GLOW

I intended to be a bit more helpful to you all this Thanksgiving, and offer you lovely recipes to don your holiday tables, but I became quite wrapped up in some projects on the days preceding, and scrambled just in time to gather my food and clothes for our trip down to Cape Cod. I feel quite lucky to have wonderful in-laws populating picturesque Cape Cod, as it really is the perfect setting for the holidays, and a (relatively) short drive from our home in Boston. 

SCENERY FROM OUR WALKS, SWEET CHESTNUT PIE WHICH I WILL SOON SHARE

 Thursday, as we went around the circle of family expressing our gratitude, I thought of the incredible progress I've made since our last Thanksgiving, and how grateful I am for everything that I've learned about food and my health this year. More than any American holiday, it is a difficult one to enjoy when you are ill and unable to feast on all of the traditional fare, as most of the good feeling and bonding is found in sharing heaping plates of indulgence and commiseration over bellyaches. For those of us with chronic health problems, our bellyaches are typically of a different sort. They are not trophies to hold high at the end of our meals, but rather can be isolating and painful parts of our every day. This year, however, though my contributions to the meal were somewhat indulgent, my bellyache was merely a symptom of joyous overeating, and I was without any unfortunate symptoms that couldn't be soothed with a warm mug of herbal tea. Another triumph of 2010.