The Fort Worth Animal Shelter needs volunteers to help serve a three-course meal to the animals in 2023’s Thanksgiving Day Feast at the Shelter. This is a perfect opportunity for the whole family to give back to the community! Here are all the deets:

When: Thursday, November 23, from 9:30 am to 2 pm

Where: Two locations!

• The Chuck & Brenda Silcox Animal Care and Adoption Center
• North Animal Campus

Who:

• Anyone ages 6 and up! Volunteers will help with food prep and service, as well as walking the dogs. Kiddos ages 6 to 15 may attend with parents to help with food prep.
• If you’re a new volunteer and would like to attend the Petsgiving event, email Tanea Jacksonto expedite your volunteer onboarding status in time for this event.

The post Thanksgiving Is Going to the Dogs! first appeared on Tanglewood Moms.

THE BIG GIVE kicked off on November 16^th and held six distributions over the following 5-day period. Distribution locations included the Tarrant Area Food Bank, the Como Community Center, AT&T Stadium, and various other locations throughout North Texas. Co-founders of THE BIG GOOD Leon Bridges & Gary Patterson, and Patterson’s wife Kelsey, made surprise visits to various BIG GIVE distribution days to work alongside volunteers. Both Patterson and Bridges distributed meals to hundreds of families.

Photo courtesy of The Big Good

“We are very privileged to continue supporting this effort every year,” said Patterson. “And we are very grateful to the Tarrant Area Food Bank and MW Logistics who make this happen every year. This is a project that Kelsey and I have long been involved in, and to see it evolve into what it is today is truly something. We look forward to continuing this project for the years to come.”

THE BIG GIVE 2022 was estimated to serve over 10,000 families this year, and proudly met, and exceeded, that goal. The multiple distributions provided an average of 60 pounds of food to 15,000 families, equaling 900,000 pounds total.

Photo courtesy of The Big Good

“It is really special to be on the ground with the volunteers and families,” said Bridges. “Everyone that we are able to serve is so grateful for these meals and they continue to pay it forward in their own communities. Having a meal at Thanksgiving is something that we can all begin to take for granted, so it is really important for us to get out here every year, help these families out and remember what the holidays are all about.”

THE BIG GOOD would like to proudly recognize the sponsors of THE BIG GIVE 2022. A special thank you to George Young Jr. We would also like to thank employees from Higginbotham who joined us onsite to help distribute meals to families.

For ways to get involved or sponsorship information, visit thebiggood.org

The post The Big Good Did Well first appeared on Tanglewood Moms.

This year, we’re hosting the family, and while my tablescape will never equal my mother’s (seriously, her tables would make Martha Stewart green with envy!), we will have a lovely turkey with all sorts of yummy sides and pies to nourish our loved one’s bodies and souls. I’m in charge of the sides, and I have been dithering for weeks over what to make. Here are some of the finalists!

Herbed Hasselback Sweet Potatoes

This is an easy side for a smallish (two to eight people). The sweet potatoes get crispy on the outside with lovely, creamy centers. This recipe is for four, but it can be scaled up or down!

Ingredients

4 small sweet potatoes, scrubbed

2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for baking sheet

2 tablespoon butter

1 small shallot, minced

1 tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves, minced

1 tablespoon fresh sage leaves, minced

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 425°. In a small saucepan, combine the 2 tablespoons of olive oil, the butter, the shallot, the rosemary leaves, and the sage leaves over medium low heat. Heat until you can smell the herbs and shallot, about 4 minutes.

To cut the potatoes, place a chopstick on either side of a potato. These are there to make sure you don’t cut all the way through the potato. Cut slits approximately ¼ inch apart down the rounded side of the potato. Transfer to a baking sheet covered with foil that’s been lightly oiled.

Brush the potatoes with the herb mixture, making sure to get in between the cuts! Season with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper and roast for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the edges of the potato slices are crispy and the meat is cooked through. These can be served warm or room temperature.

Slow Cooker Smoky Glazed Carrots

Let’s face it, the oven gets a workout on Thanksgiving. Why not use your trusty slow cooker to take some of the pressure off? The best thing is that these carrots are DELICIOUS. This serves eight as a side.

