Tag Archives: Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

23 Nov

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

I wrote this a few years ago, but thought it would fit this Thanksgiving time.  Enjoy!

I have many and varied memories of Thanksgivings throughout my lifetime – all of them happy times with family.  I don’t remember making my own turkey or dressing until Fred and I had been married for five or six years, and had moved to Wiesbaden, West Germany with the U.S. Air Force.  Then I was sort-of forced to try my hand at cooking a turkey, whether I wanted to or not!  I did find that it wasn’t as difficult as I thought it might be.  

I have to say here, that neither I nor my brother, Bill, can remember what kind of dressing (or stuffing) our mother made!  I suspect it was cornbread dressing, since Daddy grew up in Louisiana and that’s more likely what was made there.  I never tried to make cornbread dressing, as it isn’t Fred’s favorite.  However, his mother, who grew up in New England, taught me how to make bread dressing, New England style.  So that’s what I’ve made ever since.  It’s what our girls grew up eating, and they – and we – love it!  

All that to say that I do remember some things about Thanksgivings along the way.  I remember the cranberry/orange/pecan relish in gelatin that my mother made in small forms that were placed on leaves of lettuce.

1955 – Albuquerque – Granny, Daddy, Mother, Bill

Dessert time at the Lites Thanksgiving table

Mother’s cranberry relish dish on lettuce leaves on the table (red)

1956 – Albuquerque – Thanksgiving meal

DiVoran, Bill, Judy, David Bowers (DiVoran’s brother)

Daddy, Granny, Dora Bowers (DiVoran and David’s mother), my Mother

I remember the sweet potato dish she made.  And of course there were always mashed white potatoes and lots of turkey gravy.  Pumpkin pies with whipped cream was the dessert.  I don’t remember any other kinds of desserts.

Since our girls are grown and gone to their own families for Thanksgivings now, Fred and I have fallen in the habit of going to Cracker Barrel for Thanksgiving meal – usually lunch.  We can get a wonderful meal of turkey and ham, sweet potato casserole, another vegetable of our choice, mashed potatoes and gravy.  Along with pumpkin pie with whipped cream for dessert.  All for one low price – and I don’t have to cook it or clean it up, either!! 

Photo Credit Google Search and Cracker Barrel website

However, this year will be different.  We have some very good friends in town that we have dinner with once each week – standing date.  Across the street from where they live is another couple that we are all very good friends with, as well.  We have a meal with them once each month.  Usually for Easter or close to Thanksgiving, they will have a meal for a bunch of people, and we  are invited.  Easter brings certain types of foods.  Thanksgiving brings the turkey and ham, etc., and I ALWAYS bring my bread dressing.  This year, they are holding the meal actually on Thanksgiving Day.  So we get to celebrate that wonderful time of family and friendship on the Day itself.  We are blest.  And my bread dressing will be on the table, with probably none left at the end of the meal.

Since we live in a community called Hunter’s Creek here in Orlando, we receive a monthly magazine called “Life at Hunter’s Creek.”  Last year, this was the cover of that magazine.  Since I like to bake and make cookies, this really caught my eye.  I would like to show it here to wish one and all a very

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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Hope in Thanksgiving

28 Nov

Guest Post

Rebekah Lyn

Reblogged from Rebekah Lyn’s Kitchen

This week, Americans celebrate Thanksgiving. A group of settlers known as the Pilgrims celebrated the first feast of Thanksgiving in the “New World”. These “separatists,” as the Church called them, refused to acknowledge the Queen as the Head of the Church, placing herself above the Lord Jesus Christ. The church bishops’ support for this usurpation was evidence to the Pilgrims of the total corruption of the Church. For this rebellion, the Pilgrims faced bulling, taxation, imprisonment on false charges, and societal marginalization. First, they fled to Holland, but life wasn’t any easier there, so they decided to sail for the “New World”.

Challenges plagued their journey from the start. When they landed at Cape Cod, they found a wild wilderness with no protection from fierce winter storms. Scouts found a more sheltered area farther south and upriver, deep enough for the Mayflower to sail in. They spent that first winter onboard their ship while they built shelters ashore. Working in the cold to the point of exhaustion, simple colds grew into pneumonia, killing many. The more adversity they faced, the more fervently they prayed for God’s provision.

