Welcome to this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge. If you've answered today's questions add your link at the end of my post. Be sure to leave a comment for the blogger before you, because comments make the blog world go round. Here we go...
2. Tell us about a favorite food related memory.
I have so many I don't even know where to begin. An anniversary dinner at Cliveden House? Our long leisurely lunch made by an adorable Italian chef overlooking Lago Maggiore? My 50th birthday dinner at Asiate high above Columbus Circle in NY City's Mandarin Hotel?
Those are all favorites for sure, but something about this question made me think of childhood, and one of my favorite food memories from childhood would be Thanksgiving dinner.
My mother would spend the whole day (or two) cooking and we kids would help. My little sister and I were usually in charge of setting the table and pitting the grapes for our traditional dessert fruit salad. There was pie too, but to this day we all make fruit salad with fresh whipped cream as another option. Purple grapes, chopped apples, sliced oranges, and a can of crushed pineapple stirred over all.
My mother has an artist's eye and she made holidays and special dinners look and taste so lovely. She set a fancy table in the dining room with the good china, and we always had an appetizer of shrimp cocktail in crystal glasses which was such a treat.
Sometimes another family would join us and we always got dressed for dinner. No jeans, no loungewear, no excuses for not being at the table on time. Our best manners, cloth napkins, family chatter.
That's me front left, and my little sister looking like an absolute angel on the right. Those dresses! I wish I still had them and could pass them on to my granddaughters. My teenage sibs are standing in back, and my dad must have taken the picture. That perfectly roasted turkey is just waiting for his expertise with the carving knife, and there's the shrimp cocktail on my momma's plate.
Sometimes someone will pose the question, 'if you could go back to just one day in your childhood which one would you choose?' I might pick this one.
3. What are some things you find particularly peaceful or calming?
The lake off season, reading on the porch, a walk in the woods, the sound of a waterfall, waves lapping the shore, and snow falling at dusk.
4. Is there something you do now that gets you just as excited as it did when you were a child?
A few things come to mind, but I'm going to say my birthday. Nobody's surprised are they? It's no secret I love my birthday and it's almost here. I mean it will be here in a month, but close enough. I love thinking about the year that's ending and the one I'm running in to. I love hearing from family and friends, love a card in the mailbox, love a new beginning and...
5. To what degree are you in touch with friends from grade school? high school? college if you attended college?
I'm in touch with all of the above to some degree or other. I'm mostly in touch with grade school and high school friends through the miracle of the Internet, but there are some I see in person still from time to time.
I'm in regular contact 'in real life' with a number of my college friends. We had college friends here last weekend and have more college friends coming to the lake this weekend.
6. Insert your own random thought here.
Got a question for you...do you allow anonymous commenters on your blog? What about a commenter with a name and a profile and even a picture, but that's it. They've opted not to share their profile? What about a commenter with nothing more than a name in their profile?
I've had a couple of these lately and I don't know if they're real bloggers who choose not to share their profile, if they're some sort of scammer, or if they're AI? I don't allow anonymous comments on my blog, but I'm also hesitant to post comments from people who technically have a profile, but I have no clue if they're genuine or it's something sketchy. Your thoughts?
Standing in line to board a flight to somewhere fun is worth it! What a cute throwback picture from the holidays. I have received some anonymous comments that were not positive, but now try to block those from my blog. I need to pay more attention to see if some of this is AI and will be curious to read what others think. Thanks for hosting :)
ReplyDeleteA great food memory! My mom was also artistic and loved to set the table beautifully for special occasions. I am like that as well, minus the natural artistic inclination :). Your birthday cake looks and sounds scrumptious!
ReplyDeleteWith regard to comments, I don't screen or moderate mine so if someone writes a comment, it will appear on my blog. Of course I can remove a comment if I want to but I never have. I don't care too much if someone wants to be anonymous. I have come thisclose to commenting anonymously a couple of times myself on blogs where I don't want my real name associated with my comment because I want to be really honest and don't think the person would care for my honesty. I've not done that but have been tempted. AI comments are weird- I've gotten some but whatever.
Thanks for the link up and have a great day :).
It’s sad that I’ve become very leery of the types of commenters you described. Not having a blog to visit back is a red flag for me. Blog reading doesn’t seem to be the thing it was fifteen or twenty years ago, so I wonder how these people just happened to find mine.
ReplyDeleteI love reading about your Thanksgiving memories! Your mother sounds a lot like my mother-in-law who died last summer. She celebrated Thanksgiving at dinner so that we could have candlelight, in addition to nice clothes, beautifully set table, etc.
ReplyDeleteOn to your random thought - I have had two different "people" comment on my blog - they've commented several times. The comments sound like they are written by AI. I feel guilty because I never reply to their comment, but I'm just not sure they are real
I think Wordpress filters out anonymous for me but sometimes I go look at spam. I would probably not allow those if I had to manually approve each one. I also didn't approve a couple of comments that I felt were negative or politically driven in a negative way.
ReplyDeleteYour family is so cute and you were precious. You got the hosting gene from your mom!
Loved your answers!
I loved reading your answers! That picture and the thought of recreating that memory is everything. I love the matching dresses you and your little sister wore! I allow anonymous commenters on my blog, but if they're nasty, I remove them. There is one person who comments on my blog a lot that I had never thought about being an AI thing...she always comments twice and her name is Rajani or something like that. It's always the same comment, too! I wonder if I can block "her" somehow? This has made me think! Happy Wednesday, sweet friend!
ReplyDeleteI get a comment (the same comment which is always-beautiful blog! ) from that same name. I delete because it feels like fishing or maybe it's AI?
