Good Eats

For years as Youth Counselor at our church, I had to make two turkeys a year for the Sunday before Thanksgiving, but left the cooking to someone else as we'd travel up to our cousins' in Sioux Falls. Neither happened this year. Instead, I volunteered for pie duty! Nothing disappoints me more than a holiday with cake or bars or dishes but no pie.

I've made pumpkin pies for years, but I pretty much just use the pie in a can from Libby's and get it done easy. This year we had put up tons of apples from a visit to Small's Fruit farm in October and of course I'd found out in August that I'm diabetic, so I went through a lot more work. They turned out great- ( all the non-diabetics in the family said they were good, anyway) so I'd like to share the recipes here.

First a turkey hint that my mother-in-law tried that made this year's some of the most succulent and moist we've ever had: "Brine." You take a 5 gal. pail, fill it with 4 gal. of water, 4 cups salt and 2 cups sugar. Then you soak your frozen turkey in it all day, drain it and let it sit overnight in the fridge.- then just bake it the way you normally do any other year. Google it for better instructions if you don't believe me, it was great.

Mal's All American Apple Pie

• 6oz frozen apple juice (this is the secret)
• 2 tbs flour (I used stone ground, but I'm really into my low carb diet right now)
• 1 tsp cinnamon (heaping, frankly 2 won't hurt anything)
• 1/4 tsp salt (aka "a pinch")
• Apples ( I used a 1/2 gallon pre-cut and frozen)
• 1 tbs butter or margorine
• 1 tsp nutmeg (but a pinch is fine, just less nutmeg than cinnamon- are you getting that cooking is more art than science for me?)

Stir together on low heat for 3-5 minutes or until it starts to thicken. Pour into ready made pie shell, cover with another pie shell, pincing together around the edge. My wife taught me to cover the outside edge of the crust with aluminum foil to prevent it from burning. Her grandmother says to drizzel a little melted butter on top and sprinkle with sugar to make a prettier, tastier crust, but she didn't tell me that until they were done already so I'll take her word for it.

Bake for 15 minutes at 450°, lower heat to350° and bake another 30-40 minutes, check to see if crust is just right.

Great served either hot or cold. This was a BIG hit. Michigan Mallorys would top with sharp cheddar cheese, but Iowa Neddermeyers made homeade whipped cream (which I skipped for sake of the old blood glucose levels, already peaking from all the trukey & stuffing.)

It's Ted's Great Pumpkin Pie, Charlie Brown

• 2 cups (one 20 oz can) of pumpkin ("all natural," not "pie mix." You could also puree your own if you want to go to the work. One year I tried a different recipe that you bake in the actual pumpkin shell itsef, it tasted grate, but wound up being really runny- but trust me, THIS recipe sets up perfect)
• 1 tsp cinnamon (heaping)
  
• 1/2 tsp "pumpkin pie spice"
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp ginger (generous)
  
• 2 tsp Splenda sugar substitute (other recipies only call for one, but that's gonna be too bland- frankly, I think you can boost the cinnamon and/or ginger a little too if you want)
• 1 cup milk ( I suppose you can use condensed or evaporated, but watch the sugar levels if you're diabetic)

Simply pour into a ready made pie crust, level and let sit for a while, cover the edge of the crust, and bake at 350° for 50-60 minutes, checking it with a toothpick. Let cool over night.

We had it with home made whipped cream- not diabetic, but Jeez, did it make it awesome!

Thanksgiving Specials

Truly, I probably am way too busy to write a weekly column anymore, but I can't lie, I really do miss it. What do Americans do when they miss something? Bring it back in "re-runs."

So, in the event that there are actually two or three of you out there who read this blog or who used to read my column and would like to have something to put you in the Thanksgiving spirit-
Click here: http://tedscolumn.blogspot.com/search/label/Thanksgiving to read my Thanksgiving columns from 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007!

This time of year is for kids

Thursday, November 29 2007- Mapleton PRESS

The holiday season offers many opportunities to learn from kids, or hopefully to have them learn from you.

Case in point, I was sitting across from my 8 year old niece at a church dinner when she asked me a culinary question.

“Have you ever had Crème Brulée?”

“Mmmm, Crème Brulée,” I said, practically licking my lips. “Mmm, I like Crème Brulée, your Aunt Bethany LOVES Crème Brulée, you know, I bet that your Mom would like it too. It is SO good...” a look of abject horror registered on her face. How could any kid not like sugar custard topped with caramelized brown sugar?
“
YOU like fish eggs?!” she asked incredulously.

Obviously she got her French confused with her Russian.

“I think you mean Caviar, Caviar is fish eggs,” I explained. “It’s really salty, it’s really not as bad as you think, but it’s not my favorite. What you should really try is escargot. We had that once at a French restaurant in California. I love garlic, but I wasn’t crazy about the escargot itself. But You might love it, it’s very fancy,” after all, she is our princess.

She must have known better than to take another bite of turkey and mashed potatoes before she asked, “What’s es-car-go?”