All the while, they knew Indians roamed outside their palisade, but only once did they experience a skirmish in which none were injured. March brought more roaring wind along with the introduction to Samoset, a chief of the Algonquin tribe. Samoset spoke flawless English, which he learned from fishing captains who came ashore in Maine near his home. He’d come to the area with one of those captains to explore for the Council of New England.

Several days later, Samoset returned with another Indian who also spoke English, Squanto, and who was originally from this land the Pilgrims had settled. Samoset, Squanto, and Massasoit, chief of the local Wampanoag tribe, met with the Pilgrims and a peace treaty of mutual aid and assistance was reached. Squanto remained when Massasoit and his warriors returned to their homes. He showed the Pilgrims how to fish, to plant corn, to hunt, which native plants were good to eat and which were good for medicine, and much more.

With the harvest of 1621 complete, the colony’s governor, William Bradford, organized a celebration, inviting Squanto and Massasoit, who had been so helpful. When Massasoit arrived, he brought ninety others with him, but they didn’t come empty-handed. They brought deer and turkeys, taught the Pilgrims how to make hoecakes and pudding from cornmeal and maple syrup. The feast lasted three days, and the celebration included sporting competitions between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoags.

More than 150 years later, in 1789, George Washington issued the first national Thanksgiving proclamation to celebrate the conclusion of the American Revolution. The United States did not officially adopt Thanksgiving as an annual holiday until 1863, during the height of the Civil War. By 1939, it was already turning into a commercial holiday, when Franklin Roosevelt moved it up a week hoping to spur retail sales during the Great Depression. Following extreme backlash, Roosevelt signed a bill in 1941, assigning the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving.

Our history is increasingly distorted and many view the founding of America as a bloodthirsty invasion that disregarded the people already living in this unknown land. It is important to remember, the further away we get from an event, the more likely it is to be rewritten to fit a particular narrative or agenda. I’m reading The Light and the Glory by Peter Marshall and David Manuel, first published in 1977. This book traces the history of America, delving into the questions “Did God call Columbus to discover new lands?” and “Was God leading the early settlers to America?”. It’s a fascinating read that challenges much of what our current historians are espousing.

Today, Americans rarely think about how the tradition started or why those first celebrants were in the “New World” to begin with. The holiday has become a day for football, a competitive kick-off to Christmas shopping, a dreaded day of family gathering.

As Christians, we are called to live every day with thanksgiving. Psalm 100 is a song of David that says:

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name. For the Lord is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.

I hope this Thanksgiving you will take time to reflect on what God has done in your lives. Rejoice in the adversity, give thanks in the blessings, and be kind to others.

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Happy Thanksgiving

19 Nov

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

I have many and varied memories of Thanksgivings throughout my lifetime – all of them happy times with family.  I don’t remember making my own turkey or dressing until Fred and I had been married for five or six years, and had moved to Wiesbaden, West Germany with the U.S. Air Force.  Then I was sort-of forced to try my hand at cooking a turkey, whether I wanted to or not!  I did find that it wasn’t as difficult as I thought it might be.  

I have to say here, that neither I nor my brother, Bill, can remember what kind of dressing (or stuffing) our mother made!  I suspect it was cornbread dressing, since Daddy grew up in Louisiana and that’s more likely what was made there.  I never tried to make cornbread dressing, as it isn’t Fred’s favorite.  However, his mother, who grew up in New England, taught me how to make bread dressing, New England style.  So that’s what I’ve made ever since.  It’s what our girls grew up eating, and they – and we – love it!  

All that to say that I do remember some things about Thanksgivings along the way.  I remember the cranberry/orange/pecan relish in gelatin that my mother made in small forms that were placed on leaves of lettuce.

1955 – Albuquerque – Granny, Daddy, Mother, Bill

Dessert time at the Lites Thanksgiving table

Mother’s cranberry relish dish on lettuce leaves on the table (red)

1956 – Albuquerque – Thanksgiving meal

DiVoran, Bill, Judy, David Bowers (DiVoran’s brother) Daddy, Granny, Dora Bowers (DiVoran and David’s mother) my Mother

I remember the sweet potato dish she made.  And of course there were always mashed white potatoes and lots of turkey gravy.  Pumpkin pies with whipped cream was the dessert.  I don’t remember any other kinds of desserts.

