Giving As A Part Of Thanks

As in years past, I took part is some volunteer work this week.

Some years I spent serving food to those in need. If you ever think you've got it bad, go to a homeless shelter and help with Thanksgiving dinner sometime. The first time I did it made me drastically re-evaluate my spot in life.

This year was much more low impact than that.

Yesterday I helped a friend and his group assemble Thanksgiving food boxes for the elderly and needy. A wise man once pointed to me that, "People aren't just hungry two days a year.". That is very true. A turkey and the fixings for Thanksgiving (and Christmas) are not the panacea for all society's problems. However, the act of human kindness may offer up a glimmer of hope.

There is no price one can lay on "hope".

Each box came with a frozen turkey, box of stuffing, cranberry sauce, corn, green beans, turkey gravy, a bag of russet and sweet potatoes, a pound of butter, a dozen bake and eat dinner rolls, and a freshly baked pumpkin pie.

It took us about an hour to get everything assembled. That left plenty of time in case there were any last minute additions from the local Visiting Nurses.

As it turned out, we ended up getting a late last minute addition.

All we had to do after this was wait for the delivery folks.

In this case, it was a group of volunteers from the local high school headed up by an old teacher of mine.

It was really inspiring to watch these young people work together. With some guidance from their teacher, they had all 45 deliveries divided and their routes planned out.

Yesterday was a God awful, raw and rainy day. It would have been easy for some not to honor their commitment. They all showed and were excited to help.

It was really good to see.

With the meals the Visiting Nurses handed out the day before from their offices, more than 120 families were taken care of this week.

We'll do it all again come Christmas.

NOTE: If any of my Memphis friends care to make a donation, hit me up on email. I'll provide you the information to ensure the money gets into the right hands.  - ATM

After I got home I had to figure out dinner.

What's better on a raw, rainy day than a nice chicken dish?

Saute a bunch of garlic toes.

Take a 1.5l bottle of dry white wine and 32 ounces of chicken stock.

Brown six cubed boneless, skinless chicken breasts in olive oil. Add garlic. Add 8 ounces chicken stock and 8 ounces of wine. Add 1 teaspoon of dried thyme, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper.Want to make it spicy, add 1 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes. Cook until almost dry. Deglaze the pan using the 8 and 8 combo of liquids until the chicken stock is used up. Then, do it one more time using 8 ounces of wine only. The garlic toes will break down into a deep brown sauce.

Something like this.

Serve over rice or orzo and with a nice green salad or vegetable.

I think you folks will like this one.

Time to tear up the kitchen in preparation for tomorrow.

Have a happy Thanksgiving, one and all.

Until the next time, all y'all take care of yourselves.

Air Traffic Mike, ret.