TALK TURKEY TO ME! By Jayne Ormerod

There comes a time when a woman must start hosting her own Thanksgiving celebrations. For me that day came at the tender age of 22, when I married a Naval officer and moved 2,500 miles away from family. Had I any inkling that I would have to prepare Thanksgiving feasts entirely on my own, my childhood holidays would have been better spent hanging out in the kitchen learning the tricks of preparing a flawless holiday mean instead of curling up in an over-sized armchair with my nose buried in the latest Nancy Drew mystery. As a result, I’ve had to learn a lot of Turkey Day lessons the hard way.

In the spirit of the season, today I’m offering a Top Five List of Things I Wish My Mother Had Taught Me about Preparing (and Enjoying) a Thanksgiving Feast:

RECIPES OF WRITING by Sheryl Jordan

 

A co-worker gave me a Strawberry Pretzel Dessert recipe over 35 years ago when I was living in Minnesota. It quickly became a  favorite dessert of my family which I make for most holiday celebrations. It’s a relatively simple recipe with only seven ingredients, but it tastes so delightful!

I didn’t get to make this desert much during the summer holidays as we were quite busy. We sold our previous home, and moved into an apartment, putting most of our possessions in storage. Throughout July we traveled quite a bit for our family. We traveled to New York for a quick getaway. Upon returning home, we found a home we love and put an offer in. We then traveled to Washington, D.C. with our daughter and grandchildren so they could see some of the beautiful historical landmarks of the city. We returned to Norfolk and prepared for a quick trip to Chicago for a family gathering.  We closed on the new house and moved in the latter part of September. We are still moving things from the storage unit into the new home. All of this is going on while we are both working demanding jobs, making sure the grandkids come over each weekend and trying to get settled in at our new home.

Classic Halloween Movies Based on Books

With Halloween just a couple of days away, I thought it would be fun to share some classic Halloween movies based on books. 

Since most of my favorite childhood Halloween movies were adapted from books, generations of readers have discovered these timeless classics and memorable characters.

So, grab some candy, light your spooky candles, and curl up on the couch with a classic Halloween book or watch a movie based on a book.

’TIS THE SEASON. WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE NOVEL OR MOVIE ABOUT BASEBALL? By A. Doubleplay, Guest Blogger

 

"If you build it, he will come."

Wow! It’s that time of year. Crisp fall breezes. A hint of buttered popcorn and roasted hot dogs wafting across the infield. The crack of a wooden bat sending a screaming line-drive toward the shortstop. Yes, that’s right, it’s baseball playoff time. The World Series is just around the corner.

What a game! It’s only been around in its current form for about 150 years. And baseball has been the subject of scores of novels and movies. Two come to mind: Shoeless Joe a 1980 novel by W. P. Kinsella, adapted to the big screen as Field of Dreams in 1989; and The Natural, a 1952 novel by Bernard Malamud, the basis for a movie of the same name in 1984. There are probably other baseball novels that were made into movies. 

TRICK OR TREAT FOR MYSTERY LOVERS! by Yvonne Saxon

 

Today, dear readers, we’re going trick or treating for mysteries! There are eight “houses” on this street and each one has clues to a mystery book, series, or tv/film adaptation. Some you know, others may be new to you. So imagine yourself dressed up as your favorite sleuth, and see if you can figure out what mysteries will be in your treat bag!

The first house is a Cape Cod; you can hear seagulls and smell the salt in the air. There’s no car in the driveway, just a bicycle with a basket leaning against the fence. Inside you can see an old-fashioned typewriter in a cozily decorated room. A basket of saltwater taffy sits beside another with twelve seasons of DVD’s, books, and even video games. You take the treats, but you’re sorry the owner’s gone now: you would have loved to have spent more time with her.

The next house is really old; it looks like it was built in the 1940’s. There are two nice old ladies on the porch serving elderberry wine and cakes. Suddenly, a man dressed like President Teddy Roosevelt charges out the door blowing a trumpet, giving everyone a fright! One of the ladies offers you a glass, but a frantic young man in the bushes gestures “NO!” He tosses a copy of a play in your bag and whispers “get out of here.”

CAPTIVATING CHARACTERS by Maria Hudgins

The only thing better than discovering an epic fictional character is creating one yourself. How is that done? How did Conan Doyle think up Sherlock Holmes? Did Agatha Christie know a Miss Marple? How did Johnny Depp know that portraying Captain Jack Sparrow like Keith Richards would be more fun than the old "Arghh!" growling pirate? If only we knew the answer we would all be millionaires. but usually the act of timeless character creation is chalked up to "genius" and we assume we can't do it. Can we look at this a bit more? Who flies off the page (or the screen) and grabs you? A great story needs characters that grab you.

SOME KIND OF WONDERFUL: A STORY ABOUT COPYRIGHT AND CHARCTER by Michael D. Rigg

"Excuse me, sir..."

On Saturday afternoon of this past Labor Day weekend, my wife and I strolled through the Charleston Town Center, a once-thriving indoor shopping mall, located, as the name implies, smack-dab in the middle of downtown in West Virginia’s capital city. Why we were there isn’t the subject of today’s blog. Today, I’ll talk about What, and Who, we found.   

At its height, the two-story mall offered patrons access to 130 stores, including Sears, J.C. Penney, and Macy’s. (A small third-story contains the mall’s food court.) Today, approximately 50 stores and restaurants remain. J.C. Penny stands as the lone anchor-store. Footsteps from a dwindling number of shoppers echo among the increasing square footage of drywall-covered storefronts. A change in ownership, and plans for strengthening the regional economy, bring hope for a brighter future.