The HOLIDAY MEMORIES Thread (Post your favorites)

THParent

THParent

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I had a holiday memory today of my Mom.

It starts with my jar of onions. For as long as I can remember, I have been saving chopped onions in a reused pickle or sauerkraut jar in my refrigerator.
The lids on those jars completely lock in the smell so that your refrigerator doesn't end up smelling like onions.

Here's my jar (this morning):

1637850557737.png

Here is the memory:
Many, many years ago, my Mom came to visit us for Thanksgiving. It was a good visit. The first time she opened the refrigerator (unbeknownst to me) she came upon my onion jar and then - as she did back then - completely forgot about it. Fast-forward to Thanksgiving dinner.

While we are enjoying dinner, she asks me: "What's SNOINO"?

To wit I reply: "What do you mean"?

She says: "There's a jar in your fridge that says SNOINO on the lid"

I'm thinking that she's really gone off the deep end, and I say: "What on Earth are you talking about?"

She says: "There is an old pickle jar in the fridge that says SNOINO on the lid"

I say: "Really? Show me!"

So she shows me:

1637851086179.png

"Oh!" I say.







"Mom, that's ONIONS!!!!"

1637851147891.png


There was much laughter and she was a good sport about it. To this day, I call it "The SNOINO Jar".
 
I think we may have started some new holiday memories here. We live a few hours from The Yard so I picked up a few Mids including mine yesterday. Dropped off the one at his house because parents had to work and brought the rest home for Turkey day. Such a good group I’ll gladly do this as long as they can tolerate me. The ride was great they didn’t shut up for the first hour of the drive and then the snoring began.
 
i picked up 4 mids for BWI yesterday, a little chatter, then dead silence as the group nap started. Went back to the Yard to pick up the two staying with us, then a quick trip to the NEX to buy some civvies, then a snack at Panda Express, then car nap on the way to the house.

They demolished a “party-size” frozen lasagna last night, along with salad and half a pan of brownies. While I labor in the kitchen on Wed night, the lasagna is my go-to meal that takes little tending, and gets the oven limbered up for pies being baked that evening.
 
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Memories, Thanksgiving

1) I have posted this before, I am sure, but it’s still fun to drag it out.
I think I was around 7 or 8, old enough to help out in the kitchen and be a “fetch it kid.” We had one of my aunts with us. The adults were all drinking; a festive air prevailed. My mother asked her sister to go out to the kitchen and baste the turkey with the cooking oil on the counter. I was sent to the kitchen not long after. I came back to my mom and told her the kitchen smelled like a pine forest. Mom, grim look in her eye, got up and found her sister had used the Pine Sol by the sink, and yes, technically on the counter. The turkey was certainly sanitized but inedible. Out it went, and a ham my mom just happened to have, subbed in. Interesting having dressing and ham. My mom also told Dad to be a little more generous with his pours at the make-shift bar in the family room. All went well. My aunt never lived that down.

2) We had a big family group at our house, with various family members bringing things. A niece-in-law and her husband brought along an Austrian IT guy who was spending some time at the husband’s company, for his first American Thanksgiving. He was incredulous at the size of an American turkey, and quickly took to the idea of hanging out in the kitchen and nibbling on crisp turkey skin. He pronounced sweet potatoes interesting, loved corn pudding, and generally enjoyed it all. My DSIL had brought all the pies; their family likes Cool Whip over real whipped cream, but hey, it’s family and that’s part of the deal. I wondered what our Austrian, accustomed to “Schlag,” some of the best whipped cream on the planet on lovely Austrian desserts and coffees, would think of whipped barely-dairy artificially flavored gosh-knows-what scooped out of a tub. He thought it was great stuff and was later seen in the kitchen with a spatula cleaning out the tub. In case you have never looked:

Ingredients​

Water, Corn Syrup, High Fructose Corn Syrup Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil (Coconut And Palm Kernel Oils), Contains Less Than 2% Of Modified Food Starch, Sodium Caseinate (from Milk), Guar Gum, Xanthan Gum, Polysorbate 60, Polysorbate 65, Sorbitan Monostearate, Sodium Hydroxide, Natural And Artificial Flavors, Beta Carotene (Color).
 
