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Family Traditions

Every family has its holiday traditions. It’s part of what makes the season so special.  In my wife’s family, one of their traditions is the dressing that goes along with the turkey on Thanksgiving.  Now some people prefer to cook their dressing inside the cavity of the bird, but at that point, I guess it technically becomes stuffing.

The recipe for this special Thanksgiving side dish has been passed down from generation to generation.  As you can see from the well-worn recipe card below, this dish is officially called ‘Mothers Dressing’.  The mother in the title is technically my wife’s maternal grandmother Marilyn.  This was the dressing she served and passed down to my wife’s mother Nancy many years ago.

This year, the making of Mothers Dressing will be handled by my wife, Susan, and my sister-in-law, Alisan. It’s the one job they never wanted at Thanksgiving. And that’s not because they don’t love this dressing. The making of the dressing was always handled by their mother who we lost unexpectedly back in May.

This year, it looks like Mothers Dressing will take on a whole new meaning for the family. It will be tough giving thanks this year, but at least we still have each other and some wonderful memories.

This one’s for you, Nancy…

 

Mother’s Dressing

12 cups cubed bread (dried)
Melt 1 cup butter in a skillet
Brown 3/4 cup chopped onion and 1 1/2 cups chopped celery
2 teaspoons of salt
1 egg beaten
1 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon sugar
Add poultry seasoning to taste

To moisten the dressing, add broth or water as needed

Use regular white bread, purchase bread a few days in advance, and leave out to dry

(Makes 3 quarts for a 12 lb turkey)

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Visit Our Other Locations

In a town, the size of Nashville fast-food restaurants come and go. When one closes it’s really no big deal. You can usually find another location just a few blocks down the road. But in America’s small towns when a fast food joint closes down it’s a BIG deal.

Recently we were visiting my wife’s hometown Rensselaer, IN when we noticed a sad sight. The Arby’s restaurant just down the road from her aunt’s house had closed. And from the looks of things, it wasn’t just closed for remodeling.

It feels like there have been more business closings in Rensselaer the last few years than there have been openings. The McDonald’s just a few doors down is still there, as is the Pizza King a few blocks away, but there’s no doubt that the town is hurting.

We’d actually eaten at this Arby’s a few times through the years and we even knew one of the former managers who went to school with my wife. So we had a connection.

Now I realize it’s just an Arby’s… they’re all over the place. We can still get our roast beef fix just off the interstate. But I still feel sad. Obviously, if business had been better they might still be open. But it’s too late now. And truly, there’s nothing we could have done about it. We don’t live there, and even when we visit we’re usually just visiting with family.

But in America’s small towns the loss of a national franchise is a big deal. I’m all for supporting local business, but when you have chain stores it says your town is still thriving. The loss of the Arby’s may upset people for a few months, but life will go on. But if Walmart ever closes, watch out!

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Mickey Mouse

I have a bunch of friends who are huge Disney-files. They love everything Disney! Now I’ve been to both Disneyland and Disney World, but don’t have a desire to go there every year or two. So I guess you couldn’t say I’m a huge fan.

But even a cynic like me couldn’t pass up this sweet Disney item to go along with my new Google Home assistant. Doesn’t everyone need the Mickey Mouse stand for your Google Home Mini?!

It only costs around $20 and truly makes a statement! But good luck finding one right now. They’re a hot item and may be a little tough to locate if you want to give one as a Christmas gift. But don’t worry. Since it’s a Disney item you’ll soon see them everywhere.

Now if only they could make my Google Home Mini’s wake word be “Hey Mickey” and have it answer in Mickey’s voice. That would be PERFECT!

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Hawaii Five-O

Recently I’ve been watching reruns of one of my favorite childhood TV shows, Hawaii Five-O. I remember every week watching the intro to the show a being mesmerized by Hawaii.

A few years ago, my wife and I had a chance to vacation on the big island and it was everything I imagined. We enjoyed the sightseeing, the beach, and even some native treats like poi and Li Hing (aka Ling Ling) chicken.

But for me, the true highlight of the trip was my visit to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. To many people, it’s known the Punchbowl Cemetery. You might be familiar with the famed statue there of Lady Columbia. She’s played a prominent part in the intro to both versions of the Hawaii Five-O TV show throughout the years.

So, in honor of this TV classic I have put together a very brief video recreating part of that intro with some of the pictures I took of the majestic Lady Columbia.

Sadly, the only thing I didn’t get to do in Hawaii while we were there was to recreate the opening scene of Steve McGarrett on the balcony of the Ilikai Hotel.  Maybe next time…

Rexall Drugs
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Remembering Rexall

When I was growing up in the 60’s and 70’s almost every town big and small had at least one Rexall Drug Store. The bright orange and blue signs were hard to miss.

The small town where I spent most of my youth, Quincy, IL had 4 Rexall stores that I can remember. Three of them were known as Brown’s Rexall and the one in the big shopping center on the edge of town (that one day was made into and enclosed mall) was called Key Rexall.

Over the years we spent a lot of time at the Rexall refilling prescriptions, and buying the necessities like aspirin, shampoo and Rexall’s famous Hot Lemon Cold & Flu Remedy.

But my fondest Rexall memory, was the yearly visit from the Duncan Yo-Yo Demonstration Team. I rarely missed their visits to the Key Rexall, and still have a few of my Duncan Imperial and Butterfly yo-yo’s tucked away.

Sadly, due to a hostile corporate takeover most Rexall’s faded away in the mid 1980’s. And while many of the drugstores stayed open, they were no longer affiliated with Rexall, and it wasn’t quite the same.

These days as I travel throughout the south I’m amazed by the fact that you can still see a Rexall sign from time to time. Most of the drugstores are sadly long gone, but I’m thrilled that other people still share my fondness for those old Rexall signs.

Many of these signs lost their neon years ago, but I can tell that folks like me just aren’t ready to part with the memories of their hometown drugstore. I’ve compiled a short video to share some of the signs I’ve recently found in my travels across Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Indiana. Some are still lit, but sadly most are just holding on…

The soundtrack for this trip down memory lane is: “Water Droplets on the River” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/