Tag: Thanksgiving

A Song for Reflecting on a Virtual Thanksgiving

Josie Faith Leave a comment

I wrote this short song in the past few days while thinking about the experiences I’ve heard my friends tell me about their own personal family Thanksgivings. Each person’s situation was a little different, but each was far from the normal holiday they are used to sharing with their loved ones. This song is somewhat personal to me, but also incorporates elements/thoughts of individuals I’ve spoken with in the past week or so.

Good Things in Bad Times:

I see the faces round the table except this year they’re all alone

And the smiles that all greet me smile at me through the phone

There is stuffing on the counter, there is turkey in the fridge

Nana’s jello’s in the freezer, I wish that I could have a dish

 

And my cousins all were waving, but my FaceTime camera froze

Now each member of the family’s frozen in a crazy pose

My sister’s fork is halfway to her mouth, my mother sips her tea

Papa’s hand is in the cookie jar, well that one’s no surprise to me

 

And we look back to yesterdays and our family face to face

Whoever said that distance makes the heart grow fonder

Can rest assured that no one doubts him any longer

 

Now seven people all are talking and I can’t understand a word

Can someone teach aunt Betty now please how her iPhone works

And despite all of our warnings, about coffee cups and Macs

Uncle Billy spilled all over his new computer that’s a fact

 

And we’re looking back to yesterdays and our family face to face

Whoever said that distance makes the heart grow fonder

Can rest assured that no one doubts him any longer

 

And it’s hard to be thankful for good things in bad times

But this is the moment to reflect on all our lives

Cause 2020 wasn’t all bad all the time

And we’re thankful for the good in the bad times

You know I’m right

 

I see the faces round the table except this year I’m not at home

but when you have a family like mine you’re never all alone

 

And we’re looking back to yesterdays and our family face to face

Whoever said that distance makes the heart grow fonder

Can rest assured that no one doubts him any longer

No one doubts him any longer

Adult Onesies

Jordan Brown Leave a comment

Last week was Thanksgiving break, which means that most students have brought their winter wardrobe back to school with them.  They replaced all of their tank tops with sweaters. A big part of a winter wardrobe is layers of warm clothing, and the past few years have created a new trend; adult onesies.

Onesies are most popular for babies, and then for pajamas for young children.  They are nice because it is just one piece of clothing that is nice and warm. Recently a trend has risen for adult onesies, and not pajamas but for costumes and to wear to events.  Adult onesies are great because you can layer clothes under them depending on how cold it it outside and it doesn’t ruin the outfit because onesies are meant to be big.

Different styles of onesies are popular.  Animal onesies are the most popular. Most are unisex and you can now buy at Walmart or Kohls.  Some of the most popular adult animal onesies are giraffes, penguins, and pandas. Another big trend is characters.  Instead of buying a several piece costume to look like a character, you can just buy a onesie that already has the characters costume printed on it.  Onesies also do not require a mask no matter what character you are being because the hood is your mask. An example of this would be Darth Vader or the Power Rangers.  Another style of onesies is professions. You can be an astronaut or a nurse as a onesie instead of as a costume. This style is less popular than the others, I think it is because it is easy enough, and more realistic, to find clothes of the actual profession than to wear pajamas that resemble them.

With fun costume onesies rising in popularity, normal adult pajama onesies have also increased in popularity.  Now at big and popular stores like Victoria’s Secret or L.L.Bean, or even the Mden have pajama onesies that people can buy.

My friend and I took advantage of all of the benefits from wearing onesies and we were the yellow and blue Power Rangers to the last Michigan home football game.  It was perfect because we could layer under the onesies with warm clothing that did not have to be Michigan related and we were still supporting the team!

Healthy Thanksgiving

Jordan Brown Leave a comment

Thanksgiving is seen as a time for family and friends to come together and be thankful for the things they have in their lives.  It has also become synonymous with lots of good food. The traditional Thanksgiving meal includes a giant turkey, stuffing, bread, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, and cherry pie.  My family is one of these traditional families who always eat the same food every year with no exceptions. But with people now being more conscious of their diet and how food impacts the environment some Thanksgiving dinners are transforming from the norm.

The biggest Thanksgiving food trope is having a gigantic turkey.  My family even eats a turkey from my aunts farm that they have raised for the event.  Now there are healthier options that people are choosing to eat as their main dish. Stuffed butternut squash is a great alternative because it is filling and squash still has the same nice fall feeling that turkey has.  You can stuff the squash with other vegetables and rice that way if people do not like squash then they can eat the things that are stuffed in it.

My family always has snacks out before the big meal so that people can munch on them while they wait and watch football.  We usually have different types of cookies and chips and dip. Having snacks out before the meal is a great idea to keep people from getting antsy while the food is cooking, but chips and cookies are not the healthiest way to do it.  A healthier option is to just put out a fruit and veggie tray. Everyone likes at least one type of fruit and/or vegetable. It will keep them occupied but it won’t fill them up before dinner.

Mashed potatoes are another staple Thanksgiving food.  Every family has their own mashed potato recipes and some are healthier than others.  A good alternative to mashed potatoes is cauliflower mashed potatoes. This is a good alternative to mashed potatoes every day, not just Thanksgiving.  A way to spruce up the cauliflower mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving is to make sweet potato and cauliflower mashed potatoes. You are still using potatoes, but you are not using as much because the cauliflower is most of the side dish.

