Sable Lit Reviews: Spirit of Thanksgiving Book Giveaway
By LMReviews on Nov 10, 2008 in contests, Multicultural History
Today, November 10th, kicks off Sable Lit Review’s tribute to the spirit of Thanksgiving!
Sable Lit Reviews in collaboration with Hachette Book Group USA is hosting a book giveaway contest to honor the holiday that focuses on family and tradition.
What does Thanksgiving mean to you?
Sable Lit Reviews wants to share in your Thanksgiving traditions. How does the rest of the country do Thanksgiving?
In a contest event that takes place from November 10th to November 30th, sponsored by Hatchette Book Group, Sable Lit Reviews will be holding a drawing for 5 free books representing the best in holiday entertainment.
Up to five winners will be selected to receive a print copy of all five books after the contest concludes on November 30th. The books up for grabs are:
- The Flavor Bible By Karen Page, Andrew Dornenburg ISBN: 0316118400 $35.00
- Karen Brown Celebrates By Karen Brown ISBN: 9780316118187 $30.00
- I Like You By Amy Sedaris ISBN 9780446696777 $15.99
- Festivus By Allen Salkan ISBN: 0446540668 $9.99
- Holidays on Ice By David Sedaris ISBN: 0316035904 $16.99
How to Enter:
To enter post a reply to this post featuring your favorite Thanksgiving family tradition, memory or recipe. All those who post a tradition, memory or recipe will be entered into a drawing. Up to five names will be drawn after 11:59 PM PST on Novemeber 30th and contacted to make delivery arrangements.
Contest Rules:
Only the name of the poster and his/her memory, recipe or tradition will be qualify for the drawing. Visitors are free to post comments about memory, recipe or tradition posted but will not be entered in the drawing unless they post their own memory recipe or tradition.
A maximum of five winners from the US and Canada will be selected. Unfortunately, this contest is not open to International participants. In the event that more than five contestants are eligible to win, then the five winners will be selected at random from the pool of eligible contestants. Winners will be notified between December 1 and December 5th. Winners will be required to provide their mailing address (no P.O. Boxes will be accepted) by December 10th at the latest.
So tempt us with your favorite Thanksgiving recipes, let us share in the emotion of your favorite Thanksgiving memory or broaden our sense of culture with your favorite Thanksgiving tradition in order to claim your chance to add these great books to your personal library.
Thank you for supporting the tradition of Thanksgiving, Sable Lit Reviews and Hachette Book Group USA.
Dressing! and it has to be my Aunt Flora’s cornbread dressing. Its so moist and good. Here is her recipe:
Aunt Flora’s Cornbread Dressing
Recipe By : Flora Lyle – Aunt – Austell, GA
Serving Size : 8
Categories : Casseroles
Amount Measure Ingredient — Preparation Method
——– ———— ——————————–
Cornbread:
2 cups self-rising white cornmeal
3 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 2/3 cups milk
1 egg — beaten
2 tablespoons shortening — melted
Dressing:
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
5 teaspoons rubbed sage
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning, or to taste
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
Turkey or chicken broth
For cornbread, combine cornmeal, flour and sugar in a bowl. Melt shortening in a 9-inch square or round pan (I use a small iron skillet) in preheated oven, 425 F.
Add milk and egg to dry ingredients, stirring to combine. Add melted shortening from pan to batter; mix well. Pour batter into very hot pan. Bake at 425 F. for 20 to 25 minutes. Cool.
For dressing, crumble up cooled cornbread; mash and add the onion, celery, sage, poultry seasoning, salt, pepper, eggs and enough broth to make dressing kind of soupy.
Put in greased 9×13-inch pan and bake at 350 F. for 1-1/2 hours. (Or can be put into turkey or chicken and baked.)
Serves 8
- – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - –
NOTES : This is the most delicious dressing…..a taste of the South! And brings back fond memories of our trips to GA. She is now deceased, but her dressing recipe is a gift to her family.
My favorite tradition is every Thanksgiving we put up the tree after we have Thanksgiving dinner and the following weekend we start baking food taking it to friends. I would love to be entered in your contest.
photoquest(at)bellsouth(dot )net
My favorite tradition was breaking the wishbone with my mother. Now it’s watching the parades with my kids.
Our fave tradition is watching football after we eat. We usually try at least one new recipe each year.
My birthday is near Thanksgiving, so they often overlap. My favorite memory is when my birthday was on Thanksgiving Day, and my mom, wanting to keep it “my special day”, made me a birthday cake in the shape of a turkey – it was really neat. Of course, when I was older, she tried to make me choose between birthday cake and pumpkin pie. Needless to say, she was voted down by the whole family. We had the cake for lunch and pie for dinner.