DeleteFor the food related memory my mind went straight back to my childhood too. Those family dinners were the best.
ReplyDeleteBirthdays are such an exciting time. I always feel the same about mine too. Yum to that cake!!
I allow anonymous commenters but I moderate my comments so don't publish them if they seem sketchy.
Your peaceful things brought peace in my head! I have had a few spam comments like you are talking about - usually on old posts though. I just delete them.
ReplyDeleteI just had a not very nice comment (i.e Judgemental) regarding a photo i posted of my 26 yr old daughter. It was "Anonymous". I delete all anonymous comments even if they're appropriate. If they can't leave their initials, first name or blog title, I delete them.
ReplyDeletewow! that's one amazing looking chocolate birthday cake. I actually don't like cake and my birthday is in early December so my husband usually just takes me out to dinner at a fave place.
My grandmother used to be our Thanksgiving chef and she was SO much like your mom! (My dad's mom). She put on a real feast and we always got dressed up to go to her mountain home. I miss those days!!
Hi, I was just talking about your question to my husband last week. I asked him what he thought, he thinks it is AI generated comments. I have not been following them back.
ReplyDeleteI LOVED your Thanksgiving story, thank you for sharing, it made me smile.
I love that birthday cake. :-)
Carla
Yes, those are good places to stand in line for. What a precious and beautiful answer for #2. It sounds like a lovely Thanksgiving. I love the photo. Looks like the perfect day to go back to. Those certainly sound peaceful and calming to me. That is so cute that you get excited about your birthday. The cake looks delicious. The contacts you still have are nice. Your random comment is a good one. I have several people who won't give me their email address to respond back to them. If they were AI that would be sad. I am not a fan of AI, especially when it come to our grandchildren. They need a real world like we grew up in.
ReplyDeleteThanksgiving memories -- so wonderful. Thanks for sharing yours. My food memory for this Hodgepodge was homemade ice cream and my grandmother's recipe.
ReplyDeleteThat birthday cake looks amazing!
I do allow anonymous comments ( I moderate them) and it's probably good because every so often someone I know, and who usually shows up under their Blogger name, gets labeled as "Anonymous" for whatever reason. Spam comments on my blog are seldom anonymous, but have a name and profile attached to them. I just report them as Spam and delete them.
I love that photo with your family! What sweet memories! That cake looks delicious, I would look forward to that every year also!!! Yummm!! I am pretty sure I have those kinds of comments switched off, but I haven't gotten any yet- but I have just restarted my blog recently so who knows. I miss blogging when you didn't have to worry about things like that, and certainly blogging before social media was such a huge thing!
ReplyDeleteThank you SO much for hosting this party! I hope to keep visiting and linking up with you in the future!
It was sweet to read your thanksgiving memories. That cake! I'd be excited about it turning up each fresh birthday! I delete a lot of comments that just seem to be fishing for someone to click on their name and go to their site. I delete some that aren't anonymous, too.
ReplyDeleteFinally added mine to the linkup. I could have put more thought in my answers. As I read everyone’s I am reminded of lines I would stand in and I do have favorite food memories. Oh well. Thanks again, Janice.
ReplyDeleteI just love reading all your childhood memories. Yours was an ideal American upbringing and not unlike so many others, yet so very special. Though we never had shrimp cocktail, or had even heard of it, I can relate to the desire of a loving mom to do the best with what she had to make every occasion special. I can also relate to the love that seems to have been overflowing in your home.
ReplyDeleteAbout the bloggers: I do not allow any anonymous comments and frequently go into my postings/comments, and delete any that are spam and/or anonymous.
Boarding an airplane is absolutely worth standing in line! Happy to be back with the Hodgepodge.
ReplyDeleteI haven't posted the anonymous comments from my blog because quite frankly, they are insults and attacks. Do you ever get those? I usually laugh but not when they insult my daughter (which they often do) and I remind myself they are just a weird creep hiding behind their keyboard ;)
ReplyDeleteThat birthday cake is beyond anything I have ever seen! I'm not kidding. I can understand why you get excited. I might be just a bit more excited if a dessert like that was helping me celebrate! I love your Thanksgiving photo and all the memories attached to it! Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday - hands down. I think all the wonderful Thanksgiving from years gone by tend to make it such a favorite!! Oh, and no anonymous comments here.
ReplyDeleteI get really annoyed by the anonymous comments and I immediately delete them. I know there is one out there that never has anything to say and gosh...I can't imagine being that kind of person. I would for sure stand in line to board a plane to Alaska. Love this place!!
ReplyDeleteI had been thinking "nothing is worth standing in line for" but I agree with all of your answers (and a few others I've read too). That birthday cake looks incredible! I typically only allow comments on my blog from fellow bloggers I recognize; that said a few are just a name with no links or profile pictures on Blogger (and admittedly a few took me a good couple of months to figure out who they were/what blog they went to). But mostly as long as the comment seems to be relevant, make sense and aren't completely generic like "great blog post." I do allow them.. but not anonymous (not some say anonymous and then they "sign" their name a the bottom-- that's fine) because I have had some really snarky anonymous comments and I definitely don't want those.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your answers. Thanksgiving is a favorite memory for me, too. This is my first time visiting. Perhaps I will join in again.
ReplyDeleteI have a commentor that feels like AI to me, but it's always been respectful. I don't get anonymous comments often but there are a few who don't seem to be bloggers, with nothing more than a name. I don't have captcha, but I do delete commments that are offensive sometimes. Thank you for another fun Hodgepodge, and I agree that childhood Thanksgivings are worthy of visiting again, if that were ever possible. I loved the smells, the chaos, the fun, and growing up with great cousins at family holiday celebrations!! xo
ReplyDelete