The Bucket of My Soul

My new bright red buckets are all around the house, waiting to be filled with the water that runs while heating up the shower or rinsing out recyclables and then disposing their catch in the garden on the greens and herbs we cook into our dinners.

And I pass these buckets many times each day and think of how much fuller the "bucket of my soul" has become this past year, how I have not only connected more deeply with my local foodshed, my family, and many friends (some brand new) here in town (specifically Richard, Kelly, Mitzie, Marnie, Janet, Judy and John) but with you, all around the world, with some wonderful editors (Amanda and Suzanne and Maggie) at publications to which I have been proud to be a contributor, with my writing buddies Terry and Brad, and with the very essence of myself.

And so, for Thanksgiving, I am going to share some special food finds of this year with my extended family, and with you through these links, as symbols of the abundance I feel inside:

*Cheese from Sweet Grass Dairy, that beautiful goat farm in South Georgia about which I wrote for Edible Atlanta.

* Chocolate from Chamberlain's, where owner and chocolatemaker, Anne, left me breathless with her lavender and honey chocolate truffle.

* That vegan chocolate cake that my daughters and I discovered at World Peace Cafe, and have since tracked to the adorable bakery, Southern Sweets Bakery, by the DeKalb Farmers Market.

* Crops from our CSA (Riverview Farms) and from the farmers market from Corinna and Melissa's farms. I already have some things in the freezer that I've made from their crops to serve next Thursday, but I'll pick up whatever's fresh on Wednesday and highlight it as a special tribute to our struggling farm friends.

* Tommy and Alyssa's turkeys didn't make it through the drought this year, so I won't be serving a local turkey, but I'll get an organic one from Whole Foods as a special thanks for that company's commitment to provide my family with a place to shop for healthy options we can't find other places, and for its expanded support of local and regional food. (And, of course, this will be my first Thanksgiving not eating turkey.)

And then, I turn my attention to ways to give back, to pour the water from the bucket on those that may need it more than I. And to share the abundance of an overflowing soul.

The Bucket of My Soul