Wednesday, November 27, 2024

T minus 24 hours now! It’s Wednesday and that means a link up with Joyce!

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 have never cooked a turkey! My sister in law is cooking one for Thursday and there is no ham that I know of. On Friday with my family we are doing ham only – HoneyBaked ham and it is $140! My mom wanted to do that and it is really good, but wow!

No gravy for me. It belongs nowhere.

Meh. I like the color the cranberries add but not that big of a fan. I have made them homemade as my contribution several times. Tom’s family always did the can where you slide it out and see the can markings – lol.

I like the sides!

I know there are at least a couple of bloggers who participate here who live outside the US and won’t be celebrating Thanksgiving. If that’s you feel free to adapt this question to your December (or any) holiday meal.

2. Holiday movies…tell us your favorite and what it is about the film that makes you love it. Is it the film itself or a memory it stirs? 

The Holiday – but really just the England part!

Home Alone – great memories of my kids thinking it was just hilarious and then trying to come up with traps for our house.

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

I need to work on this. I heard about an opportunity to buy wreaths for veterans’ graves and I plan to do that.

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

My home, my patio, and a couple of areas of my community. I felt happy to live here when I went out to eat with friends at some of our wonderful spots and when I went to JingleFest in NULU, the German Market and Westport Village to some favorite boutiques. My school – it has been a second home since I have been there for 25 years. I run that place – just kidding!

5. Knowing what you know today, if you could redo yesterday what would you do differently? 

Maybe I would have eaten a little less at our school Friendsgiving? It was so good. I had a good day, though. I feel like I made a few people smile and I said yes to a spontaneous activity in the evening! I am working on this part of my being so I was happy my instinct was “yes” and not “no – I didn’t plan to do that”.

6. Spill your own random thought here. 

I am being kind to myself right now. I am choosing some easier routes for things I have to do for the holiday. I am trying to simplify. I am trying to think about what truly matters and what does not. I am buying pies instead of making them. I didn’t overcommit. I am simplifying my Christmas decor to what works in this season of puppy and what truly makes me happy.

I am going to work at seeing the humor in awkward situations. I need to be well rested myself and well taken care of to be this person I want to be!

Thank you for being here and look for a post tomorrow and Friday!

Amy

22 thoughts on “Wednesday Hodgepodge”

  1. I don’t use gravy at all either and I much prefer the sides too. This is the first year ever I am trying to make my own cranberry sauce. We have always had the jellied right out of the can but I can’t stand anything with gelatin so I’ve never tried it.. but I do like cranberries so when I saw an easy crock pot recipe with just 4 ingredients I decided to give it a try. I’m not sure I’m going to the like the taste of cranberry with my meal though as I always associate cranberry with pastry, breads, and desserts.

    If I could redo yesterday I would have picked up bread flour, bananas, and snack crackers at the store when I ran in for fruit since those have all been added to my list this morning! Ordinarily I’d make the family do without but we do need the bread flour for the fresh bread Alec’s making us so off to the store again today!

    I hope you and your family have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

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    1. Right?
      I have used pioneer womans recipe and it has orange juice in it.
      Ah, yes, but maybe it will be fun-ish to be among the hustle and bustle and knowing you only have a few things to get. that’s what i am telling myself!

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  2. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
    I can’t imagine having turkey with no gravy, our plates are full of gravy when it comes to Christmas dinner. hehehe Buying a wreath for a veterans grave is such a lovely idea!

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  3. I am cooking the turkey this year and I am scared to death. Not even lying. I have two spiral sliced hams just in case – ha! It will be fine I’m sure. I love homemade cranberry sauce but not the canned stuff. I am honestly so grateful to be here this year (we were in Greece last year) so I am not stressing about hosting. It won’t be anything instagram worthy but it will be wonderful!

    Hope you have a great Thanksgiving!

    xo,

    Kellyann

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  4. I love the thought you have on giving back! There are wreaths on the big veteran’s cemetery here as well, so I plan on going soon to look at them. I love what you said about simplifying your life and giving yourself grace. It’ll probably mean a lot less stress, which is always nice. I did that this year as well, with the holidays and gift giving. Anything we can do to make better versions of ourselves is a good thing, right? Happy almost Thanksgiving! I’ll be back tomorrow as well.

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    1. I am going to call today and then make a plan to drive by to see the 6000 wreaths!
      you know – I am trying to channel what we observed in the UK last year – so much less about presents and more about time off and food and people.

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  5. Happy Thanksgiving Amy! You made me laugh with eating too much at your Friendsgiving- no such thing! Hope you have a wonderful and restful weekend – you deserve it!

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  6. I will say the UK does Christmas right. It’s simple but beautiful with the emphasis on faith, family, friends, and good food. It somehow manages to be less frenetic than ours appears to be here. I love those socks! I wish I had gotten a pair for my son-in-law who is smoking the turkey and loves fun socks. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!

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    1. They really do. i am not an expert, but from experiencing it from December 19 until 29th last year it has a different vibe and it’s lovely. That would have been good – next year!
      Happy day to you and yours. Those kids will make it so fun even though you will miss your daughter and fam in England.

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  7. I am hosting Thanksgiving but my mom is making the turkey and bringing it over. I make the sweet potato casserole and cornbread dressing and everyone else contributes something. I’ve never made a turkey either! I love those socks! I bought the leg day socks for my girls. Happy Thanksgiving! 🦃

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  10. Happy Thanksgiving Eve! I don’t cook the turkey. For the last few years, we’ve ordered a smoked turkey from City BBQ. It’s delicious, and I don’t have to worry about anything. I just have to pay for it (yikes). We don’t do gravy. I like it well enough, but I can’t make it. Since my husband doesn’t like it, it’s all good. Yes, to the canned cranberry stuff…my grands and my youngest love it! I’m also all about the sides and desserts. I don’t really have a favorite movie, but my youngest loves “Home Alone.” He has a picture of himself standing in front of the real one, and I knitted him a Kevin hat one year. I think the idea of the veterans’ wreaths is beautiful. I wouldn’t redo anything from yesterday…it was a good one!

    Happy Thanksgiving, Amy!

    https://marshainthemiddle.com/

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    1. I knew I liked you – you are a smart cookie! I saw a smoked turkey at Costco that looked really good and I thought if I ever have to do it I will go that route.
      Such cute home alone memories!
      It’s so funny how different families enjoy different food traditions. We talked about it in Spanish in my classes and it was very interesting!

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