We have a very large refrigerator. Our new home boasted “updated” appliances when we bought it. I’m not sure what that term means, but I guess that somewhere between the time the house was built and the time we bought it, new appliances were installed. The refrigerator is so large that it actually protrudes into the kitchen by a few inches. You can see the depth the cabinet designers intended for a refrigerator, but this one is even bigger. I can go on and on about how newer appliances are not better than older ones. When we sold our house in Rapid City, the refrigerator and stove were 25 years old and we had fewer problems with them than we have had with the updated appliances in this house. More features means more things that can go wrong. We will probably have to replace some of the appliances in this house over the years, but for now, we have this very large refrigerator, which is a good thing because we have a lot of leftovers.

We tried not to go overboard with our Thanksgiving dinner. We knew that there would be only three of us this year. Our son and his family are visiting his wife’s grandmother this weekend. So we were careful to select a small turkey. There were a few chickens in this year’s batch of meat birds that were as large at this turkey. There are a few Thanksgiving foods that are tradition for us. I baked rolls. I always do and rolls are important because we love turkey sandwiches as leftovers and nothing makes a turkey sandwich quite the way that home made rolls do. We had cranberry sauce. The canners of the sauce helped us with the leftover problem by packaging the sauce in smaller cans. I think it was a way of raising the price, but it was strange to note the smaller can. We could have bought cranberries and made our own sauce, but when cooking for only 3, canned cranberry sauce seemed to make sense. Two yams seemed like a reasonable amount for three people, but with all of the other food we had, there is a large container of leftovers. The cupboard in our house that is full of plastic containers for leftovers was searched for just the right size for salads and sides and other foods that were on the table.

I don’t know how to make only one pumpkin pie if one is using canned pumpkin. The recipe on the can is for two pies. Making two was no more work than making one. Three people plus two pies means leftovers.

We love leftovers. It simplifies meal planning. A turkey means that we’ll have turkey soup early next week. We’ll have turkey sandwiches with salads for lunches for a few days now, which suits us fine. The baby loves mashed sweet potatoes, so a small container will be frozen for use when they return. And there will be enough for sweet potato patties for a meal. We’re pretty good at avoiding food waste. Still, it helps to have such a large refrigerator.

Part of our Thanksgiving tradition includes speaking with family members on the phone. We called one of our brothers and put him on speaker phone as we put the meal on the table. He had eaten Thanksgiving dinner earlier in the day and reported on the feast they had shared. His wife is not a fan of poultry in general, so roasting a turkey isn’t her idea of a celebration meal, but he was included in a big meal a work and leftovers were sent home with him for his wife.

Sharing an abundance of nutritious food is part of most celebrations in our family. We are fortunate to live in a place where gardening is easy. We still had fresh tomatoes from the garden for one of our Thanksgiving salads. The chickens at the farm provided plenty of eggs for baking. Local bees supplied the honey. The grocery stores around here have ample supplies of a wide variety of foods, and we have sufficient income to not have to scrimp on trips to the grocery store.

Our celebration included a real “day off” mood as well. We planned our dinner for late afternoon so that we wouldn’t have to get up early to prepare. We looked at a few email messages and I put a couple of supplies aside for Sunday’s time with children at church, but we basically didn’t work. The day was bright and clear and farm chores didn’t take very long at all. Feeding chickens and gathering eggs is another celebration of the abundance of food in our lives and watering livestock is as easy as turning on a tap. The dog loves the farm and got a few extra tosses of the frisbee yesterday because I was in no hurry to finish the chores. The beautiful day invited a walk along the beach and the company was just right for meaningful conversation. Having my sister means sharing memories and we had a wonderful childhood, so sharing memories means sharing a lot of laughter and pleasant feelings.

Another symbol of abundance at our household is in the large vegetable drawer of our refrigerator. Earlier this fall, when we visited with a cousin in Montana, he gave us one of the largest zucchini I have ever seen. Susan has made at least three batches of zucchini bread in the past few weeks and as we were arranging leftovers in the refrigerator, we noted that we still have more than half of the giant vegetable remaining. I’m pretty sure that zucchini soup is in our near future and Susan has a really good recipe for zucchini soup.

I remember when we were first married and I used to keep a mental total on the items in the grocery cart as we shopped to make sure that we didn’t exceed our budget. A can of olives or some other extravagance might go back on the shelf before heading to the checkout. We still notice the high price of groceries and are sometimes surprised by the prices we find, but we rarely hesitate at the grocery store. We have a well-stocked pantry and food in abundance.

Knowing of the real hunger that is part of our community and a daily companion of too many people, it is good for us to be aware of the abundance in our lives and our need to share. We really could get along with a smaller refrigerator.