)
My favorite thanksgiving memory has to be the delicious dinners my Mother made. She was an excellent cook and thanksgiving was her crowning glory. Six children went thru a lot of food so she used to make at least 12 pies. They were gone in 2 to 3 days. I miss her so much and especially at the Holidays.
[...] Spirit of Thanksgiving Book Giveaway [...]
In Canada, our Thanksgiving is celebrated in October, and the Thanksgiving I remember the most vividly was the one that almost didn’t happen. A client, from the US, scheduled a business meeting for Thanksgiving weekend, not realizing that our Thanksgiving was in October. Our company rallied together and managed to get the client to move the meeting to another weekend so we could enjoy Thanksgiving with our families. We were truly grateful that they were willing to change arrangements for us. The meeting had over 200 attendees, so changing the date took quite an effort. It was a generous gesture.
Thank you for hosting this contest – there are several books in that group that look enticing!
And Happy Thanksgiving to our American cousins!
The night before Thanksgiving, my husband and three kids would make the stuffing for the turkey. Each one of us had to do part of the job and it was always a lot of fun.
My eldest daughter was born in 1984 and since she was just a little girl she got to choose a dessert that she wanted to have on Thanksgiving! Its not very fancy, but to this day we still make that dessert and she (and the other kids) still love it!
Basically, its Jello made according to pkg directions, half set and mixed with a container of coolwhip and left to set! My daughter always liked the lime flavour the best, so that’s the one we have every year!
Its super easy and kids love it!
My favorite Thanksgiving memory is helping my mom make homemade Pumpkin Pie when I was young.
I remember watching her cook the fresh Pumpkin.
She let me mix the ingredients together while she rolled out the pie crust.
I would love to have one of her pies today, because hers were so good.
janetfaye (at) gmail (dot) com
My favorite tradition is sparkling apple cider!
I have a very fond and very old memory of Thanksgiving. My brother and I are very young but our Mother and Father and Grandparents are all there with us at the Thanksgiving table and we are all enjoying our feast and laughing and having a good time. It was the last time that we were all together.
I have been brining turkey breasts for the last 7 years and it’s become a tradition – most of my family still roasts them regularly and area always surprised by how moist mine are, but they never take my advice…so I always make a turkey for the house even if we are eating elsewhere!
My parents both came from a large families and whenever we would all get together, the turkey was always gigantic. My grandmother just loved the tail of the turkey the best, so whereever we gathered, she would always proclaim loudly “I get the part that went over the fence last!” That always produced a round of laughter to start a wonderful and happy meal.That was long ago but I think of her every year and smile.
Here is a good recipe to use for Candied Sweet Potatoes (just use a little less butter):
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Candied-Sweet-Potatoes-501/Detail.aspx
We just tried a turducken for the first time and I think it will become a new tradition. We always have pumpkin pie, apple pie and lately, pumpkin cheesecake. Yummy!
We always have a small family gathering with wine andmy dad’s signature sweet dinner rolls. MMMM
Hmm, family traditions . In my family, a Thanksgiving get together usually means: one of my sisters will drink excessively and behave like an idiot, my mother will complain about any and everything loudly in an attempt to make everyone miserable, someone’s child will spin out of control and do something horribly embarassing and then we eat.
A TRADITION OF OUR FAMILY IS TO ALL WATCH THE PARADES TOGETHER
My favorite Thanksgiving tradition is just of the family getting together and enjoying the company>
Thanksgiving has always been special in our family. We all try and get together even though it has become harder to do over the years since we are spread out all over the country. If a member of the family can’t come then we make sure that we all get to talk to them on the telephone on Thanksgiving day.
My Mother is 80 years old and still makes her famous Pecan Pie and Sweet Potato Pie. Everyone looks forward to enjoying a slice of her pies. Even though I have her recipe, my pies don’t even come close to hers. It must be the love that she puts in each recipe that makes it so good.
Before dinner is served, each person gets up and tells everyone what they are thankful for that year. This has been done for years and years and it is a tradition that we will continue.
I love the traditional meal-turkey, mashed potatoes, dressing, pumpkin pie and all the trimmings!
That we utterly ruin one dish each year–this year it was the sweet potatoes!
With two boys in sports we are never together as a family. It was nice to sit down as a family for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner and we had grandparents here.
Favorite Thanksgiving memory is my daughter driving home in bad weather through mountains to be home for the holiday.
my favorite tradition is sweet potatoe and marshmallow pie!
