Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to everybody ... our beloved family, friends, all those who stepped through the door of  Afternoon Tea, and whose paths have crossed ours at some point throughout the years.

We are so thankful that we had an opportunity to serve, to reach out to the community, and meet so many people, doing what we enjoyed best ... baking delicious treats for our family and yours!  And we are extremely grateful for all the blessings in our lives.

This year, Thanksgiving is a little different around here.  Every year, Ana and her daughters, and my mom and I, cook up a storm of everybody's favorite dishes for the big feast.  Not this year!  This time around, Ana's daughter, Natalie, decided she wanted to cook the entire meal herself in order to inaugurate her new home!

She and her husband bought their beautiful new house back in May, and have completely renovated it to "showplace" condition.  They have put a lot of elbow grease and sweat equity into their place, and are ready to celebrate the year's accomplishments with a fabulous celebration.

Of course, both of Ana's daughters are very skilled cooks and bakers, in their own right, so we're looking forward to a fabulous feast made in Natalie's brand new kitchen!  But this is definitely a new experience for Ana and I ... not making a single thing for Thanksgiving.  I was probably 5 years old the last time I did that!

But since it's hard for me to stay out of the kitchen, I did decide to start Thanksgiving Day off right with some extremely moist and flavorful Pumpkin-Chocolate Chip muffins.  They were just the perfect thing on a Holiday morning to go with my Pumpkin Spice coffee!

Think I'll pack up the rest to share with friends and neighbors ... it seems like just the right thing to do on a leisurely, beautiful morning here in Colorado, on a day when I am home relaxing and particularly aware of how much I have to be grateful for.

Happy Thanksgiving to one and all!