Thanksgiving Traditions: Family Gatherings, Canned Cranberry Sauce, and The Turkey Pardon By Connie Vines

 

Once again, it's that stressful yet joyous time of the year. A time we paw through the mountain of frozen turkeys at the local market, praying the one we select will thaw before Thanksgiving Eve. 

Each year, Americans in the United States celebrate Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November.

The preparation of the turkey varies from family to family, state to state, and from traditional to new and improved. And then there is a time-honored tradition that I can't explain or truly understand. 

The Turkey Pardon

Each year at Thanksgiving, the president receives a gift of two live turkeys. At a White House ceremony, the president "pardons" the National Thanksgiving Turkeys so they live on a farm.

Fortunately, for the young children and miffed mothers, it takes place several days before the "families' turkey" roasts in the oven.

The Meal

Since my childhood was nomadic, my menu is a combo of southern cooking, cornbread dressing (I do not stuff the bird), collard-green with diced bacon, sweet potato pie, and mashed potatoes. However, my mother's family was Czech. In other years, I made potato dumplings topped with sour kraut, date snack, and my favorite cookies. Kolaches. It is not the yeast roll type in the southern states, but the buttery/creamy cookies you see in Chicago, IL. 

And a can of cranberry sauce...

The WishBone

We can delve into this tradition at another time. 

Let's focus, instead, on the can of cranberry sauce.

I was never a fan of canned cranberry sauce. Everyone is familiar with the Jelly-like creation, which slides, giggles, and slides off your plate when cut. 

The History: Marcus Urann, a Massachusetts farmer and lawyer, created the first canned cranberry sauce in 1912. It appeared on the market in 1941, allowing the product to be sold year-round.

As a child, it appeared on the dinner table every holiday. I vowed to banish it from the world when I became an adult.

Well, I'm sure you can guess what happened...

I married. My husband, from Louisiana, loved fried catfish and preferred canned cranberry sauce to my homemade version (which was delicious, by the way). We compromised. He never asked me to prepare or eat catfish. (It tasted like muddy water, even after I soaked it in buttermilk.) And I never complained about his canned cranberry sauce.

Of course, our sons loved the canned cranberry sauce but agreed with me about the catfish.

FUN FACTS:

🦃A ripe cranberry will bounce.

🦃All turkeys and chickens have wishbones.

🦃Canadians celebrate their own Thanksgiving every October.

🦃Abraham Lincoln declared a national day of Thanksgiving in 1863.

🦃The first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade was held in 1929.

  

I hope you enjoyed my post. 

Holiday shopping time and Black Friday Events with huge markdowns begin the day after Thanksgiving here in the US.

BWL is having a can't-be-beat sale on all of their EBooks!

From now until Christmas Day (at midnight), the Elves will be busy delivering your purchase. 🧝 🦌🎅🎄

Happy Reading and Happy Holidays,

XOXO

Connie

(the link is below the photo)

Holiday Book Sale!!

Where's Connie?

https://bookswelove.net/vines-connie/

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Blogger,  Website  and 

I'm also on Substack connievines.substack.com

Starting a new series: The Protectors – by Vijaya Schartz

Find more of my books on the BWL site HERE

I wrote many series, mainly science fiction and fantasy, and each time I say goodbye to one to start another, it’s a bittersweet experience. I am sad for leaving the angel ship Blue Phantom behind. It’s like letting go of grownup children so they can have their own life.

amazon - B&N - Smashwords - Kobo

I wrote three series in the Azura universe, populated with strong heroines, brave heroes, and galactic supervillains: Azura Chronicles, Byzantium, and Blue Phantom. In that universe, Avenging Angels with special powers fought sinister entities to maintain the balance of good and evil throughout their galaxy. I find it difficult to leave that special world behind. But in this vast universe, I can imagine many worlds and civilizations coexisting very far apart. The new worlds I create now might even collide with the old ones at some point.

amazon - B&N - Smashwords - Kobo

Write about what you know is one of the golden rules of writing. I was always a Martial Artist, and maybe you can tell from my female warriors and epic battle scenes. But for well over a decade, I’ve also immersed myself in the world of Tai-Chi, the way of the peaceful warrior, and the energy of Chi-Gong. I studied, I practiced daily, and now, although I remain a lifetime student, I have also become a teacher.

Celebrating Global Tai-Chi Day in the park, with a few of my students.

So, I came up with a premise for a three-book series called THE PROTECTORS. The setting will be a post-apocalyptic planet after a cataclysmic event that wiped out most of the population. As the planet recovers slowly, the feudal society is reorganizing around the populated hubs, and among the surviving nobles, the race for power is on. Soldiers are recruited to fight the barbarians unfurling on the plains. Their weapons of choice are the sword, the spear, the bow, and they ride horses.

The heart of the series is a Tai-Chi temple built like a fortress atop a steep outcrop in the desert. At the main courtyard entrance, between two giant stone pillars, is a Celestial Gate, constructed eons ago by space travelers from other parts of the universe.