Since our girls are grown and gone to their own families for Thanksgivings now, Fred and I have fallen in the habit of going to Cracker Barrel for Thanksgiving meal – usually lunch.  We can get a wonderful meal of turkey and ham, sweet potato casserole, another vegetable of our choice, mashed potatoes and gravy.  Along with pumpkin pie with whipped cream for dessert.  All for one low price – and I don’t have to cook it or clean it up, either!! 

Photo Credit Google Search and Cracker Barrel website

However, this year will be different.  We have some very good friends in town that we have dinner with once each week – standing date.  Across the street from where they live is another couple that we are all very good friends with, as well.  We have a meal with them once each month.  Usually for Easter or close to Thanksgiving, they will have a meal for a bunch of people, and we  are invited.  Easter brings certain types of foods.  Thanksgiving brings the turkey and ham, etc., and I ALWAYS bring my bread dressing.  This year, they are holding the meal actually on Thanksgiving Day.  So we get to celebrate that wonderful time of family and friendship on the Day itself.  We are blest.  And my bread dressing will be on the table, with probably none left at the end of the meal.

Since we live in a community called Hunter’s Creek here in Orlando, we receive a monthly magazine called “Life at Hunter’s Creek.”  Last year, this was the cover of that magazine.  Since I like to bake and make cookies, this really caught my eye.  I would like to show it here to wish one and all a very

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

JUDY’S TURKEY STUFFING

For an 8 pound turkey:

   (Allow one cup stuffing for each pound poultry)

½ – ¾ cup chopped onion

½ – ¾ cup chopped celery

1 cup butter (or ½ cup butter and ½ cup olive oil)

2 quarts dry bread slices, torn into pieces

1 tsp salt

½ tsp ground pepper

1 Tbsp poultry seasoning

1 cup hot water.

Sauté onion and celery in butter.  Mix in salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning.  Pour over dry bread pieces.

Add hot water and mix with your hands to get all the bread wet.  Be sure to get to the bottom of the pan.  If necessary, add more hot water and mix.  Don’t saturate the bread, or it will get too soggy.

Place stuffing in a covered dish in the oven, about 30 minutes.

I prefer the Durkee Poultry Seasoning combination, but use whatever seasoning you like.  

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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Thanksgiving in Virginia

12 Nov

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Reblog from 2019

I wrote this for Thanksgiving 2019.  Since November is Thanksgiving “month,” I would like to present it again.

In previous musings, I mentioned that in 1983 we left Heidelberg, West Germany, and rotated back to the United States.  Fred’s next assignment was to be at Langley AFB, in Hampton, Virginia.  We looked at lots of houses before settling on a house in the “woods” of Seaford, Virginia.  It was about 13 miles from Langley, but Fred didn’t mind the drive, and the schools in York County were top-notch.

Our house in the “woods” of Seaford

We soon joined the local Southern Baptist Church – Seaford Baptist Church, and began our time there, not expecting our time to be longer than the usual three-year tour.  But God had other plans for us, and we stayed there nearly 13 years.

1991 – Seaford Baptist Church – old sanctuary (far left), classrooms, new sanctuary (right)

As the first Thanksgiving arrived, we were pleased to find that Seaford Baptist Church had a Thanksgiving tradition with Zion United Methodist Church, also in Seaford.  That tradition started years before we arrived on the scene.  

Zion United Methodist Church, Seaford, VA 

Credit Google Search and Zion United Methodist website

On the Wednesday evening before each Thanksgiving Day, there was a trade-off.  If the joint services were held in the Baptist church, then the pastor of the Methodist church gave the Thanksgiving message.  The Baptists hosted the service, the Baptist ladies furnished the after-service desserts, and the Baptist church choir sang the special music. 

The following year, the services were held in the Methodist church and the Baptist pastor gave the message.  The Methodist ladies furnished the after-service desserts, and the Methodist choir sang the special music.  It was a wonderful time – and the shared messages and fellowship time gave us opportunities to meet our Seaford neighbors, and worship together.  That’s the way I believe God intends us to do.