Ingredients

2 pounds carrots, peeled and cut into ½ inch slices

¼ cup (1/2 stick) butter

¼ cup light brown sugar

½ teaspoon smoked paprika (either hot or sweet, I use a combination of both)

½ teaspoon cumin

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Directions

In a small saucepan, melt the butter with the sugar, smoked paprika, cumin , salt, and pepper.

Place the carrots in the slow cooker and pour over the spiced butter, tossing to coat. Cook on HIGH for 3 hours, or until the carrots are softened. Remove the cover of the slow cooker and continue to cook for about 15 more minutes to thicken the glaze. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Citrus-Arugula Salad with Feta and a Shallot Vinaigrette

Not everyone thinks of a salad for the Thanksgiving table, but this citrusy salad perfectly balances the turkey, ham, and heavy sides. The best part? It can be prepped ahead of time and assembled while the turkey is being carved! This will serve eight as a side.

Ingredients

For the Salad

6 large naval oranges, cut into segments

6 blood oranges, cut into segments

2 ruby red grapefruit, cut into segments

½ large or 1 small red onion, sliced into thin rings

10 ounces arugula

¼ cup pine nuts, toasted briefly in a dry skillet over medium heat

4 ounces panela cheese, crumbled

For the Dressing

3 tablespoons sherry vinegar

1 tablespoon minced shallot

1 tablespoon whole grained mustard

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Kosher salt and pepper to taste

Directions

For the Salad

Just before serving, combine and toss with the dressing.

For the Dressing

Place all ingredients in a jar with a tight fitting lid and shake well until the salt dissolves.

The post Side Dishes to Make Your Thanksgiving Sing first appeared on Tanglewood Moms.

“As COVID-19 continues to create challenges for daily work to support the women and children of SafeHaven, I am excited and impressed by our team who are finding creative ways to ensure the comfort and joy we provide continues throughout the year,” said SafeHaven CEO and President Kathryn Jacob.

The SafeHaven team of 150 staff members are working hard this year to take their annual programs online and in small groups to the 120 households (353 people) they will serve this holiday season. Each winter, the organization’s VP of Development Emily Hancock leads the SafeHaven team to create special celebrations for both Thanksgiving meals and the family favorite Santa’s Sack.

“The holiday season is a magical time at SafeHaven. It’s amazing to see the community come together and provide hope and joy to our clients! We are determined to keep that hope alive this holiday season,” Emily Hancock said.

Thanksgiving Meals: NOW – November 9, 2020

Each year, SafeHaven supporters and community members provide meal baskets packed with holiday favorites to each of the families in the organization’s transitional housing program. This annual tradition provides women who are rebuilding their lives to create new, safe and happy memories for their families! To ensure this year those memories continue to prosper, SafeHaven is providing clients with grocery store gift cards so that they can shop and cook in safety! The non-profit is asking North Texas supporters to either purchase cards to their favorite store and mail to SafeHaven directly or purchase an e-gift card at Kroger.

TWO WAYS TO GIVE:

1. Purchase a gift card to your favorite local grocer and mail to SafeHaven at:

SafeHaven of Tarrant County

Attn: Lindsay Edwards

1010 N. Center St.

Arlington, TX 76011

2. Donors can also purchase a Kroger card online and e-deliver it to info@SafeHaventc.org

Santa’s Sack +Adopt-a-Family : November 2 – December 24, 2020

Beginning November 2, community members can support SafeHaven’s two Christmas programs, Santa Sack and Adopt-a-Family, in an effort to check all the boxes on Santa’s list for families seeking freedom from domestic violence. Traditionally, Santa’s Sack and Adopt-a-Family have been an annual toy drive with store-front locations in Tarrant County, but this year SafeHaven is creating an Amazon wish list to fulfill their clients holiday needs – making holiday shopping and supporting those in need easier than ever! To keep the fun shopping experience alive for families in both SafeHaven’s transitional housing and emergency shelters, the organization will be setting up small Santa’s Sack “stores” within each shelter for moms and kids to shop for gifts! The Adopt-a-Family gifts will be sorted and given to directly to selected families.

HOW TO GIVE:

1. Community supporters can visit safehaventc.org starting November 2 to access the amazon wish list link. Once there, donors can select their favorite gifts, purchase online, and have the presents delivered directly to SafeHaven in time for Christmas!
   1. For more information on Adopt-a-Family information and gift needs, donors can contact Lindsay Edwards at Ledwards@safehaventc.org

The post SafeHaven Ensure the Season Is Still Merry and Bright first appeared on Tanglewood Moms.

