A Thanksgiving Hodgepodge....

 Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

Thanksgiving is probably my favorite family holiday; so, yeah, I'll do this week's hodgepodge. Click the link to find the party!

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? 

We have a set menu that changes not from year to year, lol. My grandmother's method for slow-roasting a turkey (done the day before), also her (yankee style...no cornbread) dressing; mashed potatoes and gravy,  my mother's candied sweet potatoes, my mother-in-law's green bean casserole, corn I brought back from the August trip to Indiana and put in the freezer, my Aunt Judy's apple salad, plus a cheese tray, a relish tray, yeast rolls (my other grandma's recipe if I'm ambitious, Sister Shubert's if I'm not), and...don't judge me...Ocean Spray jellied cranberry sauce.  Sometime after dinner has digested enough, we'll cut the pies...pumpkin (The Princess is doing that this year) and my aunt Ruth's pecan pie.  And I have to say...the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.  It's a package deal and I look forward to the full plate.

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? 

We always watch 'Miracle on 34th Street'...the original black and white version...while we eat our pie; it's a great transition since it starts with (an actual...they really filmed a parade!) Macy's parade.  The whole family rattles off the dialogue and it gets quoted year 'round.  But my FAVORITE Christmas movie, hands down, is 'A Muppet Christmas Carol'. I love the Christmas Carol story...have since I was a kid...but the Muppets just add a whole 'nuther level.  And, except for the fact that Scrooge goes to Bob Cratchet's on Christmas day in the finale, it is one of the most faithful-to-the-text renditions.  And, y'all might not notice, but the costuming is superb. (If you are curious, Abby Cox has a whole video pointing out the details in a true fangirl style).  Another movie that we all recite the dialog in real time and quote throughout the year. So. Much. Fun.  The holiday isn't complete until we eat pizza and watch  it.

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

Church theater. Sounds kinda 'not helping' ...but it is my favorite ministry area.  We have a couple of showings of our Christmas production this year that are purely outreaches...tickets reserved for a particular group...and we will have food and fun along with the performance.  (We also do a number of other outreaches...this is just the one that I am the most involved in).  Dorothy Sayers, via her character Lord Peter Wimsey, points out that when people come to be entertained, the guard is lowered, and truth that would be rejected if it were just spoken can be slipped in via entertainment.

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

We had an AWESOME church service Sunday, and I was very thankful to have been there.

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

Literally yesterday?  Or...something in the past?  I think if I had known more about...life...I would have had much less angst as a teenager.   If I had known that I would have nasty leg cramps Monday, I'd've made sure to drink more liquids the day before, lol.

6. Spill your own random thought here. 

The color has been late and sporadic this year.  Too little rain, too warm, lots of wind...trees lost their leaves before all of them changed...but we finally have a bit of color on the hill up the street.  Not as amazing as it has been in other years, but still pretty enough to know it's fall.  The heavy rain that had been predicted for Thursday is not in the forecast anymore, so mayhap this will stay around for the holiday.