Thanksgiving has finally arrived and like in years past, I joined my sister's family for Thanksgiving dinner. I must have eaten 5,000 calories worth of food tonight and I can say that I enjoyed myself tremendously. I only eat turkey every so often but our Thanksgiving turkey this year was super delicious. I had several helpings.

2014 was not exactly my most favorite year but I am still blessed. As is customary, we recited a short prayer before we ate dinner. I actually found a prayer on the internet which I shared with my family. It was written by Msgr. Michael Buckley and I saw the prayer from the American Catholic.org website. I copied most of it and deleted and changed some parts for my purpose. The prayer is as follows:

O Gracious God, we give you thanks for your overflowing generosity to us. Thank you for the blessings like the food we eat especially for the feast today. Thank you for our home, family, friends, and most importantly for the presence of those gathered here tonight. Thank you for our health, our jobs, and our leisure time. Do help too those who are hungry, alone, sick, and suffering. Open our hearts to your love. We ask your blessing through Christ your son, Amen.

Just like many immigrant families throughout the US celebrating Thanksgiving tonight, our table was likewise graced by food from our native Philippines. Thus, besides, the ham, pumpkin pie, stuffing, and cranberry sauce, we had Palabok (a noodle dish which happens to be all time favorite among Filipinos), Lumpia (the most popular Filipino food and most known to countless Americans), Empanadas, and last but no the least, the Caldereta which is a beef stew dish.

Besides this dish, I was surprised my sister cooked other Filipino favorites I haven't eaten in a long time. There was Caldereta, a beef stew dish, and empanadas. How lucky was I!