Photo courtesy of B&B Butchers & Restaurant

Thanksgiving at B&B

The restaurant will be open for dine-in on Thanksgiving Day from 10am-9pm. Guests have the option to order from a prix-fixe menu ($75/adult; $35/kid, ages 11 & under. Excludes tax, gratuity and drinks) plus the entire dinner menu. The prix-fixe menu includes an amuse bouche, three courses (appetizer, main and dessert) and family-style side dishes.

Every dine-in guest receives a special take-home gift – leftover turkey sandwiches made in The Butcher Shop at B&B that morning with roasted turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and a side of gravy.

On the way in or out, guests can grab complimentary hot apple cider and pumpkin cookies. Reservations are required and will be taken throughout the day.

For restaurant take-out, the individual prix-fixe menu will also be available to pre-order for curbside pickup on Thanksgiving Day. Place your order here.

If you are not in the mood to cook or need help hosting a Thanksgiving dinner party, the Butcher Shop at B&B has you covered! The pre-order Thanksgiving to-go menu* includes a main course, sides and dessert. Orders will need to be placed a minimum of 48 hours in advance and will be available for pickup from Tuesday, November 24th through 4pm on Thanksgiving Day.

*Please note: the roasted turkey is brined and ready to cook and comes with cooking instructions – it is not pre-cooked. However, the smoked turkey is cooked. Learn more and see full menu here:  https://www.bbbutchers.com/posts/thanksgiving-at-b-and-b

Photo courtesy of B&B Butchers & Restaurant

Brunch & Photos with Santa

B&B Butchers’ is pleased to host you and Santa on Saturday, December 5th from 9am-2pm as they celebrate the holiday season with their inaugural Brunch & Photos with Santa! Don’t miss this festive opportunity to enjoy pictures with Santa along with your very own photo printout to take home, a delicious prix-fixe menu, hot chocolate and cider bars, specialty cocktails and more! The cost is $45 for children and $65 for adults, which includes the brunch prix-fixe and photos, along with a complimentary mimosa or bellini for adults, but excludes tax and gratuity.

Learn more here.

Some COVID-19 Precautions to note:

Santa will be on the patio (weather permitting), will be wearing a face shield, and will also have a same-day COVID test the morning before the event. Per CDC recommendations, all adults and children over the age of 2 are required to wear a face covering when not at their table, including while waiting in line and when talking to Santa. The face covering may be removed for the photograph, but then must be put back on to return to the table. It is up to parental discretion whether children sit in Santa’s lap or on the stool next to his chair. Please note that it is the responsibility of the parents to ensure that children are socially distanced.

Photo courtesy of B&B Butchers & Restaurant

Christmas Eve

Join the fun on Christmas Eve, Thursday, December 24th, for lunch or dinner. Do not miss Christmas carolers spreading cheer at the restaurant during dinner service, as well as their festive Reinsteer out front for photos! Guests can order from the regular dinner menu. Reservations for this event are recommended.

New Year’s Eve

Goodbye 2020, Hello 2021! Visit B&B on New Year’s Eve, Tuesday, December 31st, for a fun, festive evening of delicious food, drinks and 2021 swag! There is no ticket fee or prix-fixe menu, so guests can order off the regular dinner menu. For this event, reservations are required.

Photo courtesy of B&B Butchers & Restaurant

New Year’s Day Hangover Cure Brunch

Join B&B on New Year’s Day, Friday, January 1st, to recover and rehydrate at their annual “Hangover Cure Brunch” from 11am-3pm. Enjoy  decadent brunch dishes, including a black-eyed peas and greens special, and their specialty cocktails. They will also be open for dinner service that day, which begins at 3pm. 

For more information on their upcoming events or to make a reservation, visit their website or call the Butcher Shop at 817.737.5212

Gretta Hendricks is a multidisciplinary creative who has been a chocolatier, baker, birth-doula, performance artist, and freelance writer, although her favorite job to-date has been becoming a first-time mama to her beautiful rainbow baby, Ofelia, born in January of 2020. Gretta has enjoyed writing for as long as she can remember and is passionately interested in the ways she can both learn and share from the art of storytelling. Alongside her husband and daughter, she loves living in and exploring Fort Worth as well as pouring into her church and local community.

