Pumpkin Pies with a Dash of Nostalgia

It's the day before Thanksgiving and I've been given the responsibility of baking the pumpkin pies this year! Quite a big responsibility since it is my favorite Thanksgiving dessert! If the pumpkin pie isn't just right, Thanksgiving just isn't the same in my book. I've had the ingredients in my pantry for about a week now and have been looking forward to a day of baking for a while now. I woke up today with a list of things to do outside of the kitchen. Once I got home from errands I ran straight to the kitchen, turned the stove on so that the mulling spices I bought from William Sonoma last year would fill the house with a holiday smell, tuned the radio to one of the TWO stations in Greenville playing Christmas music and started baking! I've never made a pumpkin pie before so I just decided to use the recipe from the label of the canned pumpkin that I got. They look good...I hope they taste as good as they look!

What is it about smells that bring back memories? All day, I've gone through a wave of vivid memories of my mom in the kitchen at Thanksgiving time baking and cooking while dad is outside grilling the turkey. I stand in awe of how she was able to put so much on the table at once when it's taken me the better part of a day to bake just 2 pies!

I hope that wherever you are this Thanksgiving, you are with those you love and are thankful for the blessings that surround you. I am blessed to have the most incredible family and friends anyone could ask for. The longer I stay in this kitchen with the smells and tastes and sounds of the holidays surrounding me, I think of my family, grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles, brothers, mom and dad, friends and doggies and seriously can't think of anyone else who could be more blessed than me. I am grateful to have every single one of you in my life. Happy Thanksgiving!