My mother would also drag me along (how I perceived it at the time) to take containers of turkey, dressing, pie, sides, etc., to those she called “shut-ins,” elders who lived alone. She would have me take out their trash, wash dishes in their sink, do other small tasks. Now I think it was a wonderful thing she taught me.
 
My memory of the Thanksgiving that we flew to Tampa to meet our first granddaughter. It was beautiful.

Actually, it was today. We met her for the first time today and she’s 4 days old. And, she’s the most beautiful thing ever.

Memories have to start somewhere, right? 😀

Stealth_81
 
Stealth_81 said:
My memory of the Thanksgiving that we flew to Tampa to meet our first granddaughter. It was beautiful.

Actually, it was today. We met her for the first time today and she’s 4 days old. And, she’s the most beautiful thing ever.

Memories have to start somewhere, right? 😀

Stealth_81
Click to expand...
Class of ???? Bring a USAFA onesy? Congratulations. Enjoy!
 
I have a few holiday memories. Like being six hours UA Christmas morning in Palma de Mallorca. It's complicated. Or Christmas in Hawaii. Mele Kalikimaka. Or putting up decorations in base housing in Florida wearing shorts and flip flops. Or at Camp Lejeune putting together a basketball goal set and it was so cold that the frost bite and hypothermia caused me to put the poles together incorrectly and we had to MacGyver it for the next few years of its service life. Years later both kids told me they heard me putting it together and "talking" to it.

Last Thanksgiving after eating, my son and two grandsons and I walked down to the creek behind my house. They crossed on a fallen tree. I tried but fell in. They got a good laugh out of it. Son isn't home this year but the boys wanted to go to the creek again. We went a little farther upstream this time for a slighter slope down to the water. I slipped on leaves, fell, and my right knee hit a rock. I finally stopped screeching and when I was down to a whimper, got up and made it down to the creek. After that we played on the playground for a few minutes then went on back to the house. I always found something magical about being in the woods as a kid. Now I think they are possessed.
 
One of the best things about a holiday is the morning after, early, quietly contemplating a lovely day spent with family, friends, sharing memories, making new ones, sharing laughter and food and stories. I’m still the only one up at 0938, got up at sunrise to take the boxers for a brisk walk, put away the china and crystal, and settle into one of my favorite chairs to watch the sun come up, with the boxers snoozing at my feet. Beautiful fall morning. I hope the day has dawned for you with a new collection of memories.

This is what I’m looking at right now. Appreciate you all!
47E5158F-8E02-4357-AA3B-F4D16EA7BCD0.jpeg
 
Buster is 14 now and will whine or bark at different times of the night so I will go downstairs, shut off the alarm, and take him out. That means going for a walk as we don't have a fence and he would wander off and get lost in the forest. This morning I hadn't heard from him all night so at 0450 I went down to check on him and he was sleeping. I called his name and he looked at me like I was crazy. We were both awake so I hit the coffee on button and took him out. I know he's playing with house money at this point so I'm making our remaining time together worth remembering.
 
Deer hunting with my Dad, Uncle, and brothers Thanksgiving morning. Getting home about noon, after dropping a deer at the butchers if we were lucky, and having homemade apple pie with a wedge of sharp cheddar cheese on the side. An annual tradition back in the day

My uncle Eddy had sawed his fingers off in the middle years back and wore cotton work gloves hunting. My aunt used to cut the glove fingers to fit his hand and sewed up the ends. I got a deer 🦌 one Thanksgiving on a cold, windy day with a mix of sleet, snow, and rain. When dragging out the deer My gloves got wet and my hands got cold. Uncle Eddy offered me his spare, dry gloves to use. We all had a good laugh when I tried to put them on. 🤣
 
Too many to write about... But the #1 thing is the food. Cooking my mom's stuffing and custard pie immediately makes me feel like my parents are still here on this earth with me, celebrating.
 
