If Thanksgiving is a tradition in your corner of the world, it may be a very different Thanksgiving this year. Welcome to the Hearth and Soul Link Party!
The Hearth and Soul Link Party welcomes blog posts about anything that feeds the soul. Things that feed the soul may include (but are not limited to) recipes, decorating, crafts, family, home, DIY, organization, travel, book reviews, the arts and self improvement.
NB. Please only share blog posts. I’m sorry, but links to Facebook posts etc will be deleted.
We don’t have Thanksgiving here in the UK but many American families who live here gather to celebrate. We are often asked to join our American friend and her family for their Thanksgiving meal, which we really look forward to. However Covid-19 is making it challenging for anyone who was hoping to celebrate Thanksgiving next week.
Wherever in the world you are, my heart goes out to those who are missing family and friends at this time. I hope that Hearth and Soul can encourage and inspire you to find new and innovative ways to mark this celebration of gratitude and abundance.
What’s Been Happening?
We’ve got at least ten more days of lockdown ahead of us here. My husband and I have been sticking pretty close to home, only venturing out for walks in the fields and woods or to local shops. We look forward to our chats, virtual dinners and online drinks meet ups with family and friends. We even did an online wine tasting last week!
By the way, did you know that Hearth and Soul has its own Facebook page? I often share your posts there, so I’d love it if you’d pop by and check it out.
As our weather gets cooler and our mornings get darker, I find I look forward to a delicious breakfast even more.
Moist and delicately spiced, Apple Pear and Pecan Streusel Muffins are perfect for breakfast with a hot drink, tucked in a lunch box or as a snack. I also like them with a cup of tea in the afternoon.
The muffins are made using this delicious Crock Pot Apple and Pear Sauce. It tastes amazing, whether you use it in baking or eat it straight from a bowl.
Looking for last minute Thanksgiving dessert ideas that aren’t pumpkin pie?
Don’t miss these deliciously different Thanksgiving dessert recipes. They all keep well, so are perfect for snacks and afternoon tea too.
Thank you all for sharing and for being a part of the Hearth and Soul Community.
A Very Different Thanksgiving Featured Posts
Featured posts (from top left, clockwise):-
Tee from TeeDiddlyDee is decorating for fall with a sweet Fall Vintage Door Hutch. I love how the hutch is constructed of an actual old door and all the carefully curated pieces Tee has used to embellish it.
No matter how many people there are at your Thanksgiving table, these deliciously healthy Cinnamon Sweet Potatoes from Jodie Fitz are sure to be very popular indeed.
This Cranberry Pineapple Gelatine Salad reminds me of a salad that my late Mom used to make. Thank you to Chris and Melissa from Little Frugal Homestead for bringing back such wonderful memories – and for sharing this refreshing and delicious salad recipe.
Carol of Comfort Spring offers thoughtful and beautiful tablescape inspiration with her Thanksgiving Table For Two.
On with the link up!
The Hearth and Soul Link Party
- Please do not link to anything except blog posts. Please share the permalink to your blog post, and not to the home page of your blog.
- Linking your blog posts here means you consent to me sharing as many of them as I can on Pinterest, Twitter and Facebook and featuring them on my blog with photographs from the post. It’s easier for me to share if you have share buttons on your blog, and if you put links to your social media on your home page.
- Please consider sharing the party with your friends and followers. There are share buttons at the top and bottom of this post to help make it easy.
What will you share this week?
Comments & Reviews
Hi April, I hope you are keeping well. It’s been a horrible few months here and I can not wait to get back to normal. Your apple muffins look yummy, I could just eat one 🙂 Thanks for hosting.
Hi Claire, I’m well, thank you. I hope you are too. I’m really looking forward to normal again too – we are one step closer every day 🙂 Thank you for the compliment on the muffins. Take care. x
Hope things are going well for you during this time – thanks for hosting each week and for the feature of my little Thanksgiving table for 2. Life is very different this year but we must find ways to be happy and safe.
