Give Thanks In All Things

Honey Mustard Sauce

I want to share a quick recipe and then I'm walking away from the computer for the rest of the week. Our house is full of (grown) children and grandchildren home for the holiday. Busy days around here!

Jessica was the first to get here. (She is already back at her home—it's a revolving door here this week.) I made a simple dinner that night. Baked chicken, sweet potatoes and green beans. The baked chicken looked so plain that I thought surely I could dress it up a little bit. I did a quick search for honey mustard and found a simple recipe and then tweaked it to use the ingredients I had on hand. 

Oh my goodness. This is seriously good stuff! It was delicious drizzled over the chicken. We think it would be fantastic as a salad dressing (I'm thinking grilled chicken salad.) Make our favorite homemade chicken fingers and use the sauce for dipping. And during Thanksgiving week, you might need it to spread on those sandwiches made from leftover turkey.

HONEY MUSTARD SAUCE

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup dijon mustard

1/4 cup honey

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or to taste)

Whisk all ingredients together. Will keep for a couple of weeks stored in the refrigerator...if it lasts that long.

I have so much to be thankful for. Ages ago, I kept a gratitude journal—"write down five things each day that you are grateful for." Some days it was easy to list five. Other days I had a hard time finding five. Then I figured out that my world was made up of mostly small things. That's where I found the treasure. 

I learned I had to be aware. I had to actively look for the "grateful" things. A tree in flaming fall colors. The smell of bacon frying. The sound of a rooster crowing in the early morning. Looking at this old journal I see that "clean sheets" are listed more than one time. I began to look forward to finding my five things each day and writing them down. I loved those few minutes at the end of the day when I got still and quiet and picked up the journal. After a while I stopped writing the list, but the habit of seeking out and taking note of the little things has remained.

This morning I pulled out that old journal and have read list after list. Yes. So much to be grateful for. Maybe this is the season to start the written journal again.