Devil Doc said:
Buster is 14 now and will whine or bark at different times of the night so I will go downstairs, shut off the alarm, and take him out. That means going for a walk as we don't have a fence and he would wander off and get lost in the forest. This morning I hadn't heard from him all night so at 0450 I went down to check on him and he was sleeping. I called his name and he looked at me like I was crazy. We were both awake so I hit the coffee on button and took him out. I know he's playing with house money at this point so I'm making our remaining time together worth remembering.
Click to expand...
We had to put our 13 year old Labradoodle down on Veterans Day. Was hoping DS would get to see her one last time this Thanksgiving but she went down too quickly 😓
Lucy‘s favorite thing to do was dove hunting with DH…
 
93RN said:
We had to put our 13 year old Labradoodle down on Veterans Day. Was hoping DS would get to see her one last time this Thanksgiving but she went down too quickly 😓
Lucy‘s favorite thing to do was dove hunting with DH…
Click to expand...
He's really my son's dog but DS has been gone most of the past 10 years. He just found out he was selected for a master's program at Quantico so he'll be back in June for a year. Hopefully Buster holds on until then. He'll be home this Christmas though.
 
Devil Doc said:
He's really my son's dog but DS has been gone most of the past 10 years. He just found out he was selected for a master's program at Quantico so he'll be back in June for a year. Hopefully Buster holds on until then. He'll be home this Christmas though.
Click to expand...
🎉 Congratulations to your Son!
 
Capt MJ said:
Memories, Thanksgiving

1) I have posted this before, I am sure, but it’s still fun to drag it out.
I think I was around 7 or 8, old enough to help out in the kitchen and be a “fetch it kid.” We had one of my aunts with us. The adults were all drinking; a festive air prevailed. My mother asked her sister to go out to the kitchen and baste the turkey with the cooking oil on the counter. I was sent to the kitchen not long after. I came back to my mom and told her the kitchen smelled like a pine forest. Mom, grim look in her eye, got up and found her sister had used the Pine Sol by the sink, and yes, technically on the counter. The turkey was certainly sanitized but inedible. Out it went, and a ham my mom just happened to have, subbed in. Interesting having dressing and ham. My mom also told Dad to be a little more generous with his pours at the make-shift bar in the family room. All went well. My aunt never lived that down.

2) We had a big family group at our house, with various family members bringing things. A niece-in-law and her husband brought along an Austrian IT guy who was spending some time at the husband’s company, for his first American Thanksgiving. He was incredulous at the size of an American turkey, and quickly took to the idea of hanging out in the kitchen and nibbling on crisp turkey skin. He pronounced sweet potatoes interesting, loved corn pudding, and generally enjoyed it all. My DSIL had brought all the pies; their family likes Cool Whip over real whipped cream, but hey, it’s family and that’s part of the deal. I wondered what our Austrian, accustomed to “Schlag,” some of the best whipped cream on the planet on lovely Austrian desserts and coffees, would think of whipped barely-dairy artificially flavored gosh-knows-what scooped out of a tub. He thought it was great stuff and was later seen in the kitchen with a spatula cleaning out the tub. In case you have never looked:

Ingredients​

Water, Corn Syrup, High Fructose Corn Syrup Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil (Coconut And Palm Kernel Oils), Contains Less Than 2% Of Modified Food Starch, Sodium Caseinate (from Milk), Guar Gum, Xanthan Gum, Polysorbate 60, Polysorbate 65, Sorbitan Monostearate, Sodium Hydroxide, Natural And Artificial Flavors, Beta Carotene (Color).
Click to expand...
Making my mouth water thinking about the schlag mit apfel strudel at Peter Luger's
 
93RN said:
We had to put our 13 year old Labradoodle down on Veterans Day. Was hoping DS would get to see her one last time this Thanksgiving but she went down too quickly 😓
Lucy‘s favorite thing to do was dove hunting with DH…
Click to expand...
We had to put down our almost 15 year old Australian Shepherd late one evening right before Veterans's day and was hoping our DD would be able to see her one last time too. So difficult to let her know the next morning over FaceTime. The house feels so empty without having our Aussie around. She was a great companion for many patrols, babies and a few cross country moves. I was taken back by how much I felt the loss of our dog. I almost think it was harder losing her than my mom because she was around me all the time, everyday. The house does feel a little brighter being a little more full during this Thanksgiving break.
 
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