Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Thanksgiving - Treasured Words


I feel so very blessed. Each year, the day before Thanksgiving falls on my post day. What more could I possibly ask? I am thankful beyond all belief.


The Top Ten Reasons Why Mary is Thankful:





#10 The Alley Cats

#9  All our Alley Pals/Friends/Guests

#8  My fabulous and supportive husband

#7  Church family

#6  Creation

#5   Five completed manuscripts

#4   Four-giveness of sins

#3   Three children

#2  Two-morrow's fabulous dinner with family

#1  One Savior who provided the One Way for all who believe to go to heaven.

Thank you God, for blessing this blog and other writing blogs whose intent is to train and teach those who write Christian works. May the fruit of our labor glorify You.

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Treasured words

One of the qualities of a successful writer is a gift for painting a picture with words. There are many individuals who have lost or have never had one of the five senses. When they read a story or have a story read to them, our words stir memories or create memories of these senses. We help to bridge an understanding.


Photo Courtesy
I cannot smell a rose. I can smell most other flowers, but not a rose. I don't have anything to link it to or any reference to help me. My husband saves money at Valentines because I ask him not to buy roses. I prefer carnations or hyacinths because I can experience their sweet floral scent. 

When I read a story with roses I struggle to grasp the sense of the scene. Now if a writer happened to attach a description to help me experience the scent, I think I could enjoy the magic.

Your assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to describe the taste of an item on your Thanksgiving menu for a person with no sense of smell. (Did you know the tastebuds cannot function properly without the sense of smell?)

Pick one item and describe it in the comment section. 


Photo Courtesy
I'll take the first crack at it. Pumpkin Pie: The taste is like the first night of a carnival where the walkways are filled with excited children waiting to get on their first ride and colorful lights dance against the dark sky.

Your turn. What would you like to describe for a person who does not have the sense of smell?
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This blog post is by Mary Vee

Mary has moved to Michigan with her husband, closer to her three college kids. She misses the mountains of Montana, but loves seeing family more often. She writes contemporary and romance Christian fiction and loves to pen missionary and Bible adventure stories on her ministry blog, God Loves Kids.


Visit Mary at her website and her ministry blog to families: God Loves Kids. Or chat on Facebook or Twitter





21 comments:

Ruth Logan Herne said...

Oh, I'll play!!!!

Spring flowers, nodding here, dancing there, rhythmic and wild, their scent like the tingle of sweet breeze against your cheeks on a seventy-something day!

Mary, Happy Thanksgiving! I had to stop by and say "HEY" to all my Alley buds and wish you a blessed holiday from me... and all of Seekerville! I hope your holiday is delightfully full of food and no football fights!!!!

:)

Ruthy

Mary Vee Storyteller said...

Ruthy,
Love when you join the festivities.

Love your description. Great word picture so full of life.

Happy Thanksgiving to you also, and to all your sweet kids and grandkids.

Hoping to drag a few more Seekerville gals this way to play, too.

Let's see, how can I get them here?

Sherrinda Ketchersid said...

I'm thankful for YOU, sweet Mary. Your love and encouragement at the Alley are such a gift!

Let's see...taking a bite of a buttermilk pie is like snuggling under a blanket with your hunky guy, sipping hot chocolate in front of a crackling fire.

Jeanne Takenaka said...

Mary, I am thankful for you, and each of the Alley Cats. I'll think on a description and see if I come up with something. With hubby and kids home today, my writer brain hasn't engaged. :)

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, my friend2!

Mary Vee Storyteller said...

Oooo Sherrinda,
I think I shall have to try some buttermilk pie. Quick send me the recipe.

Mary Vee Storyteller said...

Jeanne,
You have a great Thanksgiving, too.

And please, you are such a good writer, I long to see your description.

I'm waiting. :)

Amy Leigh Simpson said...

Love this, Mare! And I'm not sure anything can top Sherrinda's hunky buttermilk pie ;) so thankful for you!

Mary Vee Storyteller said...

Yeah, I say her next post should be the recipe.

Thankful for you to Ames and for princess.

Karen @ a house full of sunshine said...

I'm with Amy, Sherrinda's pie sounds pretty good! I've never tried a buttermilk pie, but now I want to.

I'll need some help, girls. We don't celebrate Thanksgiving in Australia (shame that, it seems like such a lovely tradition.) But I don't know what's on a typical Thanksgiving menu. Turkey - but this vegetarian gal has never eaten turkey. What else??

Instead of describing the food, I can be your test subject. Tell me what it's like!

I have had a taste of pumpkin pie once before, years ago when an American exchange student made it for us. It was interesting! Pumpkin is considered a vegetable/ dinner food over here, so that was a cultural eye-opener. Weirdly nice though! What other food delicacies have I been missing out on all these years?

Julia M. Reffner said...

