Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good;
Blessed is the man who trusts in Him! Psalm 34:8 (NKJV)
If ever there was a good time to “taste and see” that the Lord is good, it must be Thanksgiving. Taste buds are tempted with a tantalizing table of treats this time of the year. And for these gifts, we give the Lord thanks! For every good and perfect gift (especially our food) comes from above!
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. James 1:17 (NKJV)
What are you having for Thanksgiving this year? I pray that you are surrounded by loved ones and yummy things to eat! I know some may be struggling financially this year, with job lay-offs and high grocery bills. I pray someone delivers a casserole and pumpkin pie to your door! Our family is still homeless, but we do have a place to stay and food for the table and children coming “home,” so for that we are very thankful! And while we might want to be sad about this or that, Jesus tells me, “You give them something to eat!”
But He said to them, “You give them something to eat.” Luke 9:13 (NKJV)
And so I set my moldy brain to work on a little plan and divide up the menu and who is helping with what, and soon we have a scrumptious dinner, feasting like children of the King of kings in our borrowed cabin. Yes, the Lord is gracious!
If indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. 1 Peter 2:3 (NKJV)
I love how Jesus always promises to feed us. Isaiah promises that He feeds us like a shepherd, for He is our Good Shepherd. And if this is a sad Thanksgiving for you, He is also carrying you in His arms. For the Lord has comforted His people, And will have mercy on His afflicted (Isaiah 49:13). And for the young families with little ones, He is gently leading us, too!
He will feed His flock like a shepherd;
He will gather the lambs with His arm,
And carry them in His bosom,
And gently lead those who are with young. Isaiah 40:11 (NKJV)
I was reminded of a few sad Thanksgivings lately. November 25, 2024 marked the 39th anniversary of the plane crash that took my college cross country team. Thanksgiving that year was a time of grieving. The other night we were driving home late after spending the day in the emergency room with my husband who thankfully only had vertigo, not a stroke. In the last few miles before our cabin, I hit ice on a bridge and spun our truck around and around before landing at the edge. Just two years after that plane crash, I had a similar accident with my parents’ car on my way home from a Thanksgiving gathering. May Jesus’ angels keep charge over all your loved ones this holiday season!
There have been happy Thanksgivings, too. I remember 1998 when my family all gathered at our church camp in Iowa. After the meal we had a talent show with my parents performing their famous skit of “Mabel and the Chewing Gum.” I remember 2006 when we were on a mission to Mississippi to help with rebuilding from Hurricane Katrina. We served a Thanksgiving dinner at a soup kitchen that day. I remember 2017 was the last Thanksgiving with my Daddy before he went to heaven. He was so thankful to have the family together. And in 2000, during the covid year, we spent Thanksgiving with Kennedy when she had cancer. And now she is a healthy third grader! Yes, there is always something for which to be thankful.
The first part of My TEA CUPP is T for Thanksgiving where we enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise (Psalm 100:4). How about if we all do that this Thanksgiving: Cut maples leaves from orange construction paper. Invite everyone to write and share blessings on the leaves. Then make a Thanksgiving wreath and pray 1 Chronicles 16 or a Psalm of thanks.
Today’s TEA CUPP: Let’s count our blessings instead of our bad days. Let’s count His praises instead of our pains. Let’s count our loved ones instead of our lack. And whatever you have on the table, taste and see that the Lord is good!
Here are a few of our Thanksgiving favorites:
Give us day by day our daily bread. Luke 11:3 (NKJV)
Scripture from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
When ready to bake cookies, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove gingerbread dough from fridge and let sit on counter while oven is preheating. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside. Use extra tapioca flour to flour a cutting board lightly. Scoop part of the dough onto your prepared cutting board. Roll out the dough with a rolling pin to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut out your favorite Christmas shapes. Use a metal pancake turner to lift the cookies from the cutting board to the parchment paper pans. When the pans are full, bake for 5-8 minutes, or until done. Cool on cooling racks. Decorate with your favorite frosting and sprinkles. (We mix 2 T. coconut oil, 2 cups powder monk fruit, a teaspoon of vanilla and enough almond/goat milk to make a fine frosting). Merry Christmas!!!
Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving;
To make this a festive Thanksgiving dish, instead of serving in a casserole dish, serve it in a pumpkin! You will have to pre-bake the pumpkin. Here’s how: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Choose a small to medium pumpkin and wash thoroughly. Cut off the top and scoop out the insides. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and turn the pumpkin upside down onto the paper. Bake the pumpkin for at least an hour, until the inside seems tender. Don’t bake too long, or it will collapse (that’s what happened to mine this year, so I don’t have a final photo for you 😕 ). Remove from oven and place upright on a fresh lined pan or oiled casserole dish. Layer the rice con queso ingredients and bake as described above. It’s an amazing treat for Thanksgiving!
Cream coconut oil, Earth Balance butter and sugar together. Add eggs and vanilla, mixing well. In another bowl combine the dry ingredients: flour, guar gum, and salt (I used 3 1/2 cups brown rice flour and 1 1/2 cups tapioca flour). Add dry ingredients to coconut oil mixture, stirring until it is well combined. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let chill in the refrigerator 4 hours or overnight.
I love to have a Christmas theme with our holiday meals. This Christmas Eve we will have Shepherd’s Pie and Angel Food Cake! You can’t beat that for sharing the Greatest Story while enjoying a family meal. We will talk about how the shepherds were just sitting in their field, talking and watching their sheep as they did every night since they could remember. When, boom, up in the sky appeared an angel, proclaiming to them:
Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the 
Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? Luke 14:34 (NKJV)
It’s time to make holiday treats again! If you’re like me, you are eager to try new recipes. But often that is tricky if you need to make gluten-free and dairy-free confections. My friend Anna served these at a gathering for homeschool moms this fall. She had a bowl full of them in her fridge. They are so tasty, I don’t think a bowl would last very long in my fridge!
My kids have been asking for these recipes, so I thought I would put them here where all of us can easily find them! Our favorite pumpkin pie recipe came from an old church cookbook that had half a dozen pumpkin pie recipes. I finally starred the one I liked best. Our favorite pecan pie recipe came from the Joy of Cooking recipe book we were given at our wedding over 28 years ago! Both recipes have been adapted to be gluten-free and dairy-free. Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas pies!