“Snails,” I replied as matter-of-factly as I could. This exchange led to her father, my brother-in-law and I to begin discussing the calamari (squid) experiences we each had while living on the coast. I believe it was about that point when my daughter and niece both excused themselves from the table. They looked like they were heading for the bathroom, but who knows.

Then there was the concert the missionaries put on at our church one night. I guess it was pretty motivational for a lot of people. I know that they’re absolutely sincere and committed to the Lord, but I guess my musical tastes tend to be a little more worldly. But before our five year old became so disruptive that we had to leave, the concert provided a classic theological moment with our eight year old.

The husband of the duo stood up and walked away from his keyboard for a few moments of ministerial soliloquy before beginning a solo. Our daughter, Grace seemed absolutely mesmerized, no small feat with her younger sisters behaving as they were. It must have been because the man’s solo featured a piano accompaniment, but he was standing with his hands caressing a microphone, nowhere near his keyboard.

Halfway through the song, Grace leaned over to me and whispered, “Is God or Jesus playing the piano?”

See somewhere between enraptured Pentecostals and irreverent Agnostics lay we sensibly stoic Lutherans, so I pointed out the iPod held in the hand of the young man operating the mixing board in the middle of the pews. “Oh!” Grace whispered, nodding her head in recognition. She’s pretty tech-savvy so she knew what going on.

Fortunately, she still believes in God and Jesus although she announced on our drive to the family Thanksgiving that she “knows that Santa Claus is a fake.” She’d really into history and science so if we’d been alone, I might have tried talking about the real Saint Nicholas and generosity and faith all that grown-uppy stuff, but she dropped this bomb in front of her two and five year old sisters who were aghast.

Like any good parents we responded with an interrogation, “Who told you THAT?”
“A boy in my class,” for his protection, I will withhold his name at this time thereby preserving his anonymity.

“Well, you know what?” I went on, “I bet he’s just mad at Santa because he was naughty last year and got some coal in is stocking or something. Kids always say there’s no Santa, when really, they’re mad at Santa because they were naughty,” I reasoned.

After all, it has been my experience that there aren’t really any atheists. Probe someone who’s an atheist and you’ll usually find at most an agnostic who wants to be an atheist because they’re so angry at God. You can’t disbelieve someone and hate them at the same time. She seemed to buy it. Hopefully, in another year or two we can have “the talk” in private.

Ellen, our five year old is very concerned about Santa. Evidently, she’s worried that he’s getting very old and is much too over weight.

“Daddy?” she asked me one night after dance practice.

“Yes sweety?”

“I hope Santa Claus doesn’t die. What will happen to all of the children if he dies?”

“Um, er, uh…well, uh Santa is really good friends with Jesus, I uh” I was inches from going into History and Religion teacher mode and telling her about how Saint Nicholas punched out a Gnostic heretic at the Council of Nicea and how the legend started and how it has been adapted to different cultures all over the world, but she didn’t let me get a word in edgewise-

“Yeah, so God and Jesus won’t let Santa die because he wants all of the little children to have new toys for Christmas, like I want an MP3 player and a new Karaoke machine and a…” So obviously I have some lessons to go on selfishness, materialism, and the tragic discrepancies between the United States and most of the underdeveloped world. I let it go.

This was the same night that she told me that Elvis loved Christmas because he made all these Christmas movies that she’s seen in school and that “it’s too bad Elvis is dead because that means that she can’t marry him and that that’s why Aunt Lori had to Marry Uncle Mark, because Aunt Lori loves Elvis SO much”

Have a blast this Thanksgiving

Category:		Meat & Seafood
Style:		American

Ingredients:
4 Eggs
4 c Bread crumbs
1/2 Envelope Lipton onion soup
1 c Uncooked popcorn

Directions:
Beat eggs and other ingredients. Stuff turkey and bake at 375 degrees for 3 hours. When 3 hours are up get the hell out of the kitchen because that stuffing is gonna blow that turkeys ass right out of that oven.

Be thankful you live in the present, not the past

If you just can’t think of anything to be thankful for this thanksgiving, be thankful that you live in the Midwest in 2007 rather than in New England in the 1620s.

The Governor of Plymouth (William Bradford) invited Grand Sachem (what the heck is a Sachem, anyway? That’s why we use easier labels like “Chief”) Massasoit and the Wampanoag people to join them in a feast which included fresh eel and corn. Mmmmm, eel.

The Pilgrim settlers fed and entertained the Native Americans for three days, at which point some of the Native Americans went into the forest, killed 5 deer, and gave them to the Bradford as a gift. I don’t have anything against venison, but it seems to me like the Wampanoag family just didn’t know when to go home. That or the Pilgrims were way too polite and couldn’t figure out a sensitive way to let them know that the party was over and they needed to get to bed so they could get up in time for the big sales at the Plymouth Mall Friday morning.

Something I’ve often wondered as a student of history is whether “Wampanoag” is a Wampanoag word or an English one. I guess if there can be tribes with names like Lakota, Ioway, Ute, and Pawnee, there can be one called Wampanoag.