Thanksgiving is a favorite holiday in the South. I grew up in Louisiana and currently reside in SE Texas, which has all of the culture and heritage of Louisiana. A HUGE favorite at Thanksgiving is the Sweet Potato casserole. You make it by mixing the base of Sweet Potatoes, sugar, vanilla, milk and butter. Spread that in a casserole dish. Then spread a layer of marshmallows. Bake until mm melt. Then spread on a topping of brown sugar, butter, a little flour and pecans. bake for 20 minutes. YUM-MY! Let’s just say the casserole didn’t survive past the first round of servings!
all of the family getting together
My favorite tradition is all getting together for a huge family feast- everyone makes their specialties and we just really enjoy each other with no-one overwhelmed with all of the work.
It seems like a tradition, as it happens almost every year, at my parents house and at my in-laws house — one item for dinner gets forgotten. Last year, we forgot to bake the potatoes for the in-laws dinner, and at my parents dinner she forgot the rolls in the oven (we figured it out a bit too late). This year we forgot a pie. We will be getting Brain Age to try to work on that memory issue for next year…
Candied walnuts– we snack on them while the dinner is cooking
* 1 pound walnut halves
* 1 cup white sugar
* 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 6 tablespoons milk
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spread nuts in a single layer over a baking sheet. Roast for approximately 8 to 10 minutes, or until the nuts start to turn brown and the smell of roasting nuts fills the kitchen.
2. Stir together sugar, cinnamon, salt, and milk in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat for 8 minutes, or until the mixture reaches the soft ball stage of 236 degrees F (113 degrees C). Remove from heat, and stir in vanilla immediately. .
3. Add walnuts to sugar syrup, and stir to coat well. Spoon nuts onto waxed paper, and immediately separate nuts with a fork. Cool
One of my favorite memories was of the famous kids’ table. I was the oldest grandchild and I got to be the boss of the kids’ table for many years. Then I was also the first one to move up to the coveted “Grown-ups” table. We thought we were so cool when we got to do that! After a few years though we all discovered that the kids’ table wasn’t such a bad place to be! Now we are watching the next generation go through the same thing. I’m thinking about moving back down next year. Maybe I’ll start a new trend. Thanks so much for this contest!
My family tradition is to spend Thanksgiving with my parents and sister. We eat turkey, mashed potatoes, dressing, rolls, and pumpkin pie. It’s just a fun day to spend with your loved ones and realizing all the things you’re truly thankful for.
My favorite thanksgiving tradition is that we go around the table and express what we are thankful for. Its a great time of reflection surrounded by loved ones.
brn2lisn(at)gmail(dot)com
Putting the tree up the day after Thanksgiving
We extend invitations to those who are in need of some assistance.
We don’t have a huge extended family but I remember what we did have spent Thanksgiving with us. I had both sets of grandparents and two sets of aunts and uncles and they were characters. I distinctly remember my Aunt Elma would constantly say “Land o’ living” and it became a family saying. I remember my Uncle Russell would take our hands and tumble us around in a somersault in front of him while he whistled. We thought it was the coolest thing. They all had such personalities too and it was a whirlwind of fun when they were visiting.
My favorite thanksgiving thing would be going and gathering leaves with all of my little nieces and nephews (all are special needs children) along my daughter and making a Turkey Craft to mark our places at the table. It keeps the kids busy and they are so excited that they get to help. Fingers crossed I win as I would love to be able to have a give-a-way on my blog.
My favorite thanksgiving memory is having the whole family together. So many of my family are now no longer with us but I cherish the memories.
FOOD!!!
Playing pinochle
I love how our whole family gets together every year and visits while we eat the delicious feast!
Not exactly a tradition, but I got to announce both of my pregnancies at Thanksgiving. I couldn’t have picked a better occasion – all my friends and family were so thrilled.
my favorite recipe is watergate salad!
* 1 (3.4 ounce) package instant pistachio pudding mix
* 1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple, with juice
* 1 cup miniature marshmallows
* 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
* 1/2 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
DIRECTIONS
1. In a large bowl, mix together pudding mix, pineapple with juice, marshmallows, and nuts. Fold in whipped topping. Chill.
My mom makes the best mashed potatoes with Velvetta cheese. It’s a tradition to have it every year
Turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole, cornbread casserole, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry relish–Thanksgiving is the best meal of the year!
Our tradition is to fry a turkey…without setting anything on fire. So far, so good. We did burn the wings off our first turkey, but we’ve learned from our mistake.
My favorite memory / tradition is getting together with my parents and sisters and their families for Thanksgiving.
My dad died almost 5 years ago, and our entire family misses him and the wonderful gravy that he made every Thanksgiving.