Wednesday, November 27, 2024

A Thanksgiving Hodgepodge



A hodgepodge is a jumble or assortment of things that might not appear to belong together. Joyce at From This Side of the Pond hosts a weekly link-up called Wednesday Hodgepodge that is a little collection of questions for bloggers to answer just for fun and to get to know each other. I always look forward to chatting with friends over coffee, so pour a cup of your favorite and let's visit for a few minutes!


Here are this week's questions - and my answers - for this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge.

1. Talking turkey . . . are you cooking the turkey this year? Does ham belong on a Thanksgiving day menu? When it comes to gravy do you pour it over your whole plate, skip it altogether, or land somewhere in between? Cranberries - homemade or jelled right out of the can? Do you look forward more to the main course, the savory sides, or the desserts?
 
I am cooking a turkey this year, or perhaps it's more accurate to say my husband will be cooking it. Usually we deep fry it, but this year we are going to smoke it. Fingers crossed! Ham does not make an appearance on our Thanksgiving day menu, and probably never will. Not that I don't like a baked ham, it's just not a Thanksgiving dish (and definitely not an Easter dish!!) and we don't have it often. When it comes to gravy, I'm somewhere in the middle, leaning towards the skip it end of the spectrum - I put it on my mashed potatoes and sometimes on the stuffing/dressing. But almost never on the turkey. Notable exception is post Thanksgiving leftovers - I love a hot turkey sandwich! I'll eat cranberries almost any way they are available, but when I'm planning the meal, I choose the whole berry sauce out the can. When my kids are eating, we also have the jelly and they eat the stuff like it's going out of style! My most anticipated part of the meal is probably the sides, the corn pudding and sweet potato casserole in particular. Although those are both more sweet than savory, aren't they? 
 
2. Holiday movies . . . tell us your favorite and what it is about this film that makes you love it. Is it the film itself or a memory it stirs?
 
Since this is a Thanksgiving themed Hodgepodge, I will first mention a favorite movie of mine that I associate with Thanksgiving. Babette's Feast. I absolutely love this foreign film (so you have to read the subtitles) from many years ago that tells the story of two elderly sisters in an isolated Danish village that take in a French refugee as their cook. She serves them faithfully for many years and when she wins a lottery, she asks to provide and prepare a French-style meal for them and their guests. It's discovered that she was a celebrated chef for the French aristocracy, and that she spent her entire winnings on the food. I love the story itself, which explores generosity and humility, and the beautifully done surprise ending (which I've just spoiled, but it's a film from thirty-plus years ago). It's also a good memory, because I took my daughter and her friend to see it at a community theater at Thanksgiving some years ago, and they did not have very high hopes, but wound up loving it and talking about it for quite some time afterwards.

 


And you thought Planes Trains and Automobiles was the only Thanksgiving movie. I absolutely love that one too, by the way.

 Now for holiday - as in Christmas holiday - movies . . . it's a toss-up for me between White Christmas and It's A Wonderful Life. I love the music and story and nostalgia of White Christmas. No Christmas is complete without watching It's A Wonderful Life. That's a family activity. Most of us can quote most of the movie by now. Such a heartwarming and encouraging story about how we can make a bigger impact on the world than we may ever know simply by being generous and selfless, and doing right by others. 

 3. A favorite way to give back and help others?

 In a way, we're still finding our preferred way to give back in this community. We are getting more involved with our church and have taken part in food drives and distribution efforts through the church. Awhile ago I helped assemble, bake, and deliver around fifty lasagna dinners to households in the area and I thought that was such a great way to help others in a way that is practical and simple. There was a group of us at church that got together to do the work, and the organization we worked with is called Lasagna Love.

 
4. Name a place or setting you encountered this month that made you feel grateful.

 It was way back at the beginning of the month, when we were in Maryland visiting our kids there, and my parents were with us. I was so grateful that my parents are healthy and were able to travel to visit all of us; grateful that we enjoy such good relationships with the whole family; and grateful that the kids all get along so well. I often think about how blessed our family is that we get along and enjoy each other's company.



5.  Knowing what you know today, if you could redo yesterday what would you do differently?
 
Well, I'm finishing this up late on Wednesday. If I could redo Tuesday, I would have tried to get some prep done for Thanksgiving, and I would have gone to bed earlier. 

6. Spill your own random thought here.

I'm getting this finished while it's still Wednesday local time! I got up a bit earlier than usual this morning so I could do my annual Smash N Flash appointment before going to work, and I left work a little early so I wouldn't feel too rushed going out to the hockey game in the evening. We had tickets to the Blue Jackets game against the Montreal Canadiens - the Canadiens are hubby's favorite team and it was a milestone birthday for him today. (And the Canadiens won, so he was happy!) So that's why I'm late to today's party!

This morning I shared my Wednesday Quotes post, and I'd like to invite you to stop by the current link-up and join us: WQ - Helping Hands

There is no better way to thank God for your sight than by giving a helping hand to someone in the dark. ~Helen Keller

So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who belong to the family of faith.
~Galatians 6:10~

For those who are celebrating the day, Happy Thanksgiving! Whether you mark the American holiday or not, I wonder, what are you especially thankful for? Leave a comment and let me know!



From this Side of the Pond

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Simple Meal Planning - Plan to Eat

11 comments:

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    1. Thank you! Happy Thanksgiving to you as well!

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  2. I agreed with most of your comments regarding Thanksgiving dinners. I love cranberries, but my grands love that jelly stuff. What is it about kids and that stuff? I wouldn't redo anything about yesterday as I got all my prep done and just had to a couple of little things for today, Thanksgiving! I just want to take a minute and tell you I'm grateful for you, Kym. I may not always comment on all your posts (who knew blogging tooks so much time), but I do appreciate your writing and photos!

    https://marshainthemiddle.com/

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    1. Thank you so much for taking to time to stop by and comment - I appreciate you and your writing as well. I seldom have time to read and comment as much as I'd like so I know exactly what you mean about blogging taking so much time!

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  3. As my ancestors missed the Mayflower, they stayed here and gave the turkeys a chance to live a month more until Christmas ! What a nice family meeting ! We are only 4 !

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    1. The turkeys can get just a little fatter during that month, I guess! thanks for stopping by and commenting!

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  4. Happy birthday to your hubs! My son-in-law smoked a turkey and it was so good, really juicy and tender and great flavor. We also had ham which I love : ) Have a nice weekend!

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    1. Our smoked turkey turned out beautifully, and really juicy, so we were pleased. Thanks for stopping by and commenting!

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  5. Hope you had a good one!

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  6. Replies
    1. We had a great Thanksgiving - thanks for stopping by and commenting!

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