I began my life in the South and for five years lived as a closeted teacher, but am now making a new life for myself as an oral historian in New England. I think my life will work out the way it was always meant to be. That doesn't mean there won't be ups and downs; that's all part of life. It means I just have to be patient. I feel like October 7, 2015 is my new birthday. It's a beginning filled with great hope. It's a second chance to live my life…not anyone else's.
My profile picture is "David and Me," 2001 painting by artist Steve Walker. It happens to be one of my favorite modern gay art pieces.
Like many others in the United States, I had leftovers from my Thanksgiving dinner yesterday. I ate all the cornbread dressing, but I did not eat all of the turkey. Most people seem to slice the turkey and make turkey sandwiches. I’m not one of them. When I have leftover turkey like I did yesterday, I prefer to make a soup. I love soups, and for me, it’s the best part of winter. I have my usual go to soups: Zuppa Toscano, chili, vegetable soup, Brunswick stew, beef stew, and tomato soup. However, my favorite recipe to make from leftover turkey is actually a Halloween recipe (I used to make this for a Halloween party each year) called Ghostly White Chili. It’s actually not a chili, it’s more of a spicy chicken and wild rice soup, but I’ve never tried to give it another name. So here’s the recipe:
Ghostly White Chili
Ingredients
½ tablespoon olive oil
½ tablespoon butter
½ medium onion, chopped
1 minced cloves garlic
1 ½ cups cubed cooked turkey
1 cups cooked wild rice
½ can Great Northern white beans
½ can white corn
1 cans diced chilis
3 cups chicken (or turkey) broth
½ teaspoon cumin powder
dash of tabasco sauce to taste
3 ounces shredded Monterey Jack cheese
Preparation Steps
Sauté the onion and garlic in the butter and olive oil until soft.
Add the remaining ingredients except for the cheese and cook until piping hot.
Place in individual bowls and garnish with cheese.
Note: I love white chili and the addition of wild rice makes this dish really special. For the Halloween part, make sure to tell your guests that it used to be normal chili, but it got so scared, it turned white. I prefer turkey in white chili, but cooked chicken can be used. You can also cook this in a slow cooker: 8 hours on low; 4 hours on high. In my opinion it is best if the wild rice fully opens and curls up.
In the United States, Thanksgiving means different things to different people. For some, it’s about the food. For others, it’s about family and friends. The one thing it should be about is what we are thankful for. I am thankful for many things. I am thankful that Susan is in my life and is such an important person and a wonderful friend. I am thankful for my little furry companion, Isabella. I am thankful for all of my friends and blog readers. We may wish for some things to be different in our lives, but hopefully, we all also have much to be thankful for. On this Thanksgiving, wherever you are in this world, know that I am thankful for you.
This Thanksgiving, I will be cooking just for me. I have a small turkey breast to bake along with some Brussels sprouts. I am also going to make a pan of cornbread dressing. It is one of my favorite holiday dishes, and I thought I’d share the recipe with you. This recipe makes a big batch. I will use less than half of this for mine today since it will just be me.
First, you have to start with making the cornbread. This is a recipe for the cornbread I usually make, but I add in the spices that I need for the dressing: celery salt, onion powder, Cajun seasoning, freshly cracked black pepper, sage (or Bell’s seasoning), and poultry seasoning (to make regular cornbread, omit those spices and just add in one teaspoon of salt). If you’d prefer to have celery and onions in your dressing, chop one to two stalks of celery and a small onion. I prefer for mine to have the taste of the vegetables, but I don’t like either of the vegetables cooked in my dressing. So, here’s the recipe for the cornbread:
Cornbread for Dressing
Prep Time: 7 min Cook Time: 25-30 min
Ingredients
2 cups self-rising cornmeal mix (if you use plain cornmeal, add 2 tablespoons baking powder and one tsp salt)
1/2 cup self-rising flour (if you use plain flour, add 3/4 teaspoons baking powder and 1/8 teaspoon salt)
3 tablespoons butter
1 3/4 cups buttermilk or regular milk (Start with 1 cup of liquid if you are using regular milk and add the rest as necessary)
1 teaspoon celery salt, or to taste
1 1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 teaspoon of Cajun seasoning (like Slap Ya Mama), or to taste, optional
1/4 teaspoon of freshly cracked black pepper, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon of sage (or Bell’s seasoning), or to taste, optional
1 teaspoon of poultry seasoning
Preparation Steps
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Melt butter as the oven preheats in an 8″ x 8″ pan.
Add cornmeal, self-rising flour, and seasonings in a bowl and mix with a fork. Make a well in the center of the mixture for the butter and buttermilk.
Add the melted butter and buttermilk to the well.
Mix until combined.
Grease the pan well so it does not stick. I spray the pan liberally with additional butter-flavored PAM. Pour batter into the baking pan.
Bake 25-30 minutes or until golden and set.
Note: You can also mix in two beaten eggs to this recipe, but I have never liked eggs in my cornbread. Also, never, ever, add sugar, honey, or any other sweetener to this cornbread. If you like sweet cornbread, it’s fine on its own, but you need a more savory cornbread for dressing.
