Good mornfterning :)

[Pixie Kobichenko]

2 hours ago, Syo Emerald said:

I got to be honest, I have only a vague idea what exactly is celebrated on Thanks Giving (Isn't it just a US/Canada holiday?). The only thing I'm looking for is (hopefully) some good Black Friday deals online. Thats the only thing that has caught on here, but only online (which is fine for me. PJs + coffee > getting pushed around in an overheated shopping center).

Canadians celebrate their Thanksgiving in October.  Americans celebrate it the fourth Thursday in November.   Originally it was held at various dates until a president during world war II gave it a fixed time frame.  It's regarding the pilgrims who came over from England celebrating their first harvest in Oct 1621 with the help of the indigenous people.  in that particular first dinner there were the pilgrims and native Americans present.  

[Maryanne Solo]

Giving you thanks for the warm wishes. Is that how it goes?
I will spend it alone as other family members, (except the tropical Far Northeners), will be down at sisters new place in our alpine region.

I am hoping for a rainy day not a scorching hot one and will be busy working on jewellery, music, video, e-commerce, lots of gardening 
and have lovely fresh breads, fruits, salads, cheeses and deserts. 

I have 2 months off my day job, (unpaid) and if I am very very lucky and work really hard on my own business, I may never return to it.
A lovely colleague is ready to take over and I would gladly hand over all the original documents, (in supporting students) I have created since 2012,
to her. If not, we will continue working as we already do.

[BelindaN]

8 minutes ago, Pixie Kobichenko said:

Growing up our family always did turkey for Thanksgiving and ham on Christmas.  Subsequently the ham shank from Christmas I would be used in Black eyed peas for New year's good luck. 😊

We have a ham two days before Christmas, the only time we have a ham all year. Freshly cooked it takes some beating. Christmas Eve we do home made pizza, which is a long time Saturday night tradition. 

We also do Turkey on Easter Sunday, but outside the holiday period, fresh Turkey is hard to find locally.

[Pixie Kobichenko]

1 minute ago, BelindaN said:

also do Turkey on Easter Sunday,

Ham is definitely a Easter Sunday dinner meat for us.  Potato salad, deviled eggs Jell-O salads.  Big cake shaped like a bunny rabbit covered in frosting and coconut shavings. 

I know a lot of people I've talked to mentioned that they do prime ribs and stuff for their holiday dinners but growing up we never had that and I've only ever had it a couple times eating out as an adult- which was actually my go to the one time I got to go to Las Vegas in the early 90s.  Lobster and prime rib was like $5. Lolol.  I sure thought I was fancy.

[Alwin Alcott]

9 minutes ago, Pixie Kobichenko said:

 It's regarding the pilgrims who came over from England celebrating their first harvest in Oct 1621

acoording to our history books they stayed at the Netherlands for quite some time before taking the journey, it's there where they found the thanksgiving celebration in the reformed tradition, and took it to they americas, In the reformed traditions in western europe/the netherlands is thanksgivings still a day that's celebrated, be it only religious.

[Odaks]

14 hours ago, Matty Luminos said:

Soggy sprouts are horrid.

We always start joking, around the end of November, that we'd better put the brussels on now - meaning, so that they'd be cooked by Christmas Day! Its always seemed that the old-fashioned way was to boil them to a near pulp and, Matty is so right, they're terrible like that.

I choose smallish ones and drop them into fast boiling water for 5 minutes. They come out with a light, crunchy texture and all the flavour is retained.

You will find, however, there is no grey area with brussels. You either love them or hate them! Patiently explaining to the haters about all the goodness they contain never works, either!

[Odaks]

14 hours ago, Orwar said:

a Swedish julbord

Like @Matty Luminos, I've just looked this up to find out what it is. Had I have done so at the time, I'd still be going round one of our better supermarkets right now...

[Love Zhaoying]

15 hours ago, Orwar said:

   The julbord is the epitome of the Swedish tradition of a 'Smörgåsbord', containing all the usual things (i.e. meatballs, pickled herrings, potatoes, smoked and/or graved salmon, etc), and with some Yule-specific items such as ham, Jansson's Frestelse (a potato casserole with anchovies), prinskorv ('prince sausage', a small, slightly soured sausage), beet salad, stewed cabbages (yes, different kinds!), Brussels sprouts, ribs, brawn, rice puddings ... Traditionally, you're supposed to take seven rounds:

1. Pickled herrings (different kinds, at least 3!) and other herring dishes (various dips/sauces, usually)
2. Salmon round, fish pates, and occasionally other fish dishes (smoked flounder, for example - regional differences!) 
3. Cold cuts, primarily the ham but often accompanied by smoked reindeer heart, tongue, sausages (cold ones), pig trotters, etc. This is also where you get a big serving of beet salad.
4. 'the little warm' round: meatballs, the Jansson's, prinskorv, ribs.
5. Cheeses (one of my favourite rounds!). Again, a minimum of three kinds, but at a fancy julbord you can expect 7-12. Also, crackers and jams.
6. Dessert. Usually a rice pudding with orange slices or berries.
7. Candy. Mozartkugeln, knäck (butterscotch candies), polkagris (peppermint flavoured candy sticks/bits), ice chocolate, saffron fudge, gingerbread cookies, etc.

   And yes, that's all in one sitting - and don't forget the drinks! Dark beers, julmust (a malt soft drink), mead, mumma (a mixture of blond and dark beer, sweetened and spiced with cardamom), and, of course, schnapps (at least one schnapps for each of the first three rounds).

