Thankful for Life’s Bounty

In a garden, there is no pretence. You can see what is growing (or not). The seeds and plants don’t fight the natural rhythm of the seasons. Change is the only truth, the only constant. Here the cycle of life plays out in perfect balance. In a garden, the only things that matter are what help plants thrive, and so sun, rain, and soil play their part. A garden is a place of constant renewal. How wonderful it would be if our lives contained that sort of balance, grace and simplicity. In my backyard garden, the flowers age gracefully, and each season brings its own beauty and colour. Decay is part of life. There is so much poetry in the orange poppies and delicate dill weeds. Mere words can’t describe the scents and sounds of a healthy garden. How can hope, elegance or humility be put into words? As I enter the comfort of middle age, I hope my life has some of the grace and beauty of a well-tended garden. I like to think my life’s garden is bursting with good intentions, healthy relationships, a loving family, well-being friends and an enduring legacy. In life’s harvest, we truly reap what we sow.

Being thankful for the garden and life’s bounty is what Thanksgiving is all about for me.
My first Thanksgiving meal was nearly 40 years ago with extended family in the Bay Area. It was a magical day filled with foods I’d never tasted before. There was wild rice (not really rice!), stuffing made with bread, mounds of mashed potatoes (different from south Indian masala potatoes), savoury vegetarian gravy, baked squash with a sprinkle of cinnamon, fresh rolls, green leafy vegetables with cream sauce and loads of desserts, including pumpkin pie made by the kids in our family. It was a day filled with easy camaraderie, stories and affection.
I loved this new holiday so much that it seemed natural to continue the celebration in my newly married life. The day was a perfect combination of good food, family and gratitude.
Now I was brought up on ritual and decorum. Feasts in India are based on centuries-old beliefs. You always served tangy Aviyal stew for an Onam feast, and sweet and savoury rice balls were mandatory on Ganesha Chaturthi.

But there was no south Indian game plan for celebrating Thanksgiving, and my husband’s childhood traditions didn’t quite fit our vegetarian lifestyle.
Over the years I have cooked all kinds of foods for Thanksgiving. One meal was all Indian with masala dosas, Indian flatbreads and vegetable stews. Another time, it was a huge lasagna with homemade noodles and sauce.

It took time to find that perfect meal to reflect my cooking and our own rituals. My mother-in-law shared her creamed onion recipe (years later it would be modified to include a light herbaceous béchamel sauce and roasted pearl onions). I remembered mashed potatoes from my first Thanksgiving feast. I experimented with adding roasted garlic, cauliflower and even malt vinegar for that salt and vinegar flavour. I tweaked gravy recipes until I found a hearty caramelized onion gravy we all liked.

Wild rice was mandatory and included chunks of succulent roasted squash and toasted nuts.
Herb-flecked asparagus timbales with béchamel sauce and parmesan-spiked bread crumbs became a family favourite, even a son who disliked asparagus managed to eat a timbale or two.
We had to have cranberry sauce. My friend Sandra had the perfect recipe, which included fresh cranberries, a whole orange and plenty of finely chopped toasted walnuts.
For dessert, along with traditional pumpkin pie, we added different baked goods such as black forest cake, apple pie, cherry pie or chocolate pecan pie with a touch of bourbon.
A funny thing happened over the years, my boys and husband loved all the food, but we discovered we liked being together even more. We found that gratitude and giving thanks was almost as satisfying as the savoury appetizer or slice of tart cherry pie with vanilla ice cream.

This year we are counting our blessings over spinach crepes with roasted red pepper sauce, roasted cabbage with walnuts and lemon and wild rice with pomegranates and pistachios.
The meal will be simple, and a little untraditional but the sentiment behind it will be the same.
Giving thanks never goes out of style.
Happy Thanksgiving!