General topics.

I hope you all enjoyed U.S.A. Thanksgiving - I just wish you wouldn't think that is the be all & end all - I am a very happy non-American - you have started such a rat race in the shopping that it even infects us here in Canada - it is xmas DAY not a bloody 3month season - say YES if by xmas you soooo tired of it that you can't wait to have it over

I say lets celebrate Saturnalia [what christians took over to get maxium exposure] which was the festival just after the shortest day of the year & where the days start to lengthen - look it up

Lu, you are so fortunate to have seen that! I've always heard it said that a cardinal visiting your yard is a visitor from heaven....I would say having it enter the house is a definite sign. Your mom is watching out for you.

Luckily, I definitely think it was a sign from your mother. What a lovely thing to happen on Thanksgiving Day. You will never forget this. it was her way of saying thank you for all you did.

The neatest thing happened on Thanksgiving and the day after at our home.
As we were heading out for our Thanksgiving dinner at my Uncle's,I could have sworn I saw a bird fly in the house but my husband said "no,it flew out".Not thinking anymore about it,time went on.The next morning(yesterday) I had the TV on and I thought I kept hearing the chirping of a cardinal,so I turned off the TV and kept hearing it and then I saw it...A female cardinal in Mother's doll room.I couldn't believe it and still can't.I keep wondering if it might have been a sign from Mother.It must have seen me sleeping but it was quiet all night.Mother knew I had a "thing" about cardinals and this was a female and in her favorite room of the house.Sooo strange.
My husband cupped it gently and helped it out the door and it flew away,but not far......Anyway,I just can't get over this.Does anyone else think it might be a sign?............................Thanks.............................

Darn, hit post too soon (again.)

Reading more about Florence's early years, she had an incredibly tough life - her father was an alcoholic and left the family and then her mother abandoned the children when Florence was 12. She used her God-given talents and sang whenever possible to help pay the bills and keep food on the table for herself and her siblings. What a tough lady - given the era she lived in, that had to be difficult to do!

I was saddened to read of Florence's passing myself - the sad thing is, this apparently snuck up on her - her family said she hadn't been ill at all, and was only hospitalized the day before she died.

Yes, Madge, R.I. P. Florence Henderson. Funny, I just saw her in the audience on Dancing with the Stars the other day and she looked beautiful. I guess you can never tell.

It's the story of a lovely lady ....
RIP Florence Henderson

Ali
I wonder if they even make them anymore
Shaped like a red wine bowl and then a ramekin type bowl sets inside it

Rather pedestrian.....but what passes for a Thanksgiving tradition (my side of the family) is never putting the remaining pumpkin pie in the fridge. Instead, it stays out after T-giving dinner and is hacked at for breakfast, lunch and snacks until it's gone. Doesn't take long. :-)

"Special glass wear." I'm picturing something between a martini glass and a margarita glass with colored ice cubes and shrimp curled around the rim.

After I commented earlier, Madge, SIL said more about the pie. She said it is VERY popular around here (Indianapolis, Indiana area), and I've seen it for sale around here. Never thought too much about it. I'm not big on sweets and that type of pie wouldn't be a favorite for me, but it's a big deal to my SIL's family and our holiday gatherings.

I read a short history of the pie's rise to popularity. You can add any number of things to change the flavor some: cinnamon, nutmeg, or vanilla, but the basic is butter, sugar, flour, and milk/cream... ...and egg whites?

I looked up recipes online and noticed that they all vary some, but I didn't see any that included egg white in the filling. Well... there it is, the secret ingredient. My SIL doesn't use any nutmeg or vanilla. Her family beats egg whites to a fluffy, "medium peaks" consistency and folds them into the rest of the filling ingredients.

You're right, Madge. It's an Indiana specialty. I had no idea.

Your mom's shrimp cocktail serving method was very fancy! I love the idea of colored ice cubes and special serving dishes.

So sugar cream is the state pie of Indiana
Apparently a place called wicks is the officianado of sugar cream pie and will UPS a case of 6 frozen pies for a modest $23!

Mom's two best holiday recipes were au gratin potatoes, a wild rice casserole and a crab cocktail served in special glass wear with space for ice cubes which she would color with food coloring

Maybe over xmas I'll try and make a a couple of these dishes and bring to the hotel California - we're both down sick today and I have to work tomorrow so our thanksgiving dinner will be postponed awhile 🍁🍂🦃

Sugar cream pie is a family tradition on SIL's side of family -- most of whom I've known all my life, rather like my extended family, not in-laws.

It's their family recipe for several generations, a guarded secret, made at holidays by the half-dozen or more.