The post Santa Claus Is Comin’ to B&B Butchers! first appeared on Tanglewood Moms.

Strip loin – 135 °

Turkey – The USDA says that a turkey should be cooked until “the innermost part of the thigh and wing and the thickest part of the breast” reach 165°. Joe Riscky suggests removing the turkey a little before the temperature reaches 165° as carryover cooking will continue after the bird is removed from the oven. 

I, as Editor of Madeworthy, apologize for the misinformation. 

– Lee 

Americans gobble around 45 million turkeys a year. Whether the bird is roasted, smoked, or fried, turkey meat requires extensive prep work and an attentive eye to keep the juices in and the meat tender. But even an award-winning effort may not elevate the morsels to the culinary experience of, say, rack of lamb or prime rib.

Pit master Joe Riscky, who heads operations at The Meat Board – the newish Ridglea Hills butcher shop and lunch spot owned by cattle rancher Don Rea and food microbiologist Ranzell Nickelson – offered tips for Thanksgiving-friendly turkey alternatives. Tenderloin topped his list.

Photo courtesy of The Meat Board

“Tenderloins are rich and seasonal,” he said. “It reminds me of the holidays. We used to eat a lot of tenderloin growing up.”

Whether you buy your tenderloin at The Meat Board (my recommendation) or elsewhere, the first step is to “barrel it out” or trim it into the classic cylindrical tenderloin shape. Riscky recommends a special cut of meat called chateaubriand. Any experienced butcher will know how to prepare the chateaubriand for cooking.

Riscky suggests that you make a rub that’s heavy on salt and pepper with lesser amounts of garlic, chile, and paprika and spread liberally over the tenderloin. Smoke the meat over oak for an hour to an hour-and-a-half or until the center of the meat reaches 120° to 130°. Then serve hot or cold.

A strip loin is another great holiday option, Riscky said. The tender cut of beef can be roasted in the oven or smoked until the center of the meat reaches 135°. Mild post oak or pecan wood work best for smoking, according to the pit master. “Smoke it for about an hour or two hours,” he said. “Then it will be medium rare going toward medium. It’s pretty much like prime rib. Cut it into inch-and-a-quarter slices and [sear them in] a hot skillet. Then it’s a smoked steak.”

Ham and briskets are great holiday options too, he added. If turkey is a must-have, Riscky recommends cooking the bird until it’s 150° at its core. While safety guidelines often recommend internal temperatures of 165°, cutting the heat before that threshold spares the meat from drying out, he said. [Please see note at the beginning of this article.]

Rubs for turkey should be kept simple: salt, pepper, and a little garlic. Riscky recommends adding brown sugar to any rub to get a nice, caramelized glaze. For many cooks (and diners), turkey breasts are preferable to whole turkeys. “You aren’t worried about bones or what to do with the gizzard,” he said. “[The breast has] a 100% yield, and it’s the best part of the turkey.”

If reading about smoked meats has you pining for luxurious ribeye steaks and meaty ribs, the “meat geeks” at The Meat Board are ready to help you elevate your cooking game ahead of the holidays. It was clear from my visit that they live to encourage and inform folks about grilling, no matter what skill level a visitor has. Nearby Board Room hosts small groups for cooking lessons or meetings.

With few exceptions, the meaty offerings at the butcher shop are wet aged for 30 days before being sold. The aging creates a transcendent meat-eating experience that blends buttery textures with complex flavor profiles. Riscky and fellow employee Dylan Tucker said meat scientists have done the hard work of testing the shear force (measured in newtons) required to slice (and presumably chew) various cuts of pork, poultry, and beef at different stages of wet-aging. While it’s wonderful that meat scientists are so diligent, most of us are more interested in taste and texture, and The Meat Board’s wet aging process ensures a delicious experience.

Photo courtesy of The Meat Board

Whatever your choice, work with a meat that has a special history with your family for the holidays and cook your choice with care, Riscky said. The pit master said his Thanksgivings are spent at his family’s farm west of town.

“My aunt does the traditional Thanksgiving dinner,” he said. “I usually take the day off because I’m beat. The day after, Friday, is the big day… we will have a pit out there, and we will smoke some stuff. We do a traditional turkey. My uncle loves to deep-fry them.

