Those words either excite us or terrify us. For authors on a deadline, all we can do is count the days, praying we'll get done in time to enjoy Thanksgiving and Christmas! I want to share one of my holiday stories with you. I hope you enjoy it.
My Thanksgiving Story
When I was young, my mother made Christmas dinner and invited the family over to our house. I treasure those memories. Unfortunately, everyone who used to gather around my mother's table are gone except for me.
I'm sure you have stories about the holidays. Share it here and you'll be entered for a $20.00 Amazon gift card!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Nancy Mehl
Like you, I'm all that's left of my family. The memories of holidays past are sweet. Hubby and I try to make fresh memories every year. :)
ReplyDeleteMy Mom was an excellent cook/baker and everyone loved to be sitting at her table. Everything was from scratch and made with love.
I fondly remember the year things changed in the meals on holidays. While everyone else was enjoying the parades and visiting, Mom was stuck away in the kitchen working. Although she loved it, she also missed out on everything else.
Although we did Thanksgiving like everyone else, the big change came at Christmas. Dad finally put his foot down and told Mom "no more". He had thought and thought and had finally came up with a plan. Seeing how Dad's birthday was on New Year's Eve (also a holiday), we started having more of a fun meal on Christmas - sandwiches with every sort of ingredient imaginable plus an assortment of chips, homemade dips and then a spread of delicious desserts that could be made ahead like cookies, ice cream for sundaes with a wide array of toppings from fruit, syrups, nuts and marshmallow topping. All this left Mom free to enjoy company (back then neighbors visited on holidays) and to enjoy family fun. Then on Dad's birthday, we had the big holiday meal where Mom pulled out all the stops and baked her heart out. Sort of the best of both worlds. Lesson learned was traditions are good, but some times it's good to shake things up.
Thank you for the chance!
Have a great day and please be safe, stay healthy and have a little adventure along the way - even if through the pages of a good book.
2clowns at arkansas dot net
I love that idea for Christmas. The last few years, we've spent Christmas at the kids' house. I don't have to cook. I really like that, but I make Norman a ham a few days after Christmas so we will have ham sandwiches for a while. It wouldn't be Christmas without ham sandwiches! LOL!
DeleteI don’t really have a story but I enjoyed yours Nancy. I might just have to try the OR popcorn oil!! Like Kay Garrett we have transitioned a bit and try to have our Christmas meal on the eve so Christmas Day is not so hectic.
ReplyDeleteI have a couple of friends who've heard my story about the popcorn oil. They decided to try it and now they use it every year! I also think the turkey matters. I always buy Honeysuckle White turkeys. They never disappoint.
DeleteIt is hard to get our family together for anything!
ReplyDeleteA year or so ago( time flies) we had our #2 son, our daughter and their families at our son’s house. It was a surprise, they hid my daughter’s car down the road in the woods. Son #3 was coming from 3 hours away. Well he got to the outer southern suburbs of St. Louis( he lives by Forest Park) and the car broke down . He had baked two pies. Well, he was eating pie for a few days! I think he donated some too.
Long before that we were invited by friends to dinner. The host had shot a wild turkey and a wild boar. (We were in northern Wisconsin.)They were delicious!
Never shot my own turkey. If I stumbled on one, I'd probably try to make it a pet. LOL!
DeleteMy husband and I have very small families. I have one brother and a niece, his only sister died in a car crash when she was 18. So both sides of our family get together for all holidays instead of splitting it up, and all together there's 11 of us. We enjoy it!
ReplyDeleteSounds like fun. We miss our family in Wichita, but Shaen's parents come on Christmas so that makes it better.
DeleteWOW! I love your story! I believe I'll try that on our turkey because we have two turkeys for our big family get togethers.
ReplyDeletecluedn@embarqmail.com
Popcorn oil and then salt and pepper. Cook it on 325 uncovered. The oil make it brown so beautifully!
DeleteMy favoriteThanksgiving memories are those spent at my mom's table. My grandmother made lasagna and cherry tarts, we had the traditional turkey and side dishes which were always delicious, I contributed a home made apple pie, and we always had roasted nuts after the meal and before dessert.
ReplyDeleteOh, Tracey. That sounds like so much fun!
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ReplyDeleteWow! Thanks for the tip Nancy! I sure do miss our family Thanksgivings when aunts, uncles & grandparents joined our dinner table. It's a whole different world now. Especially this year.
ReplyDeleteYou're right. We're not sure yet how our Thanksgiving will be affected this year. I guess everyone's in the same boat.