Young parents who give their babies “Black” names like Tanisha, Taquisha and Laquisha confound white people. What if people went back and used Wampanoag names like Squanto and Massasoit? This was a difficult paragraph to read, wasn’t it? Just imagine being poor William Bradford and having to pronounce all the non-English words. People form Iowa have a hard time pronouncing Spanish words like Cholla (Choya), Ocotillo (Oc-a-tiyo) and Saguaro (Sa-wor-o).

The last think I want to do is to be insensitive to Native Americans. Maybe Massasoit should have had a better policy about illegal immigration. His oldest son Wamsutta mysteriously turned up dead after meeting with the leaders of the Plymouth colonists. That made his second son Metacomet angry enough to declare war on the Pilgrims.

If you’re thankful that a woman may become the next President of the United States, thank the Wamanoag for setting the example of encouraging women leaders. Massasoit was Grand Sachem, but Weetamoo was a female Sachem. She drowned in a river running to escape from the Pilgrims. Then there was Awashonks, another woman Sachem who led braves into battle along side Metacomet.

Whew! Those are hard names. Probably why the Pilgrims decided to just call Metacomet “Prince Phillip.”

Poor Bill Bradford. His first wife, Dorothy May Bradford fell overboard from the Mayflower in December 1620, and drowned in Provincetown Harbor. He must have threw himself into his political career, because he was elected governor thirty times. The first Governor, John Carver died in the winter of 1620, along with half the Mayflower’s passengers. I’m not sure if Bradford constituted the first machine politician, centuries before Chicago’s Richard Daley or if it was more like the Mayor’s job in Charter Oak, where nobody else wants to do it so poor Randy just gets stuck with it.

Of course Captain Myles Standish had that whole “Serino Debergiac” thing going on with John Alden and Priscilla Mullins. Mrs. Standish got sick and died in 1621 and Myles hoped to remarry the demure Miss Mullins, but being a shy sailor and not one of the “in-crowd” among the Separatist Pilgrims, he asked his friend John to ask Pris if she thought he was cute and if she’d sit by him at recess. Unfortunately for Capt. Myles, she started crushing on Johnny instead. That’s how those things always seem to work out.

FYI Standish was just “a captain,” “THE Captain” of the HMS Mayflower was Captain Christopher Jones. Why nobody ever remembers him, I don’t know. Presumably he was just under contract to the Plymouth Company and not one of the Pilgrims. Of the 100 passengers on the three-month passage, the “strangers” outnumbered the Pilgrims.

Around 1741, the townspeople of Plymouth wanted to build a wharf. They decided to commemorate their town fathers with big boulder about 650 feet from where the initial settlement was built. Thus was “Plymouth Rock,” our nations first tourist trap, born. It must have been a big rock. In 1774 they decided to haul it up to town hall. Unfortunately, it broke in half and they just left part of it down by the wharf. History is never easy.

Pregnant Turkey

No, this isn't one of my family's stories, this is just a funny forward that I received. But I'd LOVE to hear someone who reads it try this prank on their family this Thanksgiving, this is CLASSIC!

One year at Thanksgiving, my mom went to my sister's house for the traditional feast. Knowing how gullible my sister is, my mom decided to play a trick.

She told my sister that she needed something from the store. When my sister left , my mom took the turkey out of the oven, removed the stuffing, stuffed a Cornish hen, and inserted it into the turkey, and re-stuffed the turkey. She then placed the bird (s) back in the oven.

When it was time for dinner, my sister pulled the turkey out of the oven and proceeded to remove the stuffing. When her serving spoon hit something, she reached in and pulled out the little bird.

With a look of total shock on her face, my mother exclaimed, 'Patricia, you've cooked a pregnant bird!' At the reality of this horrifying news, my sister started to cry.
I
t took the family two hours to convince her that turkeys lay eggs!

Yup................SHE'S BLONDE

Happy Thanksgiving

Fostering an attitude of gratitude
Charter Oak-Ute NEWSpaper Schleswig Leader, Thursday, November 23, 2006 Page 3