Riscky said he also enjoys a good turkey sandwich. As far as chowing down on an entire turkey, he saves one special day a year to gobble America’s favorite holiday bird.

“I don’t mind a whole turkey, but I like it on Thanksgiving,” he said. “And once a year is fine.”

Edward Brown is a writing tutor and piano teacher. He is also an award-winning writer for the Fort Worth Weekly and volunteers for numerous Fort Worth nonprofits. He has spent the last two weeks walking and talking with the protesters in Fort Worth.

The post Pass (on) the Turkey first appeared on Tanglewood Moms.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Our families don’t NEED a house that looks like the cover story of Town and Country. Our friends don’t NEED the perfect Christmas card with the kids looking like models for Neiman’s. (Does Neiman’s still carry children’s clothing?) What we all need is presence. Not presents. I didn’t misspell that. Presence. Presence and gratitude for all we have.

As I was looking at my to-do list on Sunday evening, I got overwhelmed. There were so many things on that list before Thanksgiving when we would be hosting family for the feast, and I knew that I couldn’t get them all done. Now, just between you and me, I sometimes feel like I have to be Super Mom and do everything by myself. It’s hard for me to let go and let others help me. But other than making sure my family is safe, warm, and fed, all the other things on my list are just gravy. (Giblet gravy. Made from the turkey drippings. Yum!)

To talk myself down from the impending panic attack, I made a list of things for which I am grateful. It worked! So I thought I would share my list with you, and I urge you to take 15 minutes to sit down with pen and paper, make your own list, and breathe.

1. I’m grateful that we have a roof over our heads, clothes to wear, and food to eat. This might seem obvious, but so very many in our community do not.
2. I’m grateful that my husband’s kids will be with us for Thanksgiving. We don’t see them much, and although our little house is full to bursting when they’re here, it’s wonderful!
3. I’m grateful that I can nourish the people I love with food I prepare. So what if the turkey is a little lopsided? It still tastes good, and it will provide my family with the nutrition they need for life.
4. I’m grateful that all five kids are old enough that they do not require help in the bathroom or help dressing. Seriously.
5. I’m grateful for my job. Working for Tanglewood Moms/Madeworthy has broadened and enriched my life in ways that I could not have imagined when I answered Victoria’s call for writers in 2015.

The list is much longer, but I don’t want to bore you. However, I can’t recommend taking a little bit of time to sit down and physically write out a list of things for which you’re grateful enough. Take 15 minutes. The world will not stop spinning, I promise! And I will just about guarantee that you will feel better when you’re done. And once you’re done, go hug your family. Really hug them. It makes all the difference in the world.

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Tanglewood Moms/Madeworthy. We are grateful for you!

The post I Am Thankful For… first appeared on Tanglewood Moms.

Now, don’t panic. Central Market has everything you need to make your Thanksgiving feast the best yet! For this year, my family and I are doing a Southern Thanksgiving, and I have some recipes for Southern sides to share with you.

Southern Greens

This is the recipe I make every New Year’s Day, as Southern tradition holds that eating greens on New Year’s Day is essential to ensure you receive money throughout the year. My younger daughter LOVES these, and she requested that we have them for Thanksgiving.

Ingredients

3 pounds greens (I use a mix of collards, turnip, and mustard greens), well-washed, tough stems removed, and chopped

1 large yellow onion, diced

1 large or 2 smaller ham hocks

3 quarts chicken stock or broth (if using store broth, get the low sodium variety!)

4 to 6 cloves garlic, smashed

1 cup cider vinegar, more or less (I use a lot of vinegar in my greens, but I know that’s a very subjective taste)

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Directions

In a large stock pot, combine the onion, ham hocks, garlic, and stock or broth and cover. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for about 2 hours, or until the meat is falling off the bone. Remove the bones, add the greens and the broth, and simmer for about an hour. Add the vinegar, salt, and pepper. Serve with the cooking liquid (called “pot likker”) so you can sop it up with cornbread! Serves 8.

Sweet Milk Cornbread

There is great debate among cooks as to whether sugar and flour belong in cornbread. In my opinion, cornbread has no sugar and no flour; corn cake has sugar and flour. So this recipe has no sugar or flour. Oh! The “sweet” in the title refers to regular milk, as opposed to buttermilk.