It's the "big deal dessert" at our holiday times. :-)

Anybody else have some cultural or traditional family food items for holidays?

On my mom's side, there's always a filo (phyllo) hot and cold item for holidays - she's Greek.

Sugar cream pie?

Is that a Midwest tradition ?

I usually hear people talk about viral memes, referring to videos or other web content that spread person to person like, well, like a virus!

Mémé and Pépé, sort of like Granny and Grandpa, more affectionate that grandméré and grandpéré. Great, now I can`t remember how to get rid of the accent....

My ex-mother-in-law was a French national who lived here in the States since she was 18. Once she became a Grandmother she had the grandkids call her MeMe. I couldn't find any reference to the word meaning Grandmother, but maybe she thought it was easy for the babies to say.

Ali, at least the little horrors have moved on from using aerosols to give each other burns then? Plus, learning opportunity! - how does salt decrease the freezing point of water (to -4 Celsius, if memory serves?).

All part of the slugs and snails and puppy dogs' tails tradition, I guess!

oh... my... goodness...

I was off, but 12 yr old nephew is sitting right here, and (SHOOT, just told me he's TEN... arg, got him and his sister's age confused. He will be 11 in December... BAD aunt...) just had to show me this video of 10,000 firecrackers going off in a video posted to YouTube. I laughed and scoffed a little and said "these people just have way too much time on their hands" ;-), and nephew says to me "he has 3 million subscribers, so he's making like $5,000 per week."

Well, now. Maybe these people aren't so silly after all...

Nerding out here. :-) I looked up Urban Dictionary's definition, because they're almost always good for the "slang" or colloquial-Internet definition, but not this time. They also define as the wiki definition.

I disagree with that as the only definition because I will make a unique meme for a friend's birthday, or they will make me one, and it's not spread anywhere except between the two of us. We're using the word incorrectly, redefined to mean "an online image that contains words within the image," but that is still the most common use/understanding of the word when used online.

Cheerio, I'm off to eat turkey and ham and sugar cream pie. ;-) Have a great day.

In general, any image online that is accompanied by a caption or words that go with the image, contained within the image itself, is commonly referred to as a "meme." For best explanation, imho, search "meme maker." You'll see options for images (including uploading your own), then a way to put words on that image.

The common usage today probably started because of the literal definition, but now the word "meme" most likely refers to the thing that you will find under "meme maker." ;-)

Meme - Wikipedia

A meme (/ ˈ m iː m / MEEM) is "an idea, behavior, or style that spreads from person to person within a culture".

I thought a meme was a caption that accompanies a picture. Seriously not sure countrymouse.

What IS a meme?

FF, love the stories about your father. :-)

Old fart here too. Would not put my hand in an alligators mouth either like I saw an "expert" do on TV. maybe the older we get we realize how much closer to death we are and self preservation kicks in.

Ali, curiosity forced me to look those internet challenges up. The water bottle one is harmless enough but the ice one (shaking my head). Makes me think of how parents used to say "if all your friends jumped off a bridge would you do it?" when they challenged stupid behaviour. Too many of these memes are potentially dangerous and self destructive, especially for the kids that are driven to "win".
Yep, old fart here too ;)

FF, your dad sounds so neat and nice that his caregiver called to talk to you.

You know what went through my mind when I read about how he and bros would be out tinkering with mechanical things...? My 12 yo nephew is such a cutie, and an active mind, but he wanted me to do the "salt and ice challenge" and the "bottle flip challenge" tonight with him -- both ridiculous things from Internet viral-video land. Their young lives are very affected by so much media/Internet bombardment.

I officially feel like an old fart now, I need to start yelling "get off my lawn" or something. :-)

"That crazy younger generation, being raised on Internet ridiculousness..."

But, very much for real, my nephew poured salt on my hand, then put an ice cube on it, and the point was to see how long before it burns into my hand. How....... why....... who thinks this is "good fun?" lol Good night.

My Dad had passed on a couple of months ago, and this evening one of his regular caregivers telephoned me to see how I was doing.... that was so sweet of her. We talked about some of Dad's favorite stories of his childhood, like the time the Sheriff gave him a ticket for running a STOP sign while Dad was riding his horse home from school. Well, the horse was in a hurry to get back to the barn :) And the time Dad and his brothers, back in the 1930's made their Mom a gasoline fueled washing machine.

Dad and his brothers were like that Canadian comedy show from years ago called "Red Green" where Red would make things from parts in his garage. My Grandmother never knew what the boys were inventing out in the barn and machine shed.