Once the cornbread is done, let it cool enough to be able to handle it. I sometimes take leftover cornbread that I have frozen, thaw it out, and add the additional spices.
Cornbread Dressing
Servings: About 10 to 12 servings Prep Time: 5 min Cook Time: 45 min
Ingredients
6 cups of cooked, crumbled stale cornbread, as directed above (fresh is also fine)
1 cup of turkey gravy (canned is fine)
4 to 6 cups of turkey or chicken broth or stock, more or less
Preparation Steps
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9 x 13 inch pan and set aside.
Add the crumbled cornbread to a large bowl. Add the gravy, and 2-4 cups of the stock. Taste and adjust seasonings.
Add more of the broth as needed, taking care not to make the dressing too soupy. The dressing should be the consistency of cooked oatmeal. Lightly spoon into the casserole dish, but do not pack down. Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes. For moister stuffing, baked covered. For a drier stuffing with a crunchy top, bake uncovered.
Cook’s Notes: Make cornbread a day or two ahead when possible and allow it to go stale. This dressing is also excellent with cooked turkey or chicken. Mix in about 2 cups of roughly shredded, cooked chicken or turkey before baking. Serve with gravy on top. My Grandmama use to add shredded chicken or turkey to hers, and it was especially delicious and can become a main dish instead of a side dish.
Make-Ahead Tip: While dressing is best when freshly assembled and baked, you may prep most of the ingredients ahead to save time. To prepare the entire dish ahead, assemble it all the way up to the baking stage the day before, using additional broth to make it more soupy, but don’t bake it. Cover tightly and refrigerate. Any longer ahead than that freeze it. You’ll need to allow for a day for it to thaw in the fridge before baking.
How to fix a too-dry or too-wet stuffing: If you find your stuffing is too dry, add additional warmed broth to it, stir well, and return to the oven, checking periodically. If the stuffing is overly wet and too gummy, cook it uncovered for a bit longer, checking periodically.
PS My leftover turkey is going to become a recipe for a special turkey “chili” that I love. Maybe I’ll post that recipe tomorrow, if anyone is interested. It’s more of a soup than a chili, but it is delicious. It calls for wild rice, which is impossible to find in New England. I had to order it special, and hopefully 🤞 it will come tomorrow.
In the movie White Christmas, the main characters are on a train heading for Vermont, and they sing “Snow” by Irving Berlin:
Snow, snow, snow, snow, snow It won’t be long before we’ll all be there with snow Snow I want to wash my hands, my face and hair with snow
Snow I long to clear a path and lift a spade of snow Snow Oh, to see a great big man entirely made of snow
Where it’s snowing All winter through That’s where I want to be Snowball throwing That’s what I’ll do How I’m longing to ski Through the
Snow Those glist’ning houses that seem to be built of snow Snow Oh, to see a mountain covered with a quilt of snow
What is Christmas with no snow No white Christmas with no snow Snow I’ll soon be there with snow I’ll wash my hair with snow And with a spade of snow I’ll build a man that’s made of snow I’d love to stay up with you but I recommend a little shuteye Go to sleep And dream Of snow.
When they get to Vermont, there is no snow to be seen. If they arrived in Vermont today, they’d find plenty of snow. We got our first major snowfall last night. Where I live, we received 3-4” of snow. By the time I woke up, the snow had mainly stopped, and we were getting freezing rain. When the sun rises, that freezing rain is expected to turn into regular rain which is supposed to last for the rest of the morning.
I wish I could just stay in and enjoy the scenery, but I need to run to the grocery store. I hate grocery shopping the day before Thanksgiving, but I wasn’t able to do it yesterday. I was in the grocery store when I developed a terrible migraine, and I just went to check out with the few items I’d already picked up. My headache remained for tye rest of the day and night, and I woke up with it again this morning. However, I’m hoping that it will be better by the time they’ve plowed my parking lot, and I am able to go to the grocery store.
The sun hath shed its kindly light, Our harvesting is gladly o’er Our fields have felt no killing blight, Our bins are filled with goodly store.
From pestilence, fire, flood, and sword We have been spared by thy decree, And now with humble hearts, O Lord, We come to pay our thanks to thee.
We feel that had our merits been The measure of thy gifts to us, We erring children, born of sin, Might not now be rejoicing thus.
No deed of our hath brought us grace; When thou were nigh our sight was dull, We hid in trembling from thy face, But thou, O God, wert merciful.
Thy mighty hand o’er all the land Hath still been open to bestow Those blessings which our wants demand From heaven, whence all blessings flow.
Thou hast, with ever watchful eye, Looked down on us with holy care, And from thy storehouse in the sky Hast scattered plenty everywhere.
Then lift we up our songs of praise To thee, O Father, good and kind; To thee we consecrate our days; Be thine the temple of each mind.
With incense sweet our thanks ascend; Before thy works our powers pall; Though we should strive years without end, We could not thank thee for them all.
About this Poem “A Thanksgiving Poem” by Paul Laurence Dunbar is a heartfelt expression of gratitude and devotion to God. The poem rejoices in the bountiful harvest and acknowledges divine protection from calamities. It reflects on human imperfection and the recognition that their blessings are a result of God’s grace and mercy, not their merits. Dunbar emphasizes divine providence and the vastness of God’s blessings. The poem invokes feelings of reverence, awe, and gratitude, inspiring readers to embrace a spirit of thanksgiving and humility in the face of divine abundance.
