We cooked for two days. Ruth , Susie, and I did our usual "day before Thanksgiving" cooking marathon.

It's a good thing we cooked so much because a whole bunch of hungry people showed up.

As the time of feasting approached everyone took their usual preparatory places. Barry carved the turkey.

Larry mashed the potatoes.

Ruth made her famous pies.

 Our feast is a labor of love. Of course we have the usual Thanksgiving fare of turkey, mash potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce etc. and then we have the unusual fare of grape leaves, spinach pies, and tabbouli. All of the last three dishes take loads of time to make but it wouldn't be Thanksgiving without them.

Now there is a little story within a story here. Every year since the kids were really little I've made grape leaves. Little miss Z loves loves loves her grape leaves and I always have to make double the amount just to make sure everyone has a chance at getting some. It's a very labor intensive process but I do it because everyone loves them so much.

My sweet girl gets completely giddy upon seeing these grape leaves.

It's a wonderful feeling to make someone this happy. The mere fact that there were grape leaves on this table made her day. She could completely forgo anything else but these grape leaves.

It was a lovely feast among family and friends. If you ask my family, they will tell you that this is one of their favorite holidays of the year. I hope and wish that you and your families had a wonderful holiday. For those of you, my friends, who weren't celebrating this day, I wish many wonderful things to be thankful for.