Be Thankful, Be Useful

I had a great line-up for you guys this week. After all, Thanksgiving is a food blogger's Super Bowl, and no matter how long I've been doing this, the novelty of presenting new ideas and recipes for your holiday table never wears off. I mean that. I had so many things to tell you about -- make-ahead tips, pie advice, some trademark rules for the holiday, a beautiful ceramic gravy boat...

But then Paris happened and gravy boats -- along with a lot of other things in the news that weren't related to Paris -- seemed like possibly the dumbest things in the world. I haven't posted since Friday because I feel like I should be doing something more meaningful. So far, that has translated to two activities: 1) Reading every possible piece of news on the attacks and 2) Waking up in the middle of the night thinking about all the people affected by the attacks. It hasn't been a very productive week.

But it's come around to this: Thanksgiving is next Thursday whether we like it or not. And what could be more meaningful than sitting down with our families and friends and expressing our gratitude for what we have today...right in front of us. All around us. Things that maybe we didn't see in such high relief a week ago. For now, let's appreciate what bounty we have -- in fact, let's make it the best-tasting bounty we can manage -- and be thankful. I'll do my best to help on that front in the next few days.

As for the giving part of Thanksgiving, and in the name of the goodness and humanity that I'd prefer to think about at three o'clock in the morning, please comment below or send me an email with charities or causes that might benefit from some DALS community support over the next few weeks. As I heard Louis CK say on a podcast recently, "It's hard to be sad and useful at the same time." Let's be useful.

See you tomorrow.