We’ve been away from Virginia these 25+ years, so we aren’t sure whether or not this tradition has continued.  We only hope it has.  It was a wonderful tradition.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, Fred and I wish you all the very best of Thanksgiving this year – and the blessing of thanks-giving to our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Credit Pixabay

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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Thanksgiving 2020

3 Dec

On the Porch

Onisha Ellis

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, I hope you enjoyed yours as well. Since my mom’s passing in 2001 Thanksgiving has been bittersweet often accompanied by outbursts of tears as I worked in the kitchen. This year there were no tears.

Our daughter flew up from Florida Thanksgiving morning to be with us for the weekend. After picking her up at the airport, we drove for an hour and a half to a friend’s home to enjoy Thanksgiving together. Bringing in the side dishes I had spent two days preparing, reminded me of Thanksgivings past when my siblings and their families arrived laden with food.

The men were in charge of frying the turkey while the women enjoyed the comfortable conversation of old friends and shared memories. Quite a switch from the past where the men watched television and the women labored in the kitchen!

We spent the night with our friends as our home is a two hour drive away. Our husbands retired to the “man cave” while the ladies talked and shared laughter.

Monday arrived and our daughter’s short visit was over. She was booked on a 10 pm flight and the weather forecast was predicting snow so we decided to secure a room at a hotel near the airport. We are Florda drivers and not at all competent to drive over snowy mountains late at night. Plus canceling a late night flight was not unheard of from the small airport. Our daughter packed overnight clothes and her special memory foam gel pillow should the flight be cancelled.

Her flight was delayed by an hour but at least it did depart. She had left her pillow in the trunk of our car rather than have us haul it into the hotel unnecessarily. The following morning was very cold…18 F degrees when we went out to put our luggage in the car trunk. I reached in to move the pillow and my fingers couldn’t grasp it. The pillow was frozen!

We did a little bit of shopping before heading home. There were only patches of melting snow in the city so we decided to pick up some fried chicken and picnic on the Blue Ridge Parkway on our way home. We were a bit anxious about the parkway being open but were pleased to see the entrance to the parkway was open….except that less than half a mile away the barricades were up.

We didn’t see any snow but someone took this picture near Maggie Valley.

Photo credit Smoky Mountain News

We arrived home with sweet memories tucked in our minds and hearts. Tucked along side these memories is also sorrow for family and friends who have experienced the death of loved ones this year.

I'm a winner

After my retirement, I decided to re-learn the canning and preserving skills I learned from my mother but hadn’t practiced for twenty years. I titled the blog Old Things R New to chronicle my experience.  Since then I have been blessed to have six other bloggers join me, DiVoran Lites, Bill Lites,  Judy Wills, Louise Gibson, Janet Perez Eckles and Melody Hendrix

In addition to blogging, I work as the publicist/marketer/ amateur editor and general  “mom Friday” for my author daughter, Rebekah Lyn. I also manage her website, Rebekah Lyn Books  where we frequently host the best in up and coming authors.

My 2020 goal is to use my love of photographs and words to be an encourager on social media. You can visit Real Life Books and Media You Tube Channel if you would like to view some of the mini-videos I have created for our church, Gateway Community in Titusville, Fl.

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Happy Thanksgiving 2020

26 Nov

On the Porch

Onisha Ellis

Happy Thanksgiving friends! However you are celebrating, may your day be blessed with sweet memories of past celebrations as you make new memories today.

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Drenched in Thanksgiving

28 Nov

On the Porch

Onisha Ellis

I am grateful that life doesn’t have to be perfect to be thankful. It has been heartening in the days leading up to today to see organizations and churches inviting communities to share together the Thanksgiving meal.

This week I read Psalm 116:17:

I will sacrifice a thank offering to you
    and call on the name of the Lord.

Then I read it in the Passion translation.

May you be drenched with Thanksgiving today.

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Go Through His Gates and Give Thanks!

22 Nov

On the Porch

Onisha Ellis

I decided to share a different  version of Psalm 100. This is from The Voice. Psalm 100 is one of my favorites.

4 Go through His gates, giving thanks

 walk through His courts, giving praise.

    Offer Him your gratitude and praise His holy name.

5 Because the Eternal is good,

His loyal love and mercy will never end,

and His truth will last throughout all generations.

 

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Best Thanksgiving Dinner Recipe

18 Nov

Walking by Faith, Not by Sight

Janet Perez Eckles

 

 

 

 

My friend stopped by the other day. We sat at the kitchen table and chatted. She rumbled in her purse. “You have to see the pictures I took during our trip,” she said.

