Jackie Danicki

What a fabulous day: no alarm clock, a few hours of baking and cooking, and then dinner with Chris Yeh’s lovely family. It was a bit United Nations around the table: Chinese, Puerto Rican, and Polish, which made for a diverse spread, including Puerto Rican turkey, fried plantains, rice and beans, and traditional American Thanksgiving fare. The food worked out perfectly, without any coordination or communication between us: I made and brought a gluten-free, sugar-free cornbread stuffing and sugar-free cranberry sauce, then arrived to find that Chris’s wife had forgotten to do cranberry sauce and had decided that her stuffing recipe yielded far too much. I also brought a normal pumpkin pie and gluten-free, sugar-free chocolate walnut banana cake (I selfishly saved the sugar-free, gluten-free pumpkin pie for home). The sugar-free, gluten-free recipes are linked from the photos, and I highly recommend each one - for the holidays or any other time of year - if you’ve sworn off the white stuff or just want some more healthful options for your table.

Chris risked his smartypants credentials by partnering with me versus his wife and sister for a game of Pop 5. I’d never even heard of the game, but when it had me on my hands and knees, acting out Eye of the Tiger for Chris, I was totally sold. And that was just the first turn! I’ve rarely laughed so hard. Definitely not a game for people who are afraid to look stupid. (We won, of course, keeping Chris’s undefeated streak safe.)

So for what am I thankful? Far too much to list. But as I tweeted early on Thanksgiving morning, I am thankful for:

loyal and tolerant friends, amazing opportunities, knowing I don’t know everything, knowing I don’t have to know everything.

I’m also thankful for the passage of time, lessons learned, and the daily relief that comes with finding oneself on the other side of old prisons. It is truly glorious to be free. Thank you, God.

Filed under: Life