Giving Thanks for Thanksgiving and Sweet Potato Pie Recipe

Hello my dear friends! Thank you so much for popping by and visiting NatashainOz.com today!

Thanks also for joining me for this week's Tuesday Tune post!

Today I am taking time to give thanks for Thanksgiving by sharing a Thanksgiving post, something my Aussie friends might think is a little strange!

I'm not sure if many of my American friends know this but we don't celebrate Thanksgiving here in Australia.

That really makes me sad as I really love the idea of taking time to give thanks for our family, friends, health and other blessings in our lives.

So, a few years ago, I decided that our little family should have a yearly Thanksgiving dinner so we too could take time out of our busy week to be with our family and give thanks. We begin our meal with Grace and then we have a "Thankful Circle" where everyone at the table shares their thoughts and says "Thank You" for something they are grateful for.

Since I love all things American, I try to make it as American as possible by keeping to a Fall theme (even though it's Spring here) and I even buy American red wine and make American food.

Each year I make a turkey buff, roasted vegetables and a delicious pie!

I usually make a pumpkin pie with Libbie's canned pumpkin but I thought I might try a sweet potato version last year and I am so glad I did-it was delicious!

Here is my famous Sweet Potato Pie Recipe!

For the filling:

2 cups mashed cooked sweet potatoes
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated white sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted
2- 5oz cans evaporated milk (1 1/4 cups evaporated milk)
3 large eggs
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch ground cloves

Directions:
Some recipes suggest boiling the sweet potato whole, in skin, for 40 to 50 minutes, or until done and then running cold water over the sweet potato and removing the skin. I actually bake mine, chopped, peeled and sprinkled with cinnamon, maple syrup and a little bit of vegetable oil. I think the caramelised sweet potato tastes amazing so if you haven't tried it baked then give it a try!

Anyway, when the potato is cooked, add butter and mix well with mixer. Stir in sugar, milk, eggs, nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla. Beat on medium speed until mixture is smooth. Pour filling into an unbaked pie crust.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 55 to 60 minutes, or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. 

Serve with cream, eat and enjoy, maybe while listening to Ray Charles singing "Sweet Potato Pie"!

So as you can see, I really do love Thanksgiving and even though I am not American, I am so glad we celebrate it in our family each year. 

So, wherever you might be in the world, I hope that you might find some time this week to give thanks for the sweet blessings in your lives.

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. 

 It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. 

 It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. 

 Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.

~Melody Beattie~

Thank you also to all of my blogging friends who have made this year so special and rewarding for me. I truly appreciate your friendship, support, kindness, comments, linky love and so much more...Thank you!

Happy Thanksgiving and I will see you Saturday for this week's Say G'Day Saturday Party!

Best wishes always,

Natasha In Oz 

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