Thank you, Carol, we are doing well. I hope you and yours are too!
Happy Thanksgiving April – I hope you enjoy your day with your friend! Our plans have been cancelled due to lockdowns and restrictions so we are planning a quiet celebration at home.
Unfortunately our get together is cancelled this year, Ramona, but we have lots of happy memories of other years. Like you we are in lockdown. All non essential retail is closed and gatherings inside other’s homes are forbidden until 2 December at the earliest.
I hope you enjoy a lovely Thanksgiving, despite the restrictions. Take care.
Hey there April,
I know that everyone is biding their time in hopes of reaching normalcy soon! Lock downs have been happening here in the US as well but not yet in our state. We are still being encouraged to make our holiday celebrations small. We are a family of 10 so we are getting together, but taking many precautions.
Thank you so very much for featuring my Cranberry Pineapple Gelatin Salad! We have enjoyed it for many years that it has become a tradition for us. Your mom’s salad sounds ver similar – glad my post brought back some good memories for you! That is what the holidays are all about.
Take care and hang in there! Oh, by the way, your muffins look so yummy!
Melissa | Little Frugal Homestead
Thank you so much, Melissa. I hope you have a warm, wonderful and safe Thanksgiving. Take care.
thanks for providing a place where we can gather and uplift each other when we can’t do it in person! I brought by some Miso Tofu. Hope you enjoy. 🙂
Thank you so much for being a part of Hearth and Soul, CJ!
All the food looks so Scrumptious, especially those muffins.
Thank you so much, Barbara!
Hi April,
Your muffins look delicious, perfect for tea time. We are planning a very quiet Thanksgiving for 2,it is surely a different time in life. We are thinking of different ways to meet the challenge in a positive way. Many thanks to you for your awesome parties throughout the years! Enjoy your walks on your beautiful country paths, be safe and take care!
Miz Helen
Thank you, Miz Helen! I hope you and Leonard have a lovely Thanksgiving. Things are very different indeed, but staying positive really helps. Thank you for all your wonderful support of Hearth and Soul. Take care and stay well.
Lots of inspiring recipes and recommendations!
Thank you, Michele!
Thank you very much for hosting this party every week, April.
Much love
Naush
Thank you so much for your support of Hearth and Soul, Naush. Much love x
Thanks for hosting and stay well!
Shelley
Thank you, Shelley. You too!
Every thing looks so tasty, April! We have been keeping with all the precautions since March. Thanksgiving will be no different. It looks like there may be hope on the horizon with the latest vaccine news though. Just gotta stay the course.
Michelle
https://mybijoulifeonline.com
Thank you, Michelle! I’m so glad you are keeping well. Yes, there’s definitely a light on the horizon. We just need to hang in there. Take care.
I’m not really a pumpkin fan, so it’s good to see recipes for some alternatives. 🙂 Good luck with your remaining days of lockdown, April. We’re having a very limited Thanksgiving celebration with just one side of our family on Thursday. It will be all outside, so I’m hoping the weather won’t be wet or too cold.
I hope the weather is lovely where you are today, Lisa, and that you have a wonderful celebration with your loved ones. We have just had the tiers announced that our areas will be in post lockdown and what restrictions we will face. We are in tier 2 so I am grateful but sad we can’t see our families indoors, especially as mine live almost 3 hours away. But we will get through this. I’m just so grateful we are all well! Take care and Happy Thanksgiving!
I love the look of those beautiful muffins and pear sauce is so tasty. Our 40 person extended Thanksgiving will be down to 9 of us outside on the deck with heaters. All in all I’m thankful for our health and ability to enjoy the outdoors. Stay safe and be well. BTW- during Covid time, I wrote and published a Cookbook. I linked my new Easy Plant-Based Soups From Farm To Ladle Cookbook this week. Thanks for another wonderful get together and party.