Ingredients

2 cups cornmeal (I use yellow, but white is just as good!)

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 ½ cups whole milk

2 tablespoons canola or grapeseed oil (I actually use lard, but many have a hard time with lard)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450°. Allow your pan to heat in the oven. I use a cast iron cornbread pan, but you can use a skillet, a pie pan, corn stick mold, or muffin tins.

In one bowl, combine the dry ingredients. In another bowl, combine the milk, egg, and oil (or melted lard, if using). Combine the two, stirring just enough to moisten. Pour into the hot baking pan of your choice. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, for corn sticks or muffins, 17 to 20 minutes for a pan or skillet. Serves 6 to 8. (I make several batches and keep them warm!) Serve with butter and sorghum or molasses.

4 to 6 cloves garlic, smashed

Southern Squash Casserole

This is one of those recipes that every family across the South has a version of. Some use canned soups, others include Miracle Whip. This is my recipe, and my family loves it!

Ingredients

3 pounds summer squash (I use a mix of zucchini and yellow squash), sliced about ¼ inch thick

1 large yellow onion, chopped

1 to 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

½ teaspoon dried tarragon

Salt and freshly-ground pepper to taste

5 tablespoons butter, divided use

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 8-oz container sour cream (please don’t use the light or fat-free stuff for this!)

4 oz sharp cheddar, grated

4 oz Gruyere, grated, divided use

Several shakes of your favorite hot sauce (I use Cholula for this)

2 sleeves Ritz or Town House crackers, crushed

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350° and coat a 2-quart baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large skillet or sauté pan over medium heat, sauté the onions and garlic in 3 tablespoons butter. When the onions are translucent, add in the squash, tarragon, salt, and pepper. Sauté until the center of the slices of squash are just tender. Transfer the vegetable mixture to a colander and drain, discarding the liquid.

While the vegetables are sautéing, combine the eggs, sour cream, cheddar, 3 oz of Gruyere, and hot sauce in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Gently fold in the drained vegetables and pour into the greased baking dish. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and mix with the crushed crackers; sprinkle the butter cracker crumbs over the casserole and top with the remaining grated Gruyere cheese. This can be made up to the point and refrigerated for two days.

Bake the casserole in the preheated oven for about 20 to 30 minutes, or until the top is golden brown. Serves 6 to 8.

If you don’t want to spend all your Thanksgiving in the kitchen, Central Market has you covered. From the turkey or ham to the pumpkin pie and flowers for the table, you can get everything you need for your Thanksgiving feast at Central Market. And don’t forget the curbside pickup! Just order your food, and it will be ready whenever you are!

If you would like other recipes, click here and here.

The post A Southern Thanksgiving first appeared on Tanglewood Moms.

As I interviewed her over the phone for this story, I realized that we had never really talked about her early years in this country. I regretted waiting so long but was eager to make up for lost time. I wanted to get a feel for what holidays were like in her native country, so I started by asking about Korean Christmases in the 1960s and early ’70s.

“Christmas was experienced mostly in church where we would make ornaments and hear choir programs,” she said. “This idea of giving presents was not [familiar to us]. Korea was economically [poor] at that time. It’s nothing like it is today.”

Thanksgiving in America took her by surprise. Shortly after her family settled in Philadelphia, my mom went out for a late-night walk with a friend who was also from Korea. It was November and was freezingly cold. She passed several well-lit dining rooms as she strolled through her row house neighborhood. Each window appeared like a glimpse into paradise to my newly-arrived mom. Not only were these people warm, cozy, and (largely) smiling, every table was overflowing with giant roasted birds, piles of mashed potatoes, and dishes my mom had never seen before. She laughingly described how she probably looked like a Dickensian orphan peering into those windows in the dead of winter.

“I kept seeing these families having feasts,” she recalled. “I didn’t know what was happening. Later, my friend explained that it was what people do in America on Thanksgiving Day. I never forgot that.”

Her parents, Jasun and Induck Choi, never developed a taste for turkey. Personally, I don’t blame them. The choice of turkey meat as the central dish of a major holiday is hard to justify, in my opinion, when there is an international trove of culinary treasures to choose from. The Choi side of my family is represented in the piles of grilled Korean-styled cuts of beef and pork that are a staple of our family’s blended Thanksgiving Day feasts. There’s always oyster dressing, gifted in spirit from my late Midwestern grandmother, Lucille Brown, and “never-canned” cranberry dressing. Yes, there is always a turkey at our table. My mom adopted (some would say finally gave into) the tradition back in 1983. She has long mastered the fowl art of basting and roasting a whole turkey, but there were a few missteps along the way.