A friend of mine recently had to tangle with a bureaucrat at a college over some paperwork relating to their teaching license. The clerk couldn’t have been less accommodating toward my friend. This was not merely inconvenient (red tape never is) but since the institution they were dealing with was my friend’s Alma matter, it felt like a betrayal by one’s family.
Another friend needed to unload in an E-mail. They’ve been working their tail off trying to do a good job serving their customers. They had hoped to be excited about introducing some new features. But instead of appreciation, they were met only with complaints.
“You show favoritism toward so-and-so, where’s such and such? Why don’t you ever do this or I didn’t like this, I want more of that...” My friend was very discouraged.
Frankly, I’m not a positive person myself, by nature. If anything I tend to be pretty melancholy- on a good day I may be a skeptical, sarcastic curmudgeon and on a bad day I can be a mopey, depressed basket case. Being lassoed into coaching cheerleading some years ago may have helped me to not become a total wreck.
After reading several books on cheerleading I was confronted with the fact that cheerleaders need to have a positive attitude.
So how does one become more positive, polite and personable?
It seems to me that this Thanksgiving holiday, we could all stand to start by spending less time worrying or complaining about what we don’t have and spend more of our energy appreciating all the blessings that we DO have.
For one thing, it is powerful medicine to remind yourself that the most important things in life aren’t things.
Think about how Jimmy Stewart’s character George Bailey complained about his drafty old house that was falling apart in the Holiday classic “It’s a Wonderful Life.” All the time he was surrounded by a beautiful wife and kids who loved him. At the end of the film the angel Clarence reminds George that “no man is a failure who has friends.”
It is important to keep “things” in perspective. Do we love things and use people or love people and merely use things.
Another trick is to appreciate the little things. Even simple, mundane things should be seen as blessings.
Singing is free. What would life be like without jokes? Trees were a great idea. Coffee smells good, feels warm and tastes rich. Eyelids are very useful. Think about all the things you take for granted and be grateful for them.
Smile at people, say hello, and thank them. Thank your parents, thank the kid who serves you your burger, thank a soldier for their service to our country. Say thank you. You’d be amazed at how meaning full it is.
Most of us forget to give thanks, but by God, if we think that something is wrong, we sure as heck don’t forget to complain or criticize.
Certainly we need to make sure that we thank God for all He’s blessed us with, but I bet He’ll like it if we work harder at remembering to thank people even for the smallest things that they do for us- even when we assume that its their responsibility to serve us in the first place.
Many authors recommend starting every morning giving Him thanks. He deserves it and it is a good way to start your day in a good mood.
Hard up for what to be thankful for this Thanksgiving? Try taking a look at Philippians 4:8 and challenge your family members and dinner guests to come up with as many items as you can in each category:
“Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things... And the God of peace will be with you.”

Turkey & Football

The family clamored around the table. The aroma of a home cooked meal filled the air, as did the feeling of anticipation- after all, the meal had been in preparation all morning and some items even the night before.

But first, the lady of the house had to welcome their guests who were waiting at the door.

“Greetings Massasoit, we’re so clad you decided to come, may I take your head-dress?”

“Thank you Barbara, here, we weren’t sure what to bring, I hope you like it,” he said while handing her a steaming the corn casserole. His wife came in behind him with bowl of cracked-wheat and brown sugar pudding. “Where’s Myles?” He then asked.

“Oh, he’s in the back with the boys getting ready for the big game. He said something about the teams wearing their old uniforms or something, it’s right through here,” she directed the Chief past the great room and back to the den.

“Good grief,” sighed his wife, Standing-Water. “Every year it’s the same thing, it seems like from September to January I’m a widow every Sunday.”

“I know what you mean,” she empathized. “Come on back to the kitchen,” she invited, “Priscilla’s here.”

“Oh my,” Mrs. Massasoit whispered, “I thought she was the one who was after your Myles.”

“Oh Lordy,” Barbara Standish assured her, “that was over eons ago. Besides, it was Myles who was after her- water under the bridge now. Besides, her new beau, John Alden is with her. He’s back there rough housing with the kids. My land, I swear I’ll never understand a man’s fascination with throwing a pig’s bladder around.”

Finally, meal time arrived. The children petered each other and teased. The youngest kids turned up their noses at the squash and peas. The Herring and eel were very popular, but not as much as the venison with gooseberry relish. Myles Standish had to stop the boys from throwing hickory nuts at the girls. For the most part, a good time was had by all.

Until Bill Bradford stood up to make a speech. He had hitting the ale pretty hard all afternoon.

“The Council has thought meet to appoint and set apart...a day of Solemn Thanksgiving and praise to God for such his Goodness and Favour, many Particulars of which mercy might be Instanced...” he rambled.

“Oh no,” pined Alden under his breath to his friend Myles, “Here he goes talking about religion again.

“...The Council doth commend it to the Respective Ministers, Elders and people of this Jurisdiction;” Bradford continued.

“Aw man,” Standish complained to Alden, now he’s on to politics...”

And thus the first Thanksgiving dinner was ruined by people talking about sex, politics, and religion. If only they would have stuck to food and football.

Confessions of an L-tryptophan addict

Confessions of an L-tryptophan addict
by Ted Mallory Charter Oak-Ute NEWSpaper Thursday, December 2, 2004

I sent out a letter to LYF parents about the annual Thanks-Giving dinner toward the end of October/ at the beginning of November. Still, one parent thought I should cover my bases. With church attendance what it’s been, not to mention the pastor-vacancy and the shrinking sizes of junior high and high school classes…we worried about whether we’d have enough food and enough help.

So I sent out another letter the week before and I decided to make phone calls. The prospect of calling all eighteen high school students in the congregation seemed a little daunting. I’m not exactly phone-phobic, but it’s not something I enjoy or do well. I prefer to let my fingers do their walking on a keyboard for emails or newsletters.

I eliminated calls before I began. There are three sets of siblings in LYF, no need to call people twice. Eight of the eighteen are pretty faithful in their participation, of course four of them are two of those three sets of siblings. That left nine phone calls of people who either participated part of the time or were as a Pastor or church Elder might refer to as “delinquent.”

One family had moved away, that narrowed it down to eight. Moving creates bureaucratic hang ups. The small, rural, conservative Lutheran church sits waiting for some official letter or application or notice of transfer of church membership or something the same way things were done in the nineteenth century. Things are so fluid and fickle in California that you just assume people aren’t members anymore if they’ve been gone for a month.