DeleteI agree with Robin...it's a whole different world now. My family is so scattered that we rarely get together for a holiday. My daughter and granddaughter were planning to come for Thanksgiving, but it's a 16 hour drive for them and with Covid and all, we've had a change of plans...maybe we'll Zoom dinner. lol
ReplyDeleteHmmmm. I'll bet the turkey won't taste the same that way. Hope it's a great Thanksgiving anyway, Pat.
DeleteI love sharing the holiday dinners with our newly married daughter....we split the work and doubly enjoy the blessings!
ReplyDeleteMy dil is a super cook. I always love what she brings. She has a cranberry dish that is the best I've ever tasted.
DeleteMy first thanksgiving as a newlywed was a disaster! turkey was half raw potatoes were dry/burned and dropped my chocolate pie in my freshly mopped floor just moments before guests arrived.
ReplyDeleteOh, no! I'm so, so sorry! I'll bet things improved. They couldn't have gotten worse, huh? Bless your heart.
DeleteMy aunt Adeline made the best dinner rolls each Thanksgiving; she shared the recipe w/ her daughter & all of us nieces, but, we've agreed, no one's rolls are quite as good as what Aunt Adeline's rolls were!
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of popcorn oil. My husband smokes/grills our turkeys these days so I will pass it on to him. We usually cook all the holiday favorites on Thanksgiving and Christmas, including cornbread dressing, green bean casserole, and pecan pie and more.
ReplyDeletemaking Thanksgiving dinner with family
ReplyDeletebn100candg at hotmail dot com
When I was young our family would always have Thanksgiving dinner with my aunt's family. They lived a block away from us. With their 8 kids and 9 of us kids it was a big gathering. One year my aunt invited her sister-in-law named Jan to have Thanksgiving with us. She brought a salad my mother loved. My mom got the recipe, named it Aunt Jan's salad, and started making it every year for Thanksgiving. A few years later, Aunt Jan came again and asked what kind of salad it was because she really liked it. My mom told her it was "Aunt Jan's Salad." I guess Aunt Jan had only made it that one time, but my mom made it a tradition. We still occasionally have it, even though my mom's been gone several years. It's still called Aunt Jan's Salad. LOL
ReplyDeleteYour turkey tips sound wonderful. I'll have to remember them.
whthomas13 at yahoo dot com
The Thanksgiving that I was seventeen my mom got sick right before Thanksgiving. We were celebrating at home that year, and I knew how to make a turkey dinner, so I did - but when I was making the pies and using my great-grandmother's crust recipe, I accidentally put in a tablespoon of salt instead of a teaspoon. The pies were a bit weird that year!
ReplyDeleteOne year just before Thanksgiving my brother-in-law called my husband and said he had some turkeys he had gotten, and for him to come over and get one. However, when my husband got to his brother's house, he found his brother had left out one very important detail....the turkeys were ALIVE! My husband had to kill it, let it bleed out, pluck the feathers off of it, etc. Needless to say, my husband couldn't stomach eating the turkey that year. He ended up giving it away, and we had ham for Thanksgiving dinner. :)
ReplyDeleteI carry on the tradition of my grandma and mom and so does my daughter. We rub our Turkey with butter, salt, pepper and stuff celery onion and an apple or orange inside then place it in a paper bag and put in the roasting pan. It is moist and delicious.
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ReplyDeleteWhen I was a child we would all pile in the car with my father and go ‘hunting’ for a Christmas tree, complete with the axe I might add.
Pine trees grew along the sides of roads. Simple yes?
No!!
My father would take off through barbed wire fences and scrub country looking for the perfect tree.
Once he had found THE tree he would cut it down, drag it back to the car and then proceed to stuff it into the station wagon.
We would arrive home exhausted, covered in cuts and bruises, and itchy from sharing the car with one very large pine tree.
The funny thing is that the next year we would all willingly go with him. I think it’s like childbirth, you forget how bad it all is.
My mother never went. She would be at home quietly, happily bringing all the decorations out for us to use on the hard earned tree.
marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com
I spent Thanksgiving 2007 in Colorado Springs with a dear family. It was a wonderful time.
ReplyDeleteMy mom was always a selfless woman. She would give a stranger the shirt off her back if she thought they needed it. Her last year was spent in my home. She didn’t like it but could no longer take care of herself. Her last Thanksgiving was spent in a coma with Hospice care still at my house. She made me promise years before that I would never put her in a nursing home or hospital.