The Protectors are a special corps of elite warriors trained at the temple and sworn to protect the gate.

There will be plenty of action and adventure, some scary characters, a little romance, intrigue, and drama. Things and people are not always what they seem. But even if you get scared for the main characters, good will prevail over evil forces at the very end.

I’m enjoying plotting and writing this new series. The first book will be released in November 2025. You still have time to read my other books.

amazon - B&N - Smashwords - Kobo

Happy reading!

Vijaya Schartz, award-winning author

Strong Heroines, Brave Heroes, cats

http://www.vijayaschartz.com

amazon - B&N - Smashwords - Kobo - FB

On the Toxicity of Compliments by Byron Fry

 

https://byronfry.com/

What is it that makes artists recoil from compliments? I’m talking about ‘true’ artists here—people who take Art seriously, who live their lives in subordinate servitude to Art; not those who are in it specifically for recognition, admiration or success. We of The Craft have a name for that latter type: Posers. And this piece isn’t about them.

For true servants of The Craft, recognition and approval can de-legitimize Art; this is possibly a by-product of our disdain for critics and the foaming, vapid pop culture whose frenzy they stoke…as if our contribution has no value when the ignorami like our stuff. Mustn’t get that association on us; it’s a mark of disgrace, and might not wash off.

But if that’s the case, then what about compliments coming from quarters we regard as artistically legit? From people we admire, mentors, or fellow artists whose work we venerate. I occasionally receive a true compliment from someone who necessarily gets it—who understands The Process, who I know to have walked in my shoes—and even then, my knee-jerk response is to hurry past it, to turn my face away lest I get forced into accepting the kudos, or worse yet, facing the possibility that I may have actually, finally, done something good and right.

Like many of us, I’ve been deeply ingrained with the sense that accepting compliments, even inwardly—especially inwardly—is bad form. Those of you who live in the artistic culture know that of which I speak. We are painstakingly conditioned to believe that accepting compliments is toxic, and most of us take that conditioning to heart. To accept compliments jokingly is okay—“oh please, no no no (gimme more, gimme more…)”—but not seriously. That might lead to self-approval, which of course fosters incompetence and ends it all--a horrible, dishonorable death.

Is it that we have to hold ourselves to such high standards in order to be competent with The Craft, that acknowledging anything we’ve done right might encourage complacency, thereby threatening the sacred skill we bring to the table? Is our skill set that fragile?

Well, yes. Of course it is.

And I think that what might be at the root of this is the very real necessity to keep ego out of the way in order to hear (or see) what wants to be. Ego is not a bad thing, in the right ratio and context; it is the healthy, normal sense of self and a vital part of how we survive. It drives us to become who and what we are. Without it, no human can ‘become’. The human engine simply won’t run without ego.

But in the artistic process, there’s a very ticklish balance to be had between being the egoless blank canvas—removing self from the equation—so that we can be Her stylus, neither filtering nor discoloring what She wants, while at the same time we must be in command of our skill to the degree required to render Her wishes, which of course requires self and ego, in order for our skill set to be there at the table.

I think most of us agree that the artistic process requires a person who operates from a place of humility. Deep-down humility, the kind that makes us feel like we can never be good enough, never practice enough, never be truly blank enough to really hear (or see) EXACTLY what wants to be, so that we can bring it into the world with the excellence of form that She deserves from us. We’re all different, us artists, in how we create our Art, but for most of us it’s a very fragile process. And this means that recognition, compliments and success are a threat to our Art and well-being, like a rattlesnake in a baby’s crib.

There’s also the exacting criteria by which we must be approved by our peers and fellow practitioners of The Craft. If we’re seen practicing bad Art, or chasing admiration with our Art, it’s blasphemy. Worshiping a false prophet. Our reputation is ruined, as it should be. We must walk in that corridor of trueness that will win the respect and admiration of just the right people, just the right circles. A compliment for the wrong thing, or from the wrong quarters, is like a billboard advertising our disgrace. We must not only walk the line of being true to Her and bringing purity of process to The Craft; we must also be perceived by our peers as walking that line. To achieve success is to bring one’s self under scrutiny, as it’s a very suspicious thing.

There are, of course, those among who achieve huge success in the eyes of pop culture, and in the eyes of true artists alike; who can (if they’re capable of it) accept compliments without dishonor, because they haven’t sullied their Art and their love for Her in achieving that success. But they are vanishingly rare.

 

Our Christmas Novels by Joan Donaldson-Yarmey

 

https://books2read.com/The-Twelve-Dates-of-Christmas

https://books2read.com/Single-Bells

https://bwlpublishing.ca/donaldson-yarmey-joan/

My sister, Gwen Donaldson, and I wrote these two holiday/comedy/romance novels together. They are about women who try dating sites and the strange, wonderful, and unexpected men they meet. We had fun doing this, joking that they are loosely based on Gwen's love life: she does the research while I do the writing. Most of the stories, though, are made up. I don't think anyone has had that many dating disasters. At least, I hope not.