So I started calling. The two siblings were in, that was good news, although we only asked for one turkey from each family, not one from each kid. Some one else had bought a house and was going to move later this year. Their plan was to pain the new house the weekend of the dinner, but they’d bring food, great. Thanks. Someone else was having their big, extended family’s official family Thanksgiving that weekend. Understandable, thanks for letting us know, oh well, catch ya next year. Someone else was moving back into their home after months of rebuilding. More than understandable, do what ya gotta do.

Another, I don’t know if we’ll be there but we’ll send the food, Okay, thanks. Another, oh, we’re visiting family out of state that weekend, but we’ll send the food. Great, it wasn’t pre-cooked, but I could take care of that. I left a message on a the machine of another, but they never got back to me. Is that more than eight yet? Probably, that’s why I teach Art and not Math.

The hardest was the kid who apparently thought that I was assuming that they were their parent. They flatly told me that they would not be participating and then started giggling at me derisively as they hung up. I don’t know if they thought I had hung up already or just thought I was that stupid. Oh well. It wasn’t my intention to try to force them to do something they didn’t want to or that they thought would be boring or too much work. I see the turkey dinner as a service to the congregation and the community. And, I see the youth group as a way to have fun while growing in your faith. Maybe this kid sees us as dumb or lame or whatever kids call things that they don’t like these days. C’est la Vie, time to apply Luke 10:10-12.

At any rate. I figured, we’d have at least 10 or 12 turkeys, surely that would be enough to serve the average 160 people who come through the line every year. I had gotten the ingredients for Edna Johansen’s stuffing. One of the moms had gotten the groceries for corn and cranberries. I even took care of the potatoes with Staley’s. That sounds like no big deal, but as a non-detail, attention deficit afflicted guy like me, that was a personal victory. Sorry to come in last minute, as usual. Rick, thanks for saving me.

I figured that even if we only had six core kids and a couple of parents, we could handle the work. One mom offered to make two turkeys just in case. I thought about doing that too, although I already had two to make, mine and that family who was going out of state. The next worry was whether or not anyone would come. It used to be that Church was at 9:45 and people pretty well just filed down right after Church at 11. With the vacancy, St. John begins services at 8:15. Would people come back for lunch after going home for an hour?

My alarm went off at it’s usual 5:30 Saturday morning.

“Are you going to put your turkey in?” Beth asked.

I usually turn my alarm off on weekends, so I was crabby as a bear woke early from hibernation.

“Mmmggrg.” I mumbled. “It takes four hours, if I were going to have it done by the time we go in to decorate I would’ve had to start it an hour ago. Leavemealone. ZZZZZZ.”

Eventually I did get the first bird in by seven. There were six kids and two parents at the church to decorate and set tables at nine. A few of the usually true-blue boys weren’t there because they were at the Harlan football game at UNI. I can’t blame them. But we no only did a terrific job, we got done in record time- just one hour.

At eleven I checked my turkey. Toast. Hmmm, I don’t get it. The label said “3-4 hours for 10-12 lb turkeys” and “3 ½-51/2 for 12-15 lb turkeys.” So why did 4 hours do this?

“T-E-D!” Beth turned my name into a three syllable word. “Weren’t you WATCHING it? What did you think that little red button that pops out is for?”

She went to Denison to buy a replacement, along with some groceries for our own pantry. I set to work salvaging what I could. Surprisingly, only the first outer inch or so was really ruined. Once you got deeper in there was a lot of juicy meat. I pulled as much off the bones as I could and then got busy on my pumpkin pies. MMMM, does that ever make a house smell good! I’m proud to say that Martha Stewart would be proud! They were the best two pies I’d ever made. No over flow, no burnt crust, set up nice and firm. (of course, I did check on them every fifteen minutes or so.)

No sooner than I set the turkey in Tupperware out on the porch, the neighborhood cats started barking at our door. I thought it would be wise to put the turkey safely inside the refrigerator.

Turkey number two was probably the best tasting of the three. I know because I tested each of them. I think I learned from Julia Child that you’re supposed to do that sort of thing. I even found Biblical precedent for it: For the Scripture says, "Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain," and "The worker deserves his wages." ~1Timothy 5:18

Some people loath turkey. Others tolerate it once or twice a year. I could have it once a week. I think it’s great. Maybe it’s that it’s a comfort food. Maybe it’s that it’s got a deeper flavor than chicken, like Bison compared to beef, turkey makes chicken seem boring. Maybe it’s the L-tryptophan, that famous enzyme that makes you sleepy.

Turkey number two wasn’t done till eight or nine at night. It was definitely the best looking of the three. Reddish. Although, since the oven had been on 350º for twelve hours, some of the plastic from the top of the bag had melted onto the skin of the bird. Of course, this could also have been because when I put the turkey in the bag, the bottom fell out, so I had to tie it at both ends, rather than just one.