The first year’s turkey came with the biggest surprise. The nicely-packed bird came with a paper bag of giblets that was tucked deep inside the bird’s abdomen. My mom didn’t question the oven-readiness of the turkey and tossed it into the oven, bag and all.

“As I was serving dinner, I put my hand in there and found this bag of giblets and gizzards,” she said with a laugh. “The bag came out, and I didn’t know what it was.”

The next Thanksgiving brought new lessons. After taking the word “stuffing” literally, my mom thought the bready filling needed to be “stuffed” tightly inside the bird. When the turkey was unveiled, the cornbread filling had baked hard as a rock. We ate our centerpiece turkey sans stuffing that evening.

“Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, even more than Christmas,” she told me. “It’s uniquely American. It’s sort of the prelude to the holiday season. The idea of having family and sharing a meal in gratitude makes it the most wonderful holiday of all.”

We often invite friends and extended family to the Brown Thanksgiving dinners. We’ve had as many as 25 guests at our home, many of them from South America and East Asia.

“It has become even more joyful after having a grandson, Isaac,” she added. “It’s a great memory building experience for Isaac because Thanksgivings here are a combined cultural experience. The holiday is a chance for me to express the gratitude I have at being able to come here, be educated, and have my children grow up here. I feel a profound sense of gratitude and privilege.”

It speaks to the universality of this country’s founding values that dozens of men and women from several countries and different belief systems can so seamlessly gather together to celebrate this great American holiday. A focus on friends, family, and gratitude are at the core of this holiday, as my mother has taught me. The food and sides? Well, that’s just gravy.

Christmas brought new learning opportunities for my mom. Gift giving wasn’t part of the culture in Korea when my mom was little. Santa Claus was only a vague concept. American pop culture hadn’t quite reached Korea’s shores. The gifting of Christmas cards and celebrations at church were the only commonalities my mother saw between her childhood experiences of Christmas and her first memories in this country. Even during her first few years in Philadelphia, her parents weren’t quick to adapt to Christmas trees and wrapped gifts. They were too busy putting in overtime to support their recently transplanted family. My mother recounted a funny story about her first Christmas gift, which she received from my father, Timothy Brown.

“You guys were not even a year old,” she told me, referring to my twin brother and me.

“We were living in Denton. Your father and his friend Jeff Calhoun decided they would go out and buy gifts for their wives. You dad put his gifts on the closet shelf. I had never been given a gift for Christmas, and I was dying to see what my gift was. I couldn’t stand it. When he was gone, I opened it. Guess what I found: a pair of large rubber gardening gloves. I never garden, and my hands are small. I was very offended.”

When she confronted my dad, he just laughed. He had given my mom’s gift to Jeff, knowing that my mother was likely to spoil the surprise. My dad had likewise hidden his friend’s gift in the closet.

Around this same time, the Brown family’s most notorious holiday story occurred. I was too young to remember the details, but I do remember the moment our family television left the confines of the entertainment center and flew onto our front yard with a resounding crash.

It was New Year’s Day in the mid ’80s. My dad was in full holiday vacation mode, meaning he had no real plans other than watching football games all day. This time-honored American tradition did not impress my mother. To her, the first day of January set the tone for the year so should not be spent watching football. When hours of nagging and prodding failed to extricate my pop from bed, my mom grabbed our only television and unceremoniously threw it onto the front yard where it broke. Her father bought us a new TV soon after, but the incident taught us all to take MiWon’s warnings more seriously.

I hope readers can relate to these stories. Both my parents teach piano, as do I, and I see an interesting analogy to the merging of holiday traditions in classical music. The idea of two different personalities meeting, developing together, then emerging as one is exemplified in the centuries-old sonata form that formed the basis for piano and orchestral writing beginning in the late 18th century and continuing to this day. Sonatas begin by introducing two themes, which then undergo a “development” that often sounds like upheaval or strife. After the turbulent middle sections, both themes arise again in the recapitulation, but this time, they are played in the same key. The great composers were keen to use structures and forms that tapped into universal experiences. The often-rosy endings are perfunctory at best. It’s the conflicting development that fuels the sonata form. The process of blending holiday traditions, whether from divergent cultures or religions, similarly includes a few hiccups along the way.

