Hello friends, 

Hope this post finds you feeling warm and fuzzy from a fabulous Thanksgiving with family and friends. Mine was wonderful; surrounded by family and friends and a table overflowing with lovingly prepared food.

I am blessed to belong to a family who loves to cook and bake. From garden to table, I have learned from the best. I remember helping my Mama pick tomatoes, okra and blackeyed peas from the garden when I was barely old enough to carry the basket. What wonderful memories I have of working with her as she tended her garden. Row after row we gathered the bounty of her garden, then home we would go to begin the preparations for lunch and dinner. My brother and sister, cousins and I would sit on the front porch shelling peas until our fingers became purple. Some of you will smile with a memory similar to this one...remembering that shelling purple hull peas will turn your fingers purple :)

What glorious food my Mama would prepare...chicken fried steak, fried okra, fried green tomatoes, blackeyed peas and cornbread...oh, and sweet tea!!! Yum! I could hardly wait for the next meal! I can smell the orka and cornbread cooking now ;)

What delicious memories I have of the meals lovingly prepared by my Mama :) and what a grand appreciation for the art of preparing food for my family and friends I have been blessed to receive.

With that thought, I want to share with you one of my personal Thanksgiving traditions. Every year, a few weeks before Thanksgiving, with a Starbuck's decaf, two pump, pumpkin spice nonfat, no whip latte in hand, I head to the magazine section of my local Barnes and Noble. I scour my favorite magazines like Country Living, Country Home, Southern Living and Traditional Home for the best of holiday recipes. I may sit with my latte in hand for several hours savoring every page of every magazine. I plan my Thanksgiving meal according to the recipes that inspire me. One from here, one from there; until I have put together a meal that makes me smile. A meal that I know will bless the hearts of those that I serve, a meal that will make them smile too. 

It's a simple personal tradition, one that I havent shared until now. But one that I treasure and find myself repeating every year because I love the result of the time spent. I love that taking time for myself doing something that I love wll result in making others happy too!

Today I would like to take my personal tradition one step further and share it with each of you :) For the next few days, I will be sharing the recipes with you that I prepared on Thanksgiving day for my family and friends. I will share with you my favorites, my not so favorites and why. I will also share with you my suggestions, corrections and additions if any. Hope you enjoy them as much as I have!

The first recipe that I want to share with you is a Sparkling Winter Sangria. This recipe is from Country Living and it's deliciously refreshing. As my guests arrive, the gentlemen wonder outside to assist my hubby frying the turkeys and baking the ham(my hubby has his own kitchen out in his barn(the man cave)) and the ladies gather around my kitchen island where we begin pulling together all the pieces of the meal. This year was extra special as both of my daughters were old enough to WANT to help. My oldest daughter, home from college, even brought her own recipes from Pinterest, how cute is that! We enjoyed shopping together the day before...so much fun!

Pulling together the meal is so much fun and such a great time to catch up with everyone. My niece volunteered for preparation of the Sangria and she did a FABULOUS job! The Sangria was a hit!

Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!!!

• 1 cup(s) St-Germain Liqueur
• 1/2 cup(s) Superfine Sugar - I would recommend a little more sugar be added. Use 3/4 cup rather than 1/2 cup as I thought it was quite tart without it. 
• 3/4 cup(s) Green Grapes, halved
• 2 Tangerines, thinly sliced
• 1/2 small Ruby Red Grapefruit, quartered then thinly sliced
• 2 bottle(s) (750 milliliters each) Prosecco, chilled

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, combine St-Germain liqueur and superfine sugar; whisk together until sugar dissolves. Add green grapes, tangerines, and ruby red grapefruit; toss to combine.
2. Refrigerate until chilled, 30 minutes or up to 3 hours.(the longer the better). Mash the fruit slightly to release the flavors into the syrup.To serve, spoon some fruit and about 1 tablespoon liquid into each glass(We used two tablespoons). Divide 2 bottles chilled prosecco among glasses. 200 calories per serving.

This is a wonderful recipe and I am so happy to share it with all of you. Hope you love it!

Warmly,

Kim