What a wonderful turn out! Not only did we have nine kids, but we had eleven of their parents helping on the line and in the kitchen. Not only that, but we didn’t just have 160 guests, we had around 200! Maybe it was a miracle, but we had just enough food too. Most years all the LYF families negotiate over who gets stuck with the leftovers. This year, there weren’t enough to worry about. And needless to say, people were very generous. Hopefully the offering will make up for any future revenue shortfalls LYF has because of a smaller and smaller membership preventing further fundraisers. Thank you Thank you Thank you.

So, three days later we loaded up the girls and drove to Sioux Falls, where Beth’s cousin has to worry about cooking. I can just enjoy the soothing effects of the tryptophan, and watch the Detroit Lions beat whoever they’re matched up against this year.

Thank you Charter Oak, thank you LYF kids and parents, and Thank you, Lord. Now, if I could just figure out what to get my parents and brother and his wife for Christmas!

Ten Thanksgiving myths exposed - The Daily Campus - Focus

Ten Thanksgiving myths exposed - The Daily Campus - Focus:
"Ten Thanksgiving myths exposed"

Myth #1: The Plymouth Pilgrims of 1620 were the first to celebrate Thanksgiving in America.

Fact #1: The Indians at that time had been living in North America for some 40,000 years before the Pilgrims even arrived, and they certainly had celebrated their harvest before.

Myth #2: The Pilgrims wore only black and white clothing, and they had buckles on their hats, garments and shoes.

Fact #2: Buckles did not come into fashion until the seventeenth century, and black and white were usually only worn on Sundays and formal occasions.

Myth #3: The Mayflower intended to land in Virginia but instead landed in Cape Cod due to navigational error.

Fact #3: The Pilgrims did intend to land in Virginia, but not the Virginia that we all know and love. They were planning to land in "Northern Virginia," which is modern-day New York state, but ended up in Cape Cod instead.

Click here to read the rest!

Thankful for freedom

Rockwell's Four Freedoms

Thankful for freedom
Thursday November 25, 2004

This thanksgiving I am grateful for America’s great artist, Norman Rockwell. Rockwell painted four of his most famous paintings, “the Four Freedoms” in response to Franklin Delano Roosevelt's 1941 State of the Union address:



In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we
look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms.
The first is freedom of speech and expression --everywhere in the world.

Think about the First Amendment.:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of
the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the
government for a redress of grievances.”


FDR’s hope was that these freedoms would be extended throughout the world.
Rockwell remembered how Arlington, Vermont neighbor, Jim Edgerton had stood
up during a town meeting to voice a particularly unpopular opinion.
Rockwell’s 1943 painting shows Edgerton, dressed in work clothes, surrounded
by skeptical onlookers in decidedly white-collar clothes.

Maybe I identify with the guy in this painting. There are times when my opinions may
not be broadly shared or well-liked, but there are times when I feel passionately enough that I have to share them. Thank God, we live in a country I can. And so can you. More than ever before, we can call in to radio shows or email in to Travis Justice on Channel 3, or write in to the NEWSpaper.

If there are impediment to this freedom, it’s not government censorship. One market forces. When essentially three or four corporations own our major media outlets, what makes the agenda will be what sells, or what doesn’t offend advertisers- not what needs to be said. The
other is peer pressure. People won’t speak up or disagree if they’re made to feel inferior or intimidated socially.

The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way--
everywhere in the world.

Christians in Sudan are sold into slavery. Churches are bombed in Iraq. Religious organizations must register and be closely regulated and scrutinized in China. But if we are going to protect this freedom for ourselves and make it appealing to others, we need to be careful to remember our own history. Sure, the Puritan Pilgrims we remember on Thanksgiving were fleeing England to find religious freedom, because they were being persecuted, but who was persecuting them. Christians were disagreeing with Christians. The Puritans felt persecuted by King James (as in King James Bible).

It didn’t take the Pilgrims long to deny religious freedom to others. Rhode Island was founded by people kicked out of the Massachusetts Bay Colony because they let women participate in home Bible studies. I’m a Christian who opposes mandatory prayer in public schools because as a Lutheran-Christian, I don’t want my children forced to participate in Mormon or Scientologist rituals. Surely Baptists, Methodists, and Catholics would agree with me on that.

Thank God that He allows Muslims, Hindus, and even Satanists to reject Him. He doesn’t FORCE anyone to love Him or believe in Him, and thank God, neither does the United States of America. God wants everyone to know the truth about Him and He continues
to love them even if they deny that truth, but they reject Him, not the other way around. Rockwell’s painting features contrasting skin tones in the multi-ethnic figures, a daring thing to do in the 1940’s. “Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight.”

The third is freedom from want, which, translated into world terms, means
economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime
life for its inhabitants --everywhere in the world.

Did you know that if the entire world were only 100 people, 59% of
the entire world's wealth would belong to only 6 people and all 6 would be citizens of the United
States?! How lucky, how blessed, how fortunate, how spoiled? I love Thanksgiving, I love turkey, I love eating, but I have to tell you, that this statistic does make me eat my pumpkin pie with a scoop of guilt.

Be that as it may, this is one of the most beautiful, warm, joyful paintings by Norman Rockwell ever. It’s the one with Grandma and Grandpa hosting Thanksgiving dinner, serving up the picture-perfect bird on a platter to the family gathered around the holiday table.