I smiled.

“Oops,” she added, “I always forget you…well…that you can’t see.”

“I forget myself,” I said with a chuckle. (I like folks with a sense of humor.)

For me, having no sight is a way of life…actually a wonderfully blessed life. My days sweep by with gratitude, so much thankfulness that I can hear, walk, talk, and love. I am truly rich with so much.

And for that reason, I thought I’d share my unique recipe for this Thanksgiving dinner. I don’t mind if you copy it and serve it to your loved ones.

  1. Gather the ingredients stored in the cabinet of God’s Word.
  2. Stir together large portions of His promises, spoonfuls of His direction, and dashes of His admonitions.
  3. Place in a large bowl several cups of commitment to read His Word.
  4. Add generous amounts of faith to cover all traces of doubt.
  5. Blend together, adding sprinkles of laughter, of enjoyment, fun, and unexpected surprises.
  6. Bake in the oven of your heart till triumph is golden brown.

With songs of thanksgiving playing in the background, present it to the guests who come into your life. And unlike the rest of the world, instead of entering the doors to stress, gloom or anxiety for the days to come, “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name” (Psalm 100:4).

Why? “For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations” (Psalm 100:5).

It’s your turn, can you share some things you’ll be giving thanks for this year? Would love, love to read them. You can send them to me via comment.

Did you know most of my writings are drawn from my bestselling book, Simply Salsa: Dancing Without Fear at God’s Fiesta? Did you get your own copy yet? And how about one for that person who needs encouragement and a reason to feel joy again?

Simply Salsa is available HERE.

Janet

Video sneak peek:  https://youtu.be/Ox9zAIeRRTA

Source: http://www.janetperezeckles.com/blog/best-thanksgiving-dinner-recipe.html#comment-961

 

 

 

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My Thanksgiving Letter

24 Nov

On the Porch

Onisha Ellis

 I am writing this as a letter because, I think of our readers as friends. You come and let us share our lives with you and share yours in return. That is what friends do. I am beyond thankful for the friends who faithfully blog here each week, DiVoran, Bill, Louise, Judy, Melody and Janet. They inspire me with their commitment and wisdom. I love you guys!

Dear friends,

It is funny how circumstances change our thankful list. Usually on Thanksgiving our  list is for family, health ,friends, and of course, our Savior.  This year, we woke up to wet grass and the wonderful rain is at the top of our list.

Our beautiful North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee mountains that are part of the forest service lands, have been viciously attacked by arsonist and thousands of acres  are affected.  I pray it was enough to give our firefighters and those from across the country who came to help, a rest this Thanksgiving day.

This morning, I pulled out old favorites as well as new cookbooks to get our meal started. One of my “must have” books is an old one from Ebenezer United Methodist Church in Raleigh, NC. It has been a part of our Thanksgiving meal for years. They have put out newer ones, but I love the old version. This year, I have added a new favorite, Janet’s Appalachian Cookbooks. Rebekah mixed up the School House Rolls recipe and I can’t wait to sink my teeth in their yeasty goodness. Of course, I had to go to the internet to find a recipe so we have a beautiful blending of old with new. Our turkey is in the roaster and the oven is almost ready for the side dishes. It has been a joy working side by side in the kitchen with my daughter. We each have our quirks when it comes to cooking and how we do things, but we can laugh about them and it adds to the fun.

I won’t pretend that my heart does not have a tender spot, missing the large family meals with my parents, brothers and their families. We don’t have any children’s voices laughing and arguing or the camaraderie of a bunch of women in the kitchen. I miss it but I am so blessed to have had that time. I hope wherever you gathered today, that you treasured the moments and you loved richly.

Talk to you later, the oven is ready!

Love,

Onisha

philippians-48

UPDATE: One of our favorite places in Macon county is Wayah Bald, with it’s rustic fire tower and breathtaking views. It is also a favorite rest stop for hikers on the   Appalachian Trail. I read on Facebook tonight that one of the forest fires burned the tower. I can’t conceive of the anger a heart must hold to destroy so much beauty. I fear the damage to the stone structure might be too damaged to repair. I am thankful for the memories we made there and hopeful it will be restored.

Beautiful in the fall
Burned

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