Wednesday, June 17, 2026

It’s Wednesday and time for Hodgepodge with Joyce!

1. June 17th, 1994 was the day of the infamous O.J. Simpson car chase. What were you doing in 1994? I’m guessing somebody is going to tell me they weren’t born yet but that’s part of the fun of the Hodgepodge. Lots of generations are represented here. 

I had just graduated from college, and I distinctly remember sitting in my friend Julia’s apartment and watching it. I think I was in town for a job interview and she still lived in our college town. I had graduated, gone to Mexico for two weeks, was living with my parents and working a waitress job to save money. I had gotten teaching job interview calls while I was in Mexico.

2. What’s your favorite summer salad that isn’t the traditional tossed green lettuce kind of salad? Do you like fresh fruit in a salad (other than in a fruit salad of course)?

Potato! I like a good homemade potato salad and I think my favorite is the vinegar based – more like a German potato salad. I also love broccoli salad! Yum! I like salads with strawberries, blueberries, and mandarin oranges.

3. Is chivalry dead? Should it be? 

I feel like guys have it rough in some cases. They could get in trouble for holding doors open, right? They could get in trouble for not holding doors open. A part of me thinks they still need to be taught this and a part of me thinks that it’s just human decency for both men and women to hold doors for others. There are so many instances where the person in front of me doesn’t hold the door!

Just to make sure, I looked up the word chivalry. It can also be:

the combination of qualities expected of an ideal knight, namely courage, honour, courtesy, justice, and a readiness to help the weak

I think all of these things are still important in modern society but of all persons regardless of sex.

4. Would you rather spend a week of your summer vacation in Hawaii or Alaska? Have you ever been to either? Are they two places you really would like to see? How do you feel about ‘Hawaiian pizza’ aka pineapple on a pizza? Have you ever eaten Baked Alaska? 

I think Hawaii. I have never been to either. They are not high on my list for some reason. I do really like ham and pineapple sometimes. I have never had Baked Alaska. It looks incredibly hard to make. It was all the rage in the 70s, I think.

5. World Cup play is happening now…are you interested? Watching any matches? Did you or your children play soccer/futbol? There are eleven US cities hosting matches-

–Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York with the stadium in NJ, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Seattle

along with  three cities in Mexico (Guadalajara, Mexico City and Monterrey)

and two in Canada (Toronto and Vancouver)-

You get free tickets to one of these matches. Which city do you choose? Tell us why. 

I’m not really following the World Cup. If I were still teaching, I would have to be up on it! My kids played soccer when they were 4 and Jack told another kid that “his grandma could kick harder than that”. Oh my! That was the end of the soccer career. I think I would choose Canada because the cool weather would be nice in the summer.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I should make potato salad! I have the ingredients to make Mix and Match Mama’s corn salad. My nephew Miles loves it and requested I make it for his graduation party last summer. I am not super inspired to cook, period, but I’m getting it done.

I love a salad with eggs and avocado!

I feel like all meal ideas leave my brain sometimes. I can’t even remember something I was obsessed with and made over and over. Are you like that, too?

Amy