Sherrinda,

The part about buttermilk pie made me want to gag until I read your descriptor. Now it sounds better :)

Karen,

Here's some typicals (for us anyway):

Mashed potatoes with gravy
pecan pie
sweet potato casserole
green bean casserole
squash
green beans
parker house rolls
roasted root vegetables
cornbread stuffing with apples & sausage

Sherrinda Ketchersid said...

LOL...yall are so funny. I will share the recipe sometime. I know buttermilk itself is horrible, but these pies...mmmm, I am told I have to bring them to every Sunday lunch we have a church. ;)

Krista Phillips said...

I'm not sure I've ever had buttermilk pie either-- however I LOVE buttermilk pancakes, so I'm assuming I'd love me some pie as well!!!!

Karen, I take it for granted at times that Thanksgiving is not a round the globe celebration... DUH me!!!

Julia forgot Deviled eggs and according to my husband, cranberry sauce, LOL!

Pepper said...

Oh boy! Love you, Mare and great idea!

The dessert my mom is baking right now smells rich, the kind of smell you want to sink into - like a bed of cushy pillows and warm like sunshine directly on your face.

As far as our menu tomorrow. Good grief - we'll have a monster table set. They'll be between 30-40 people there and everyone brings 2 dishes. So we usually have ham and turkey. Various side dishes and a whole table of desserts!! YUM

Karen @ a house full of sunshine said...

Wow! It sounds like a pre-Christmas Christmas. ;) 30-40 people - Pepper, that sounds stressful!!! Lol! But I'm glad everyone brings something.

I would have no idea how to make a green bean casserole or a sweet potato casserole, but they both sound delish! Sweet potato ANYTHING is a big hit with me. And I LOVE pecan pie - one of my all-time faves!! I think I'd make a good American. ;)

So who wants to have me round for Thanksgiving? ;)

Mary Vee Storyteller said...

30-40 people, Pepper. Wow!
You are going to have one big feat and a whole lot of fun.

Mary Vee Storyteller said...

Karen,
My sister served as a missionary in Wales and had such a difficult time finding the supplies for a Thanksgiving meal. Imagine…celebrating Thanksgiving in the UK?
Yeah, the people thought she was weird. The most difficult ingredient to find: pumpkin. She had to settle for sweet potato pie.
She called it a cultural experience and invited all the Welsh neighbors to the feast. They didn't complain!

Amy Leigh Simpson said...

Oo.. Oo.. Me Karen! You come to my Thanksgiving any year :) too much good food, games, big family chaos! Fun times. Bring pants with a stretchy waistband ;) my favorites on thanksgiving are yes, turkey (of course, but my father in law goes non-traditional and smokes or fries it... After he injects the beast with butter and garlic and herbs-yum!) I also love Waldorf salad. (Apples, grapes, celery, walnuts, and whipped cream) and I make a killer cheesy potato cassarole. Oh heavens, I'm ready for tomorrow! Xo

Mary Vee Storyteller said...

Ames,
Waldorf salad is the best too. Oh yum.

Karen,
you are invited to our house. Have a bit of snow on the ground and the air smells clean.
Here is the menu my teen cheffy and I came up with for tomorrow:
Green Salad
Green been casserole
Biscuits - the kind you can pull apart in tiny layers
Mashed Potatoes
Stuffing
Cranberries
Yams
Turkey
Pumpkin Pie
and new this year, Sweet potato pie
Should make a weeks worth of left overs. Starting Friday we shall vie for the how to make leftovers in creative ways award.

Karen @ a house full of sunshine said...

Wow - she couldn't find pumpkin??! That's weird! But hang on. Do you mean real pumpkin or pumpkin in a can? I only recently found out such a thing existed. You wouldn't find canned pumpkin here either. I bet her Welsh neighbours were in for a treat!

Mary Vee Storyteller said...

I suppose it was pumpkin in a can. Thats how most of us make it on Thanksgiving.
And yes, she had a tad few more visitors than expected. A big tad.

Caryl McAdoo said...

I'm new to the alley and am so glad to find y'all! In NE Texas, we had ham and turkey and most your other items except we've called them 'Angel eggs' for about 30 years :) One standard dessert at the McAdoos' Thanksgiving dinner is Grami's Pineapple Cake - used to be MawMaw's - my dear mother-in-love, but she passed thirty years ago, and all the new generation call it mine :)

The cake is thick and spongy, sweet with a hint of acidity from Hawaii's famous fruit. It definitely offers a good chew. ANd the icing, all the kid's favorite part, is buttery cream cheese made so sweet with powdered sugar and a splash of vanilla it can lock your jaws with its goodness. It's a delight to your tongue trying to spread the sweetness to every nook and crevice of your mouth. Once swallowed, its taste lingers a long time if you don't drink something!