I like your moxie, Sassafras

Happy Thanksgiving!

I was going to make a list of everything I'm grateful for, but the truth is I am so full of gratitude for so many things it would take a really long time and I've got STUFF TO DO, including making:

Cranberry, Cherry, and Walnut Chutney:

1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1/2 cup port or other sweet red wine
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 cup dried tart cherries
1 (12 oz) package fresh cranberries
2/3 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
1/2 teaspoon grated orange rind
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
Orange rind strips (optional)

1. Combine first 4 ingredients in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil. Add cherries, and cook 1 minute. Stir in cranberries; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes until cranberries pop. Remove from heat. Stir in walnuts, grated rind, and extract. Garnish with orange rind strips, if desired. Cover and chill.

This is really good and it goes together very fast. It's also delicious in turkey sandwiches later on!

AS I WAS SAYING. Here's a small sampling of things I'm grateful for today:

Pie: I can't elaborate or I'd be here all day. But, you know, PIE.

Pushing Daisies: (from whence I took the title of this post -- moxie sassafrass was directed at Chuck (aka: Lonely Tourist Charlotte Charles) last night by an octogenarian billionaire stuck in a chandelier, undead for one minute.) (!!!!) My thanksgiving wish is that this kind of zippy banter stages a comeback, along with "I like the cut of your jib!" (used by (among others) Monty Burns, another ancient fictional billionaire.) I don't know why they make me laugh so hard with their moxie, lime rickeys and 23 skidoos, but they do!! (I am also inordinately fond of Variety Speak, even though it is 2/3 unintelligible to me -- I think a lot of it is of the same sidecar-swilling era.)

Frankenstein: Without which I probably wouldn't be calling the cats FIEND! (Busby) and VILE CREATURE! (Dash) all the time. These names really suit them. Of course the novel was great for a million other reasons, but that's the one I'm thinking of today.

the exclamation point: I know I abuse it as a mark of punctuation, but I swear to you they appear in little thought balloons over my head all the time.

Everyone in the world who has ever made me smile or made me think: there are a lot of these people, many of whom don't even know it. But I know, and I'm enormously grateful! (example: THANK YOU, girl in the bright green coat with purple tights at the library yesterday -- I like your style!)

Okay, I have got to get to it. I understand there's food to be made while a fiend and vile creature are on the loose. It's my hope that I can accomplish what I need to do without a pitchfork and torch wielding mob.

Happy Thanksgiving/Thursday/New Moon wishes to you!