About this Poet Paul Laurence Dunbar, one of the first African American poets to gain national recognition, was born on June 27, 1872, in Dayton, Ohio. By the age of fourteen, Dunbar had poems published in the Dayton Herald. While attending Dayton Central High School, where he was the only student of color, Dunbar further distinguished himself by publishing in the high school newspaper, and then by serving as its editor-in-chief. He was also president of the school’s literary society and was class poet. In his free time, he read the works of the Romantic poets, including John Keats and William Wordsworth, as well as the works of the American poets John Greenleaf Whittier and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
Later that year, Dunbar moved to Chicago, hoping to find work at the first World’s Fair. He befriended Frederick Douglass, who found him a job as a clerk, and also arranged for Dunbar to read a selection of his poems at the exposition. Douglass said of Dunbar that he was “the most promising young colored man in America.” By 1895, Dunbar’s poems began appearing in major national newspapers and magazines, including the New York Times. With the help of friends, he published his second collection, Majors and Minors (Hadley & Hadley, 1895). The poems that were written in standard English were called “majors,” while those in dialect were termed “minors.” Although the “major” poems outnumber those written in dialect, it was the dialect poems that brought Dunbar the most attention. The noted novelist and critic William Dean Howells gave a favorable review to the poems in Harper’s Weekly.
Howells’s recognition helped Dunbar gain national and international acclaim, and, in 1897, he embarked on a six-month reading tour of England. He also produced a new collection, Lyrics of Lowly Life (Dodd, Mead and Co., 1896). Upon returning to America, Dunbar received a clerkship at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. Shortly thereafter, he married the writer Alice Ruth Moore. While living in Washington, Dunbar published a short story collection, Folks from Dixie (Dodd, Mead and Co., 1898); a novel entitled The Uncalled (Dodd, Mead and Co., 1898); and two more collections of poems—Lyrics of the Hearthside (Dodd, Mead and Co., 1899) and Poems of Cabin and Field (Dodd, Mead and Co., 1899). He also contributed lyrics to a number of musical reviews.
In 1898, Dunbar’s health deteriorated; he believed the dust in the library contributed to his tuberculosis. He left his job to dedicate himself full time to writing and giving readings. Over the next five years, he would produce three more novels and three short story collections. Dunbar separated from Alice Dunbar in 1902 and, soon thereafter, he suffered a nervous breakdown and a bout of pneumonia. Although ill, Dunbar continued to write poems. His collections from this time include Lyrics of Love and Laughter (Dodd, Mead and Co., 1903); Howdy, Howdy, Howdy (Dodd, Mead and Co., 1905); and Lyrics of Sunshine and Shadow (Dodd, Mead and Co., 1903). These books confirmed his position as America’s premier Black poet. Dunbar’s steadily deteriorating health caused him to return to his mother’s home in Dayton, Ohio, where he died on February 9, 1906, at the age of thirty-three.
I’m only working on Monday this week. We have Wednesday through Friday off for Thanksgiving, and tomorrow, I’m off to go to the DMV to renew my driver’s license. My birthday is coming up next week, and I have to get a new picture done to renew my license this time.
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
—1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
The Thanksgiving holiday in the United States is on a Thursday. A lot of people see the holiday in terms of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, turkey and all the good food that comes with it, or football. However, even if that’s the case, remember that it is a holiday to give thanks. When is it easiest to be thankful? The answer is usually when things are going well. While it might be easier to praise and thank God when you are most happy and comfortable, it is just as important, if not more important, to thank Him in the midst of trials.
In 1 Thessalonians, Paul tells the church at Thessalonica to rejoice always and give thanks in all circumstances. This can be hard to do, especially when things aren’t going well. So why do we have to give thanks? Why can’t we give in to cynicism and thanklessness? Because God calls us to a life of continual thankfulness. It is God’s will that we give thanks. This is not to say we need to be always smiling. Sometimes things in life are bad, and we should mourn or be upset, but it is in these moments that God asks us to thank Him anyway. Philippians 4:6 tells us, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” The trials in our lives are not pointless. God has a purpose for everything, even the bad. We might not be able to see the good, but God can see the whole picture, and we can gain hope in knowing that our suffering is not in vain, but rather, part of God’s greater purpose.
Colossians 3:17 says, “And whatever you do whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” No matter how we feel at any given moment, we are still in control of what we say and do, and we should use this opportunity to point our lives back to God. A defining characteristic of a Christian is how he or she responds to trials. By finding the good in the bad and giving thanks despite the negative circumstances, Christians set themselves apart from the rest of the world while simultaneously lifting their own spirits by fixing their eyes on God instead of on the world.
So, this Thanksgiving, whether you see the blessing abounding in your life or you are struggling to find anything to be thankful for, look to God. He blesses us with grace and salvation and wants us to praise be thankful for being a child of God and trusting Him and His purpose for our lives now and forever.
Joe
The Closet Professor 