Thank you, Judee! I’m so excited to hear about your cookbook! Well done! I look forward to it. I’m sorry your Thanksgiving is smaller but I hope it is lovely nonetheless – and that the weather is beautiful today!
10 more days? I hope you are all well. Toronto has gone into Code red here today, which means anything non essential has closed. I fear we may be following suit as cases in our city have been rising steadily. We are trying to get things in order, in case we go into lockdown as well.
Thank you so much for hosting and sharing your lovely recipes each week!
We come out of lockdown in 10 more days, Cindy, but go into tighter tiered restrictions than we had before. Depending on where you live, restaurants may be open or it may just have to be takeaways. They’ve announced the tiers today and we are in tier 2 along with a lot of the rest of the country. Very grateful we are not in Tier 3! We still can’t meet anyone in our homes after lockdown but we can see up to five other people outdoors or in a restaurant, socially distanced of course. Not that we are planning much of that – we just want to see our son and his partner when we can. I hope your city manages to stay out of lockdown. Take care and stay well.
I hope you have a wonderful week April and thanks for hosting the fun.
Thank you, Julie. I hope your week is wonderful too!
I never clocked before that you are in the UK too! I do feel for everyone missing out on the celebrations they normally have at this time of year. I gather Diwali was a bit different for everyone this year too. I’m sure Christmas is going to need to be a bit more low key this year too. I hope people don’t go mad mixing all their families and undo all the work of the last few months.
We are the same as you, very quiet and just a walk in the woods for fresh air and exercise. I feel like there might be some light at the end of the tunnel but we still have a way to go right? Take care, and thanks for hosting the link up.
Yes, I am, Julie 🙂 I totally agree, I hope people don’t go mad as well as we definitely need to keep on keeping on! Luckily there are only 4 of us in our family who are hoping to get together and we haven’t been going out much at all. There’s definitely a long way to go, but I’m very pleased to see the progress that is being made with the vaccines. We will get through this. Take care.
Thank you for hosting. This is what I featured the week of 11-16 to 11-20-2020 on my blog. On Tuesday was Carnival Squash With Apples and Thyme. Wednesday was Slow Cooker Green Beans. Thursday was Chicken Broccoli Cheddar Wreath. Winding up Thanksgiving Preparations was a Green Bean Casserole. Enjoy!
It all sounds so delicious, Marilyn!
Our traditional Thanksgiving plans are completely changed. Trying not to be a brat about it.
I’m so sorry, Lauren. I know we all have to be brave, but it is hard!
Those muffins look so very lovely. Things are totally different but I believe that this is a wake-up call that we really need to rethink things we are doing and change things. Just my simple view.
Thanks for hosting and I hope that you have a wonderful week.
Thank you, Patrick. I totally agree, this is a real wakeup call. I hope you are having a wonderful week as well.
Thank you so much, April, for hosting and a huge thanks for featuring my Vintage Repurposed Door Hutch! Our holiday season is going to be a very lonely one for most of us as this virus keeps multiplying. Wishing you a happy and safe week!
Hugs,
Tee
It’s a pleasure, Tee. It is going to be a very lonely and challenging holiday season for so many. I’m heartened by the news about the vaccines. Take care and I hope you have a lovely week as well.
Our Thanksgiving will be different this year like many other people’s but we will cherish all the more those who are with us. By the way, I can’t wait to try your apple-pear muffins. They look delicious!
I hope you have a lovely Thanksgiving, Donna. Thank you for the compliment on my muffins!
Thank you for hosting April. I hope the remainder of your lockdown is calm. I’m glad you still get to meet up with people virtually. Those connections are so important. Have a great week!
Thank you so much, Marielle. The end of the lockdown is in sight, but we’ve got tighter restrictions after it is lifted. That said, we do have a 5 day break over Christmas with slightly looser rules so that is a real blessing. I hope you are having a great week too!