The last food that is popular at Thanksgiving is the dessert.  A good alternative to apple of cherry pie is cranberry and blueberry crisp.  You use fresh cranberries and blueberries so you are eating healthy fruit, and you are just putting granola on top instead of the less healthy pie crust.

DIY Thanksgiving

Jordan Brown Leave a comment

Thanksgiving is the middle holiday between Halloween and Christmas, that most people choose to skip celebrating besides take the day off and eat food.  As soon as Halloween is over people start decorating for christmas and wishing for snow.  Most don’t go all out on decorating the house for Thanksgiving, but they do put a lot of effort into making the food.  This year, instead of having no decorations when family comes over for Thanksgiving, decorate the house with fun last minute Thanksgiving decor.

An easy way to decorate for Thanksgiving is to just re-use your Halloween decorations.  The best way to do this is to repurpose pumpkins.  You can just keep mini pumpkins and gourds around the house and kitchen area as decor.  The only pumpkins that won’t work for Thanksgiving is jack-o-lanterns.  You can also take a pumpkin and gut it, then put flowers and other other decorations in the top of the pumpkins to create a centerpiece for your dinner table(pictured up top).  You could also paint the pumpkins or paint some festive words on the pumpkin to create a more festive Thanksgiving environment.

A good craft that most people know about and children do in school is a

turkey made from a hand.  Either by putting paint on your hand or by tracing it on a piece of paper and cutting it out, which makes the turkey’s body.  Then, you cut out feathers from construction paper and staple or glue them to the hand/turkey body.  There are other turkey crafts as well.  You can make a turkey windsocks out of a can, paint, googly eyes, and streamers.  You paint the can brown, and glue the eyes on.  Then the last step is to glue long strings of confetti that hang downfrom the can.  This also a nice decoration because you can put it outside so that others see your Thanksgiving decorations and get inspired.  Another turkey craft that is fun and easy is a rock turkey.  All you need is rock, feathers, and construction paper.  There is two easy steps to make this: first you choose which side of the rock to be the front, and second you just glue the feathers on the back to stick up and the eyes and nose construction paper pieces on the front.

An easy way to decorate for Thanksgiving is to just decorate the house for the fall season.  This is much easier because there are many options to decorate for fall, and many of the crafts only require leaves, which are very easy to require.  One easy craft is to modge podge some leaves to a mason jar and put some candles in it to put on the table or throughout the kitchen and living room.  Another easy leaf craft is to glue some leaves to a wreath made from twigs that you can put on any door throughout your house.

You can now take your Halloween decorations down and put up these new, fun, and easy decorations for Thanksgiving.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Poem

Hannah Levine Leave a comment

Every year on Thanksgiving, my great aunt would read a poem her father read to her called The Turkey Gobbler. In honor of that tradition, here is a poem of all of the things I am grateful for (and you should be grateful for!) at The University of Michigan.

Thanksgiving day comes but once a year
And always it is filled with cheer
Unless of course we do forget
To say our thanks to the people we’ve met
So tell your family and tell your friends
How happy you are that your love never ends
Then look to the west and HAIL the Big House
Pizza House feta bread could please a Michigan mouse
Say thanks to the profs and all the GSIs
Shake your advisor’s hand as you say your goodbyes
Make sure your colors always bleed maize and blue
And take a big sip of some Ann Arbor brew
Then head to the Diag and skip over the M
Say thanks to the squirrels as they scurry to the Den
Take a walk by the Huron
Meet your friends in the Ugli
Sneak some food out the dining halls
Quote JFK smugly
The law quad is perfect for some quality pictures
At Charley’s you’ll surely find some top notch mixtures
So gather your blue books and your number 2 pencils
The Union’s got you covered for fun UMix late night specials
Check the tea out at Wisdom
And down at Tea Haus
Try the coffee at Amer’s
And Espresso Royale
Be jolly at Pumpkin
For a nice stout or pale ale
Run around the Arb
And pet the dogs at finals
Paint the rock at night
Play your hipster rock vinyls
Do trivia at Brown Jug
Or maybe someplace else
Find some chalk at Mash
Hunt fairy doors
Look for elves
Work hard all day
Then play hard at night
Dance ’til the morning
Skeeps, Rick’s, and Necto dim the light
Have an egg on your Frita
Walk barefoot in the fountain
Find your painting at UMMA
Trek off to North like it’s a mountain
Grab a book at the Dude, or maybe at Dawn Treader
Literati has coffee
And typewriters with letters
Act chic in the Ross garden still sunny in winter
Toast mason jars at Dom’s when the sun is a squinter
Spend a dollar on Ground Cover and help someone out
But check out The Daily for news without doubt
Remember orientation as you don your cap and gown
Think of it gratefully and don’t you dare frown
Theres another thing you really must do
And if you don’t, this day you’ll rue
Take hold of your tassle and move it side to side
While you’re at it tell Schlissel he’s a really great guy
The last thing to do is maybe most important
Remember the block ][v][
And say hello victors
Do the right thing
Shout Harbaugh’s name
As we all come together to cheer for this thing we call
the game, the game, the game
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Beat OSU!