day in my PJs, hanging out in the kitchen cooking with my family, watching the parade in the background, and gearing up to eat everything in sight. There’s nothing better.
One of my closest friends is siblings with my brother’s best friend, and they both joined us for Thanksgiving instead of flying down to Florida to be with their parents. At my house, anyone who eats dinner with us is family. I’ve known my friend Mack since 6th grade, when they introduced me to the concept of overstaying one’s welcome after a playdate that kept getting extended. If not for Mack and their concern of being an imposition, I might still not know that welcomes could be overstayed. I feel so grateful to have grown up in a family where a person’s presence is always a joy - and I think that is due in large part to how much we love to cook.
In recent years, my brother and I took over most of the cooking from my mom, and we always try to out-chef our menus from last year. At this point, I think some of our non-traditional dishes have come to be expected at the Thanksgiving table. Some highlights include apple cider sangria; habanero-cranberry sauce; butternut squash and leek latkes; a savory pie filled with maple roasted butternut squash, ricotta, and chili oil; and my brother’s wildly popular pumpkin swirl cheesecake with blueberry caramel. And since Mack is vegan, I tried a new recipe for a vegan pumpkin tiramisu, which was approved even by the non-vegans. We recreated (almost) the whole feast on Saturday for a Thanksgiving part II so we could see all the family members who had other plans on Thursday.
Six months ago, the idea of Seeds to Smiles was itself just a seed, one that I at first refused to water. I was immobilized by the unknown - what if I watered it and it didn’t grow? What if I was the only one who ever believed it would grow? What if it did grow and I didn’t know how to handle it? Eventually, I realized that Seeds to Smiles was one of Those Things - something that I am meant to do because it scares me as much as it excites me. As soon as I get that feeling, as much as I might not welcome it, The Thing becomes inevitable, because turning down one of Those Things is the easiest way to hold myself back from my fullest potential.
Reflecting back on the past five months, I often feel like I haven’t done all that much yet. Like I’m standing at the bottom of a mountain wondering at which point along the path I can even think about the word “success,” like all I did was park the car and study the trail map. But my dad reminded me last week while I was home that it’s important to look back and credit myself for all I’ve done so far. Six months ago, Seeds to Smiles did not exist. And now, I have a logo, a website, business cards, a whiteboard with color-coded charts to track my goals, and several promising leads. Plus the support of everyone I know. I am so grateful to all of you for following along and not thinking I’m crazy - or if you do think I’m crazy, for keeping that to yourselves.
Three more things:
My dental hygienist asked about my job today, and when I told her about the company, she asked me what advice I would give to someone building their first garden. I told her to prioritize succession planting and growing in the shoulder seasons to maximize yield. And I told her to put a chair somewhere in it (advice I borrowed from Jess at Roots and Refuge Farm).
I recently heard from an old friend from college out of the blue, who works for the government and was kind of bummed to have to return to a 9-5 job in an office building after the shutdown ended. He wanted to daydream about homesteading, and I was eager to answer all his farming questions. Hi, Alex! Welcome to the newsletter, I’m so happy you’re here.
Does anyone know if black bears are a threat to vegetable gardens? Asking for a friend…
I hope you all had a wonderfully cozy Thanksgiving. I hope you ate some of your favorite foods surrounded by your favorite people. And I hope you all have something that feels like light in your life as we head into these darkest few weeks of the year.
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