The fourth is freedom from fear, which, translated into world terms, means a
world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression
against any neighbor --anywhere in the world.

This painting shows a mom and dad tucking their kids into bed at night. The dad has a newspaper with headlines announcing WWII bombings in Europe. I know that Charter Oak isn’t immune to crime or violence. I know that Iowa probably isn’t immune to terrorism, but I love living here. I love our traditional values, our rural common sense, knowing our neighbors, being able to walk to church. Outsiders might accuse us Midwesterners of being sheltered or unrealistic, but I don’t care. That’s exactly why I left LA to raise my family here, so that we can be the family in this painting. Tucking our girls in at night and helping them say their prayers. Thank God for our safety.

That is no vision of a distant millennium. It is a definite basis for a kind
of world attainable in our own time and generation. That kind of world is the
very antithesis of the so-called "new order" of tyranny which the dictators seek
to create with the crash of a bomb. To that new order we oppose the greater
conception --the moral order. A good society is able to face schemes of world
domination and foreign revolutions alike without fear.

Since the beginning of our American history we have been engaged in change, in a
perpetual, peaceful revolution, a revolution which goes on steadily, quietly, adjusting itself to changing conditions without the concentration camp or the quicklime in the ditch. The world order which we seek is the cooperation of free countries, working together in a friendly, civilized society.

This nation has placed its destiny in the hands, heads and hearts of its millions of
free men and women, and its faith in freedom under the guidance of God. Freedom means the supremacy of human rights everywhere. Our support goes to those who struggle to gain those rights and keep them. Our strength is our unity of purpose.

Thank God for the goals and hopes of FDR and the WWII generation

Turkey and Gravy Flavour at Jones Soda

Turkey and Gravy Flavour at Jones Soda
Okay, this is just too gross to not share.

Enjoy your pumpkin soup!

Happy Thanksgiving. I’d be amazed if you’re actually reading this on Thanksgiving. Some folks get there NEWspaper on Wednesday, some don’t get around to reading it till the weekend. I’m sure you’re busy. If you you’re reading this a week later, I understand. No offense taken.

So what’d ya have? White meat? Dark? Did ya go the John Madden NFL route and have a “Turducken?” Mashed potatoes? Dressing? Green bean casserole? Let me guess, cranberry something and some sort of pie? Why is it that millions of us Americans eat pretty much the same thing on Thanksgiving?

One of my fondest Thanksgiving memories was when Beth’s folks were out and instead of taking I-5 up to our cousins’ in Northern California, we decided to meander up Highway 1 along the coast. It took way longer than we thought it would, so we spent Thanksgiving night near of Hearst’s Castle. The pizza and beer was Okay, but at lunch we had stopped in Morrow Bay and had the best clam chowder on earth in a practically empty restaurant with huge windows overlooking the Pacific.

Some people’s first reaction would be pity. Thanksgiving without turkey? Sacrilege!

The truth of the matter is that the Pilgrims didn’t even have forks. Sorry, no forks, but they did have spoons, knives, and their fingers. They wiped their hands on the same napkins that they used as pot holders and tongs.

Miles Standish and Pricilla Mullins also had to some how get by without desert. They had brought sugar with them on the Mayflower but by the time of the feast, they were probably out. Oh yeah, no ovens either. That meant no pies, cakes, cookies, brown-and-serve rolls or even bread.

According to the historychannel.com Much of the first Thanksgiving was seafood; cod, eel, clams, and lobster. That makes sense, Plymouth, Massachusetts is pretty much a seafood bonanza. Notice, Allan (my father-in-law), no oysters. Maybe they waited for Christmas Eve, like you. Personally, I hate oysters, but Bethany hates lobsters, you can’t please everybody.

I understand that the Pilgrims might have had a turkey or two (wild though, not a big fat domestic tom). They and their Wampanoag Indian hosts also probably had plenty of other fowl like goose, duck, crane, swan, partridge, and yes, eagles (is nothing sacred?!). Talk about a lot of “tryptophan.” That’s that enzyme in bird meat that makes you sleepy. I bet nobody was left awake to do the dishes in then either. I for one really enjoy pheasant, you just have to be careful to pick the bird-shot out of the wound.

I tell ya what, anybody on the Atkin’s diet would have loved the first Thanksgiving. Cholesterol was the least of their worries. They were much more worried about small pox and the plague.

The menu continued with Venison, Seal (I hope no PETA members just read that). They had a little bit of stone ground wheat flour, and of course… “Indian corn.”

There was some other vegetables to, like roasted pumpkin, not as a pie, more likely soup. That one was one of George Washington’s favorites. I guess that there are only so many things you can eat with wooden teeth. Of course, Washington was a century later, don’t get your history confused.

The Pilgrims probably topped off their feast with peas, beans, onions, lettuce, radishes, carrots, plums, grapes, walnuts, chestnuts, acorns. No Stove Top stuffing, no French's® French Fried Onions or Campbell's® Cream of Mushroom to make that green bean casserole, and no Cool Whip®. Worst of all, the Pilgrims had no cranberry gelatin goop that makes that “shloop” sound when it slides out of the can.