ReplyDeleteThanksgiving morning 2017 both my kids and their families came by to visit her. They held her hand and talked to her even though she wasn’t responsive. I truly believe she heard them though. They were getting ready to go to their other relatives for dinner. Then it was me and my husband. I sat by her bedside holding her hand. At 12 noon on the dot she left us to be with the Lord. My daughter later said she didn’t want to interrupt their dinner so she waited until they left. I believe that too. That’s just who she was. Every Thanksgiving now my husband and I spend away from home traveling in our RV. It may be silly of me but I don’t want to be at home on Thanksgiving.
tumcsec(at)gmail(dot)com
I have a disaster story, lol! I always cook for the holidays, so one year we invited our older neighbors over for dinner. Since I make most things from scratch, I made my dinner rolls as usual but for some reason, they came out small & hard. I was so embarrassed since I've never messed them up before! We all laughed it off. The following day I looked back over my recipe and discovered I forgot the salt! Now you would think that wouldn't be a big deal, but it is. :-) I made another batch (correctly this time) and gave them to our neighbors telling them that's how my rolls should have come out.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your story, Nancy! I've never thought of basting with popcorn butter. I buy those turkey size Reynolds oven bags to cook my turkey in. It always comes out moist & tender.
The day my brother talked!
ReplyDeleteMy best memories of childhood were those spent at my grandparents' farm. Growing up in a somewhat large family, 5 kids & 2 adults (mom said dad was often like raising a 6th child... LOL), and spending Holidays at my grandparents' farm with dozens of aunts, uncles, cousins and friends, made the Holidays so special: great company, good conversation and even better food, especially deserts. One Thanksgiving there was an abundance of chocolate on every table, counter top and in every drawer. My brother Mike was about 2 or 3 and seldom spoke. He still doesn't talk a lot except to catch you unaware with a little biting dry humor. That Thanksgiving, though, Mike was a motor mouth on steroids. All the adults were laughing at his antics... until my grandmother walked into the dinning room holding a handful of empty wrappers exclaiming in a horrified voice, "Oh, my Lord! Michael's eaten all my diet candy!" Gram was taking a prescription amphetamine, chocolate covered, of course (because that's what they did in the early 50s), and Mike found them. Our peaceful Holiday came to a screeching halt, then suddenly became controlled panic. The doctor was called and reassured everyone that Mike would be fine, "Just give him a little Ipecac (becausethat'swhat they did in thecearly 50s), and let him sleep it off when he comes down." So, the next hour was spent trying to get Mike to take enough Syrup of Ipecac to make him "empty his stomach," all the while he talked nonstop. It was one of the best Thanksgivings, EVER, from my 5 yr old perspective. I still recall that day with fondness. The day my brother talked... and talked... and talked... 🤣 🤣 🤣
The day my brother talked.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up in a somewhat large family, 5 kids, 2 adults (mom often said dad was like raising a 6th child ;) ), and spending Holidays at my grandparents', with dozens of aunts, uncles, cousins and friends, made Thanksgiving and Christmas so special: great company, good conversation and even better food, especially deserts. That year there was an abundance of chocolate on every table, counter top and in every drawer. One Thanksgiving was especially unforgettable. My brother, Mike, rarely talked. He still doesn't talk a lot except to catch you unaware with a little biting dry humor, and very funny sarcastic comments, but that Thanksgiving Mike was motor mouth on steroids. All the adults were laughing at Mike's antics, until... my grandmother walked into the dinning room holding a handful of empty wrappers exclaiming in a horrified voice, "Oh LORD! Michael's eaten all my diet candy." Gram was taking a prescription amphetamine, chocolate covered, of course (because that's what they did in the early 50s). Our peaceful Holiday came to a screeching halt, then suddenly erupted into controlled panic. The doctor was called and reassured everyone that Mike would be fine with "Just a little Ipecac, then he will sleep it off after he comes back down." So, the next hour was spent trying to get Mike to take enough Syrup of Ipecac to "empty his stomach" (because that's what they did back in the early 50s), while he continued to talk nonstop. It was the best Thanksgiving, EVER, at least, from my 5 yr old perspective. I still recall that day with fondness. The day my brother talked... and talked... and talked... 🤣🤣🤣
We had a Thanksgiving celebration taken over by football. It was on the TV, on the radio and everyone enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteTheresa Norris
weceno at yahoo dot com
The holidays are hard for my family bcz we've lost so many people in the last 6 years. But Thanksgiving was our favorite bcz of the food, togetherness and fun. The last one that we were all together was the best one. After dinner, the kids who are all grown now wanted to play all the old family games, like UNO for lottery tickets. We had the music blasting and cracking jokes well into the night. No one wanted to go home. Just 2 months later my husband would pass away from a heart attack. This year makes 6 years since that beautiful day and this year being what it is, I'm pressuring that time more and more.
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