Dear Cowboy, Thanksgiving is coming up. What are you cooking? What are you thankful for this year?

Thanks for writing in. This year, I’m thinking about cooking up a roast turkey with fresh sage stuffing and an apple cider-pomegranate glaze. I’ll pair that with creamy mashed turnips topped with crispy bacon crumbles and zucchini boats stuffed with the caramelized onions and bleu cheese. Naw, I’m just pulling your leg.

My list of recipes is pretty small. If I really want to go all out, put a roast in the slow cooker and bake some potatoes, or maybe make a pot of pinto beans and a pan of cornbread. From a mix. Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful and I’m thankful for a lot of things, like the fact that I don’t have to cook up a bunch of food.

I’m also thankful my kinfolks live far enough away I only have to see them for weddings and funerals.

I’m really thankful that I live in a beautiful part of the country and it don’t take a fancy meal to appreciate that. Eating spray cheese on them chicken-flavored crackers washed down with truck-stop coffee tastes pretty good when you’re watching the sun come up over snow-capped mountain peaks.

Of course, I’m also thankful for people who like to cook fancy food, like my lady friend. This Thanksgiving she’s putting on a pretty good spread featuring the menu I described above and a whole lot more. Of course, that means sitting down at the table with a bunch of people I don’t know all that well, but no one expects me to be a sparkling conversationalist. In fact, they’d probably prefer it if I kept my mouth shut. Alls I have to do is show up hungry and wear loose pants.

So I guess what I’m really thankful for this year is love.

And pumpkin pie with caramel pecan sauce and fresh whipped cream.

Happy Thanksgiving everybody.

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