No Lions’ game, no Cowboy’s game, but it was only a couple of decades before they had some wicked witch-hunts.

This first feast in 1621 wasn't repeated, so it couldn’t have been the start of our tradition. In fact, the radically conservative Puritan Pilgrims didn't call it “Thanksgiving.”

To them, a “thanksgiving” was a religious day, so they went to church and thanked God for a specific event, like winning a battle. On such a day, no recreational activities were allowed, like playing games or singing. You can bet that there would be no way that pagan savages like the Wampanoag’s would be invited. The Pilgrims were actually pretty intolerant for having come here for “religious freedom.”

Our Thanksgiving in America really got started with George Washington who declared a one-time holiday. Abe Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November as"...a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens." F.D.R. moved it to the fourth Thursday in 1939, to keep a fifth week in November from cutting into the Christmas shopping season.

Tomorrow (the Friday after Thanksgiving), is now the busiest shopping day of the year. Save your sanity, join thousands of penny pinchers by observing it as the “National Buy-Nothing Day.” Believe me, if you even try to go to a mall tomorrow, you’ll wish you hadn’t.

Turns out that the Macy's Parade, was started in the 1920's by first-generation immigrant employees of the department store who wanted to celebrate with the kind of festival they loved in Europe. They put on costumes, borrowed 25 animals from the Central Park Zoo and marched 111 city blocks, drawing a crowd of a quarter million, which pretty much guaranteed an instant tradition.

You should have seen the parade of cars on I-5 backed up on the Sunday night after Thanksgiving full of pilgrims trying to get back home to L.A. I’m thankful that now we just go up to see our relatives Sioux Falls.

Attitude of Gratitude

This time of year, the former U.S. History teacher in me can’t help but come out. Since the first seven years of my teaching career were at a parochial school, I had the opportunity to teach about how important faith was in the lives of many of our country’s great leaders.

Abraham Lincoln is one of my all time favorite examples. In July or 1863, not long after the battle of Gettysburg had turned the civil war in the Union’s favor, Lincoln called for a national day of Thanksgiving, Praise and Prayer;

"I invite the people of the United States to assemble on that occasion in their customary places of worship, and in the forms approved by their own consciences, render homage due the Divine Majesty, for the wonderful things He has done in the Nation’s behalf,

and invoke the influence of His Holy Spirit to subdue the anger, which has produced, and so long sustained a needless and cruel rebellion, to change the hearts of the insurgents,

to guide the counsels of the Government with wisdom adequate to so great a national emergency,

and to visit with tender care and consolation throughout the length and breadth of our land all those who, through vicissitudes of marches, voyages, battles and sieges, have been brought to suffer in mind, body and estate,

and finally to lead the whole nation, through the paths of repentance and submission to the Divine Will, back to the perfect enjoyment of Union and fraternal peace."

Lincoln was the President who made Thanksgiving an National Holiday. He didn’t ask us to watch a parade, eat ourselves silly, fall asleep during a football game and the next day shop-till-we-drop. He asked us to pray.

First to thank God for all we had. Especially during tough times, we can thank God for all He’s given us. A bumper crop, good neighbors, decent school, freedom of speech, freedom to worship, freedom from fear and freedom from want. Loving family and cherished friends.

Then that God would work in the hearts of our enemies. Why do people think that the only way to get anything accomplished is with a suicide bomber’s terrorist attack? I can’t understand why terrorists don’t use non-violent means to accomplish their goals. It worked wonders for Ghandi and Martin Luther King, these men changed the world. Perhaps it’s not change or disagreement that motivates them, maybe it’s just evil, anger and hatred. All the more reason for us to pray for them, that there might be peace on earth.

Lincoln wanted Americans in the North to pray that the Holy Spirit would turn the hearts of the Southern rebells. We can pray for all our rivals and adversaries, not just Muslim terrorists. The acquaintance who irritates you, the bully at work or school, your ex. Pray that God would soften their hearts and make them more loving, more patient, more kind.

Then Lincoln asked Americans to pray for their government, for their leaders.

Next he wanted Americans to pray for those who have lost family members and property during the Civil War. We were full of prayers for the victims and families of 911 for the first several weeks afterward, but how long has it been since we prayed for their peace and recovery? It’s easy to forget when we get on with our own lives. What about families who have lost their jobs, homes, or farms in the recent recession? What about the family of the mother and child killed on 141 outside of Mapleton this month, or for the families of the immigrants trapped in the railroad car discovered in Denison this fall?

Finally Lincoln asked Americans to pray that God would direct us all as a Nation, to repent of our sin and selfishness and to follow His will, so that we would be able to know real peace and real prosperity serving Him.

In October of 1863 Lincoln issued another proclamation, for a Thanksgiving holiday the last Thursday in November. Thanksgiving came about because Lincoln believed that we should give thanks even in the midst of war and suffering. This is some of what he said in that proclamation;

"The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added which are of so extraordinary a nature that they can not fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever-watchful providence of Almighty God."

To which I say, "Amen"