No Lutefisk?

[Orwar]

17 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

No Lutefisk?

   It's Scandinavian winter-food, but it seldom makes an appearance on the julbord itself. And 'lutefisk' is the Norwegian spelling! In Sweden we speak like grownups, and say 'lutfisk'. Nodnods.

[Lindal Kidd]

On 11/28/2019 at 12:01 AM, Ceka Cianci said:

It's the starting line for this..

The funny thing is,you can get black Friday deals online, sitting in your PJ's, having a nice cup of tea,in the safety of your own home.

Very true, and very sad.

[roseelvira]

Back in the   time i grew up   my mom and aunts had what was known as the christmas club money  ,,, and  our  black friday we would all get in the car go with them to the bank as they withdrew the weekly saved money for the christmas club money ,,, then  took us to see  santa and then we went home.  They did the shopping during the 2 weeks before christmas.  Friday was a good day no school  and tv and writing out our wish list or getting the big ole sears toy book catalogue  but also being reminded why we got presents and they limited   pick one you really want and then two more  and see if santa brings it ,

Note Christmas  presents were  the three toys we asked for and  clothes   as kids you never ask   for clothes ,,,,,     remembering  getting my easy bake oven.....   loved that thing and the food was really good , lolol    ,,

,And christmas was special because it is not about presents or shopping but about     ,,,,,,,, bowing my head  humbly  ,,,,, and the midnight services  ( Mass)  ,  Today was getting all the decorations out of the attic and checking the  strands of lights ,,, washing the christmas curtains  (hanging them outside on clothes line to dry ,,, traditional thing )and ironing them getting everything ready for advent   and Christmas  and also the traditional customs...

 

Edited November 29, 2019 by roseelvira
my keys keep sticking

[Bree Giffen]

I stay home for Black Friday because it's just not worth it. It's also raining so that's a double turn-off. We usually have turkey for Thanksgiving and roast beef for Christmas but only Thanksgiving has the very specific side-dishes of mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, green beans and cranberry sauce. Christmas just has random side dishes for some reason. 

[Lindal Kidd]

I think that is because Thanksgiving is all about a certain specific Traditional Meal (although the actual items may vary from family to family).  On the other hand, Christmas INCLUDES a big family meal, but the exact items aren't necessarily specified.  (Although, come to think of it, my in-laws had very specific holiday meals served at Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter.)

[LyricalBookworm]

21 hours ago, roseelvira said:

Back in the   time i grew up   my mom and aunts had what was known as the christmas club money  ,,, and  our  black friday we would all get in the car go with them to the bank as they withdrew the weekly saved money for the christmas club money ,,, then  took us to see  santa and then we went home.  They did the shopping during the 2 weeks before christmas.  Friday was a good day no school  and tv and writing out our wish list or getting the big ole sears toy book catalogue  but also being reminded why we got presents and they limited   pick one you really want and then two more  and see if santa brings it ,

Note Christmas  presents were  the three toys we asked for and  clothes   as kids you never ask   for clothes ,,,,,     remembering  getting my easy bake oven.....   loved that thing and the food was really good , lolol    ,,

,And christmas was special because it is not about presents or shopping but about     ,,,,,,,, bowing my head  humbly  ,,,,, and the midnight services  ( Mass)  ,  Today was getting all the decorations out of the attic and checking the  strands of lights ,,, washing the christmas curtains  (hanging them outside on clothes line to dry ,,, traditional thing )and ironing them getting everything ready for advent   and Christmas  and also the traditional customs...

 

It sounds like you had a very beautiful upbringing filled with wonderful memories. It is always wonderful to read about others' happy memories growing up.

I was raised Quaker. December was a fun type of busy for me growing up. The women in my church would teach us girls to knit, crochet and sew. I always helped my Dad bake cookies and pies to give neighbors. There was also church choir performances and caroling. Gift giving was pretty simple. My gift to him was always a scarf or ugly sweater I had made. He would always make sure that my gifts were things I needed. One year though he was able to give me a beautiful red haired cabbage patch doll with green eyes that I named Lily. I still have that doll to this day.

My Dad made this time of year magical and perfect for me. It never mattered what was under the tree. What mattered was the time I had with him. This time of year makes all those wonderful memories come flooding back and I'm thankful I had those times with him.

[Raspberry Crystal]

Thanksgiving, as a holiday, is something I've become more familiar with since I've made USA friends online. Of course we also see the tv and film references as well.

I wonder if having an extra holiday would take some of the pressure of expectation away from Christmas, as it has expanded and taken on more complications over time. My childhood family Christmases were fairly simple.

This year I am making even more effort to streamline things and resist some of the external influences which add stress rather than pleasure to the season. We already avoid any crowded events and set out to enjoy the bits of the season that 'peep around the edges'. 

Last year we visited a museum / gallery on the day before it closed for the holidays. The display space almost empty and wonderfully peaceful with time to stand and stare. Our usual cafe was only open to busy folks dashing in to pick up large boxes of goodies for their feasts,  so we had cups of green tea and biscuits in our camper van. Near the car park a young man with down's syndrome was happily sweeping up golden leaves and listening to Christmas tunes from a portable radio propped up in in his wheelie bin. 

I'm beginning to wonder if it might be possible to experience Christmas in an interesting and satisfying way without actually doing a great deal at all, or at least just do those things which I like doing anyway throughout the year.