Don't have anything to be thankful for? Check your pulse

Mushy, not very crunchy green beans was created through a trial and error process of combining what supposed to be a healthy dish. A dash of minched garlic and ginger will do the trick, with the help of miched walnut that will help to make it crunchy. Sort of.

My brother's timeless joke about a dish, was that, a tasty dish is not a tasty dish if it was made out of supposedly good ingredients. He never spent a second in the kitchen, so he never made any comments out of what came out of the space. The problem was, when I was living at home, I've never spent any time in the kicthen either (I left home when I was in high school). His joke was started when he noticed I helped my mother to cook when I went home in the weekends. After awhile my mom would gave me responsibility of to create a dish. I thought his joke was not fair at all, especially with vegetables, such as bamboo shoots? I mean, they're good for you, but to create a tasty dish out of it require more ingredients other than only spices. And papaya leaves? I love greens as much as a rabbit would, but I don't remember making a dish out of papaya leaves without adding other things in it. In Cincinnati, local/regionally produced vegetables such as green beans and kale created another challenge that reminds me of my brother's remark.

Last thanksgiving, green beans was what I made to bring to dinner with my friends. I've never was succesful with them, since I tried not to put any kind of meat in it. And that mushy green beans was what I brought, they had too much fun in the oven and when they were out, they're not crunchy anymore. Thank God I had friends who were so pleasantly polite, they said they liked my green beans, although I doubted it that it was true.

Thanksgiving is a precious moment to spend with family, in my case, this would be my friends and their family. But the idea of a national feast in the world that offers fast food, car food, and everything that marked "I am in a rush" food, sitting together to eat the same food (turkey, mostly) that came out of each kitchen, created with hand-down recipes represents hope that we can slow down and enjoy life. I am so used to celebrating Thanksgiving, I could not spend thanksgiving alone. But, some people might have to. Some might have to work to keep us safe. And I could see how that must be very hard for them.

One recipe to create a delicious Thanksgiving moment when we're alone, is just to add prayer with that. Happy Thanksgiving, America!