Most of my Christmas memories center around waking up early to tear through mountains of gifts. And that was the idea. Christmases became about my brother Tim and me. While the turkeys sometimes came with giblet bag surprises and the early attempts at gift giving had missteps, in my parents’ eyes, my brother and I represented the harmonious blending of two cultures.

Now, our Christmas holidays revolve around my son, Isaac. He loves playing the role of waiter at our holiday dinners. He’s at ease bringing plates of turkey with kimchi side dishes to guests. Our family traditions will enrich his life, but what I hope he takes away from those moments is what matters in a more universal sense — that our family takes time to express gratitude for the opportunities we’ve been afforded by our elders, this country, and a loving God. On behalf of the Brown/Choi family, we wish everyone peace, joy, and no broken televisions this holiday season.

Edward Brown is a writing tutor and piano teacher. He is also an award-winning writer for the Fort Worth Weekly and volunteers for numerous Fort Worth nonprofits.

The post A Marriage of Hearts and Traditions first appeared on Tanglewood Moms.

Thanksgiving is in one week, and if you’re like me, you will have hordes of people descending upon you to gather ‘round a great feast. And if you’re like me, you haven’t gotten around to figuring out the menu.

This is why I’m thankful for Central Market this year! They have everything I need – from breakfast to feed to the kidlets in front of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade (which, happily, keeps them out of the kitchen!) to appetizers to serve with pre-dinner drinks to mains and sides to desserts to beverages, both adult and not.

When I’m racing around the house on Thanksgiving morning, cooking and cleaning and panicking, it’s so convenient to be able to put breakfast on the table for people to pick at while they’re watching the parade. I’m partial to the migas casserole and mixed fruit salad, but Central Market is ready with all sorts of yummies to tempt any sleepy palate. My younger child LOVES every kind of muffin they carry. Whatever I end up getting will disappear quickly!

In our family, we always have a cocktail hour so that the guests can talk while the cook finishes up in the kitchen. Because Thanksgiving dinner is so bountiful, I usually only get some nibbles from the olive bar and some roasted nuts from the Bulk Department, but Central Market’s appetizer/hors d’oeuvres selection is so amazing, I’m tempted to do a tapas Thanksgiving.

I do know that I’m cooking the turkey this year. We’ve ordered a free-range heritage turkey for our feast, but I will admit I was tempted by the hams, the beef tenderloins, and the rib roasts available. However, my family loves roast turkey for Thanksgiving, so roast turkey it is! (I love the smell of roasting turkey, but if you don’t want to cook, Central Market has roasted turkeys, hams, and beef tenderloins that only need reheating to be the perfect centerpiece for your meal.)

No Thanksgiving dinner is complete without a multitude of sides, and Central Market has everything you need to accommodate any taste or diet out there. They have FIVE kinds of stuffing. Four kinds of potatoes. Five sauces. Not to mention rolls, breads, soups, salads, and roasted vegetables of every variety. I’m tempted to get the roasted beets with pistachios and shallot vinaigrette, but I’m afraid that they wouldn’t make it to the table.

Of course, the crowning glory of any Thanksgiving table is the desserts. I will admit freely that I’m not a baker. When I was cooking professionally, nothing made the blood in my veins turn to ice more quickly than having to do pastry work. Now, I don’t have to bake! I just order from Central Market. This year, I’m serving a hummingbird cake, a pumpkin chiffon pie, and an almond cherry buttermilk pie. And since my younger daughter’s birthday is the day after Thanksgiving, I’ll just pick up the cupcakes for her party at the same time. Talk about convenience!

And talking of convenience, don’t forget Central Market Curbside! It’s so very easy to order online and pull into one of the dedicated parking spaces to get what you need. If jostling through shoppers isn’t your think, you NEED to try this!

Whatever you choose for Thanksgiving dinner, we here at Tanglewood Moms hope that you and your loved ones have a wonderful Thanksgiving, full of love and laughter and gratitude for all our many blessings!

The post Giving Thanks for Central Market first appeared on Tanglewood Moms.