And how was your Thanksgiving? Mine was extra special with a visit from my grand nephew and his father. It is so great to have family come visit, especially when one of them is a champion at almost every cook off that he enters. So naturally, he cooked the turkey … and I had never had smoked turkey before. Since I had already cooked two turkeys for a special early celebration, I was more than glad to turn over the chore to someone else.
However, I still wanted to do my share and contribute to the festivities. Desserts seemed to be in order along with homemade cranberry sauce. It had been a while since I had prepared that and oh it is so good – much better than the canned you buy at the grocery store. The supply chain interfered somewhat with preparation of the pecan pie – there was just no Karo syrup on the shelves at my local store. What a disappointment. For years, our family has been ordering green label Karo from Amazon – but not to find any Karo at all on the shelf, that is really unusual.
Read more: Now on to the Christmas festivities
Thanksgiving is over, so that means the Christmas celebrations have begun. The Valley is full of celebrations that start with tree lightings, then parades, and Christmas lights that stay on the entire month, sometimes lasting until the first week of January. We try our hardest to make sure we give you as much information as possible, but we might not have everyone here. So look to your city’s website or Facebook to see if your city is doing anything special for the holidays.
The Brownsville Holiday Village has already started with their little houses and search for the gingerbread man. The village is set up at the Dean Porter Park. Admission is free with live entertainment scheduled and Santa visiting on Friday’s and Saturday’s.
Read more: Christmas activities start this week
The Rio Grande Valley Concert Band will again present a series of winter concerts and can use some new members.
The band has begun rehearsals in preparation for a December Christmas Concert. This concert will be given at 3 p.m. on December 10 at Our Savior Lutheran Church located at 1105 West Fern Ave. in McAllen.
Read more: RGV Concert Band announces schedule
Harlingen Concert Association will feature Jingle Belles on Tuesday, December 5 at 7:30 p.m. Jingle Belles will feature Jenuine Cello, aka Jen Mulhern, and the Valley’s very own Leslie Blasing.
Read more: Jingle Belles features Leslie Blasing
The Mission Historical Museum Lecture Series presents: The Alamo Train Crash of 1940 with Juan P. Carmona and Taylor Seaver De La Fuente.
Join the museum for a historical lecture on the Alamo Train Crash of 1940, taking place on Saturday, December 9 at 11 a.m. at the Mission Historical Museum. Admission is free to the public. Coffee and light refreshments will be served.
Read more: Alamo Train Crash topic at Lecture Series
I can’t believe Thanksgiving is tomorrow. This year has gone by fast… and this season seems to be speeding on by. Thanksgiving Day is usually quite a busy day for us. We usually have family over or are visiting family.
This year, we are spending it with friends. And although we aren’t hosting, we still have a few things we are making to take to that gathering. We also have a turkey to cook for ourselves.
No matter what, my husband has to have his own turkey. He likes the turkey leftovers. We get a big turkey so that we can have meat for casseroles, sandwiches, and other meals. I can get tired of just plain turkey, but when it’s used for other types of meals, it’s something else entirely.
We also have traditions that start this time of year. Sometimes we are able to keep them, sometimes, depending on the availability of tamales, we don’t do the full thing.
Read more: November 22, 2023 - Rina's Ramblings
Thanksgiving! It’s a time for caring. It’s a time for sharing.
As we turn our thoughts to the Thanksgiving celebration, let us remember how much we have to be thankful for. How grateful we all should be to be living in a beautiful world. And to be able to see and enjoy the flowers and trees that surround us. How thankful we should be to be able to communicate with each other. How grateful we should be for the skills, the attributes, and the talents that we have.
But what are we doing with our talents? Are we sharing them with other people? Do you have skills as a mechanic? Are you sharing those skills by offering to help a neighbor with a problem that he cannot fix? That he knows nothing about?
Perhaps you were a teacher or a tutor. It’s not too late to give of your time and talent to a local school or to your church.
So many of the Winter Texans share their skills with us. Thank you for your time and talent. Let us follow their example.
Read more: Sharing your talents this holiday season