Here are the blurbs from the back of each book. 

The Twelve Dates of Christmas

Stacy Martin, who has been married three times and had many relationships, doesn’t want a man in her life right now but her friends have other ideas. As a forty-ninth birthday present they pay for her to join three dating sites on the Internet. She just has to fill out the forms and pick the men she wants to meet.

The only stipulation is that she must find a man by Christmas Eve so that the two of them can join Kate, one of her friends, and her boyfriend in Hawaii for New Year’s Eve. “All you have to do is pick twelve men to date in December,” Kate said. “After the first date you can decide if you want to see each again. In the end you should be able to choose one for our Hawaii trip.”

Stacy has a full life with owning a flight attendant school, owning a rental condo, and owning a cat. Will she choose a man from a dating site, the man who has accused her female renters of being prostitutes, or the stranger she meets as he is leaving the rental condo building?

Single Bells

Simone Bell-Watson owns a literary agency in Vancouver, B.C. It is just before Christmas and she has discovered her husband is cheating on her. This sends her into a frenzy of starting a divorce, changing her name, selling their condo, and moving in with her mother. She also has to contend with her sister trying to set her up on dating sites to get her back in the dating scene.

Serena Bell owns a popular pub in Richmond, B.C. After many years of dating she is still hopeful of finding the ideal man or at least a man who doesn’t try to change her or who doesn’t point out her faults. She has a profile on many dating sites and has her own rules about when to take texting with a man to the next level of actually going on a date with him.

Their mother, Patricia Reed-Bell is a widow who writes historical romances.

Join the sisters and their mother in this holiday romantic comedy as Simone deals with her new life, Serena dates a number of men, and Patricia flirts and freely talks about sex.

Careers for Characters by Victoria Chatham

 

AVAILABLE HERE

In my historical romances, careers, as we understand them today, did not exist for my heroines. Young ladies of quality were trained from a young age to look for an advantageous marriage, manage a household, and raise a family. However, my leading ladies all had a streak of independence and wanted more than being lady of the manor.

Emmaline Devereux followed in her father’s footsteps and became a spy in the Peninsular Wars. Juliana Clifton learned to swordfight because she didn’t want her brother to have all the fun. I knew next to nothing about sword fighting, so I watched several YouTube videos, but my understanding of methods and techniques with different swords grew to a new level when I attended some fencing classes.

Lady Olivia Darnley loved books and knew her way around libraries. One of my Regency belles, Hester Dymock, was an herbalist and healer. Charlotte Gray learnt map-making skills from her father and millinery from her mother. Phoebe Fisher grew up on a farm and became a competent horsewoman. My Brides of Banff Springs heroine, Tilly McCormack, became a chambermaid at the famous Banff Springs Hotel. The heroine of my new cozy mystery series is a sixty-six-year-old retired primary school headmistress.

I don’t recall having to create a career for any of them, as they all evolved organically. Charlotte Gray was the only one who gave me any trouble. As I saw it, Charlotte’s story was about being a lady’s companion in a quiet country home. I thought she might become the vicar’s wife, very genteel and respectable, but Charlotte wanted adventure, so that was what she had, and then some. It took me a while to figure out a connection between spying and map-making, smuggling and millinery, but once I built her backstory, it came together quite quickly.

AVAILABLE HERE

When we start writing, we are encouraged to write what we know. I knew very little about any skills my heroines needed other than using herbs and horseman(woman)ship. I’ve been around horses since I was five, and my life-long interest in herbalism at age nineteen. Spying during the Napoleonic Wars was rife, and the Duke of Wellington was rumoured to have a network of some four thousand spies. I have always liked maps, so it wasn’t too hard to work that theme into Charlotte’s story. The millinery, not so much.

As the author, you can choose any career for your character, but they will tell you what they like and don’t like, what they can and can’t do, and what they might want to learn. Authors may use their own experiences of a career, as John Grisham did with his legal thrillers, or let their imaginations run wild as J.K. Rowling did with Harry Potter. With judicious research, you can build careers for your characters about which you, the author, know nothing. Dick Francis, the author of over forty horse-racing-related thrillers, had many different careers for his characters, from a glassmaker to an art forger, a horse transporter to a meteorologist, a barrister to a movie star playing detectives on the big screen.

I needed to learn about ranching, cattle, and rodeo stock for my contemporary Western romances. One of my heroines was a lady rancher, another a photojournalist, and the third an interior designer. You might wonder about those last two characters, but those leading ladies became involved with ranchers, so they had to have their own careers.

Once an author has the career background, has done the research, and has begun writing, what emerges is as authentic as possible. However, I hope none of my future characters wants to climb mountains or be a trapeze artist, as I have no head for heights.  

Victoria Chatham

  AT BOOKS WE LOVE

 ON FACEBOOK

 MY WEBSITE