The Amish Cook: Thanksgiving Blessings, Amish Pecan Pie, and Homemade Chili

AMISH PECAN PIE

THE AMISH COOK

BY DORCAS RABER (Gloria's Mom)

Greetings of love and cheer to everyone from our home to yours.  It is Thanksgiving morning! Our house is very quiet right now. All I hear is the clock ticking and the coffee perking. A fresh layer of snow covers everything outside.  Thanksgiving Day reminds us to be thankful for all our blessings. This morning I am also thankful that God can bring beauty and blessings out of the hard times in life.  Life is real as you know and sometimes we face "bumps" and things that aren't so pleasant. Yet God uses those times to make us aware of our need for Him and He specializes at being there for us and giving us peace. Praise His Name on this beautiful Thanksgiving Day!

I am filling in for Gloria this week. Daniel's sister Mary had been helping them out for several weeks which was so nice. How she worked! Plus she helped with Julia and Austin, too. Austin looks more and more like his big sister Julia. On Tuesday Daniel and Mary traveled to Ohio and surprised Daniel's parents. They are planning to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner with them yet before returning home. Gloria has been enjoying cards and notes from her column readers. One of the blessings I'm thankful for right now is the blessing of friends and relationships not only for friends and family around us but for those who touch our lives at one time or the other like you have been touching Daniel and Gloria's lives. It seems we ladies especially thrive on relationships. One of my sisters told me recently that the ladies of their church gathered at her house for breakfast. Not only did they enjoy breakfast together, they also had a time of sharing. She said: "We laughed together and we shed tears together." I have a feeling every lady  went home being blessed and refreshed.

My parents who live 400 miles away in Ohio are planning to come to our home for the weekend.  So I've been cleaning, planning menus and fixing food. For one meal we want our married children to come home and spend time together as a family with my parents here. Daughter in law Regina is preparing another meal for  "Ohio Grandpas",  David and I, and our 4 children at home yet.  That reminds me of another thing I am thankful for on this Thanksgiving Day: our wonderful in-law children.  They mean so much to David and I!

Tonight some of David's family are gathering together at his parents home for an early supper, hen and evening of fellowship and games. It will be more of a "lite" meal of soup and breadsticks. And vegetables and dip topped off with Grandma's pies.

I am making a bowl of chili today to take along tonight.  I found a chili recipe that I just love. It has detailed instructions including exact amounts of seasonings to put in which makes it so handy to stir together. I use venison instead of hamburger. Our freezer wouldn't even "recognize" hamburger.  It's not that I wouldn't prefer hamburger (I do) but with all the venison and turkey meat we have I don't need to buy hamburger.

I want to share Grandma's pecan pie recipe. It's the recipe we used for Daniel and Gloria's wedding meal.

Also, here is the chili recipe that I like so well: