Hey Y'all! - A Thanksgiving Weekend Field Guide

HERE'S WHAT YOU'LL FIND IN THIS ISSUE OF HEY Y'ALL:

FESTIVE, FUN RECIPES TO MAKE WHEN TRIMMING THE TREE
Because why not? From Crock Pot Cocoa to Snowball Cookies these recipes will get you in the mood to decorate your tree in no time!

MY 5 FAVORITE THANKSGIVING MOVIES
Looking for something Thanksgivingy to watch this weekend? I got you covered!

20 CONVERSATION STARTERS FOR THANKSGIVING DINNER
Included in the You Can't Make This Stuff Up section.

CAN I PLEASE HAVE SOME?
Recipes (not my own) I came across this week that REALLY caught my eye.

5 SERIOUSLY DELICIOUS RECIPES MADE WITH LEFTOVER TURKEY
Because you can only eat so many sandwiches.

FESTIVE, FUN RECIPES TO MAKE WHEN TRIMMING THE TREE

From Crock Pot Cocoa to Snowball Cookies these recipes will get you in the mood to decorate your tree in no time!

Brie Tartlets
Crock Pot Hot Cocoa 
Monte Cristo Party Sliders 
Snowball Cookies
Caramel Apple Dip 
Christmas Cranberry Cheeseball 
Eggnog Pie 
Apple Buckle

And then listen to this at least once while you’re decorating. This song always gets me happy about decorating! All I have to do is think about Clark and I’m infected with his enthusiasm!

MY 5 FAVORITE THANKSGIVING MOVIES

Looking for some Thanksgivingy movies to watch this weekend? Here are a few of my favorites!

These aren’t family movies but there’s something about each of them that I have always truly loved. Each does a good job painting the sometimes ugly truths about relationships and family but sprinkles in enough feel-good stuff to remind you why they’re worth it. And they’re all centered around Thanksgiving. The links will take you to the trailer 😉

The Big Chill (1983)
A once close-knit gang of friends -- including an actor (JoBeth Williams), a doctor (Glenn Close) and her husband (Kevin Kline), a Vietnam veteran (William Hurt), and a journalist (Tom Berenger) -- meets for a weekend after the funeral of their much-envied friend Alex, who committed suicide. The friends spend the weekend confronting the personal truths, sacrifices and betrayals that have left them disenchanted. Each must contend with unresolved issues they have with Alex, and with one another.

Home for the Holidays (1995)
When her teenage daughter opts out of Thanksgiving, single mother Claudia Larson (Holly Hunter) travels alone to her childhood home for an explosive holiday dinner with her dysfunctional family. Claudia quickly tires of her parents, her long-suffering sister (Cynthia Stevenson), her snobby brother-in-law (Steve Guttenberg) and her nutty aunt (Geraldine Chaplin). But the evening gets interesting when sparks fly between Claudia and her brother's handsome friend Leo Fish (Dylan McDermott).

Scent of a Woman (1992)
Frank (Al Pacino) is a retired Lt. Col. in the US army. He's blind and impossible to get along with. Charlie (Chris O’Donnell) is at school and is looking forward to going to college. To help pay for a trip home for Christmas, he agrees to look after Frank over Thanksgiving. Frank's niece says this will be easy money, but she didn't reckon on Frank spending his Thanksgiving in New York.

Pieces of April (2003)
Quirky and rebellious April Burns (Katie Holmes) lives with her boyfriend in a low-rent New York City apartment miles away from her emotionally distant family. But when she discovers that her mother (Patricia Clarkson) has a fatal form of breast cancer, she invites the clan to her place for Thanksgiving. While her father (Oliver Platt) struggles to drive her family into the city, April -- an inexperienced cook -- runs into kitchen trouble and must ask a neighbor (Sean Hayes) for help.
9 Festive and FUN Recipes for Trimming the Tree (because why not?!)

Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987)
Easily excitable Neal Page (Steve Martin) is somewhat of a control freak. Trying to get home to Chicago to spend Thanksgiving with his wife (Laila Robins) and kids, his flight is rerouted to a distant city in Kansas because of a freak snowstorm, and his sanity begins to fray. Worse yet, he is forced to bunk up with talkative Del Griffith (John Candy), whom he finds extremely annoying. Together they must overcome the insanity of holiday travel to reach their intended destination.

YOU CAN'T MAKE THIS STUFF UP

Things that made me ugly-laugh or otherwise occupied my attention, mind or heart this week.

• I got so tickled when these two pics popped up this week from six years ago. This was the night AB lost her first tooth so of course we made a huge deal about it when we tucked her into bed.

Then we were met with this from Brutus when we went in to tuck him in.

Tooth fairy, schmooth fairy! 

• When I first saw this list of Thanksgiving dinner conversation starters I was like Man, please, you can’t get a word in edgewise at a big family dinner, don’t nobody need to add extra conversation! But then I thought about the 47 gozillion Thanksgiving dinner scenarios that aren’t like mine and realized there are PLENTY of times a list like this would be needed. AND I realized these would be perfect for regular ol’ weeknight suppers, date nights and any other time you’re searching for open-ended questions to ask (especially for your kids!) Check out 20 Fun Conversation Starter Questions For Your Thanksgiving Table. And not just for Thanksgiving, but for all big family dinners or other times you’d like to encourage an interesting conversation. 

• I ran across this version of My Sweet by Billy Preston accompanied by Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton andTom Petty. My sweet Lord is right!

• OH! I almost forgot! I’m having a HUGE SALE on the cookbooks through Monday (seriously, this is the lowest price they’ve EVER been). We just wrapped Black Friday and Cyber Monday into one big Thanksgiving Sale and caller ‘er done! Stock up for Christmas!!

          CLICK HERE to get to the sale.

CAN I PLEASE HAVE SOME?

Recipes (not my own) I came across this week that REALLY caught my eye.

BOSTON CREAM MINI BUNDTS by Patty’s Cake
I don’t know how in the world I stumbled onto this recipe (it’s not even in English but don’t worry the recipe is translated) but are these not the most precious things EVER?? And this recipe concept is absolutely brilliant!

GINGERBREAD CREAM PIE by Lauren’s Latest
I’ve been in hard-core Thanksgiving mode. Like, total turkey tunnel vision for weeks but this recipe snatched me right into the Christmas spirit when I saw it! And the best part? It looks totally easy!

5 SERIOUSLY DELICIOUS RECIPES MADE WITH LEFTOVER TURKEY

Yeah, I shared this last week but I thought you might need it again 😊

Chicken (or turkey!) Tetrazzini
15 Bean Turkey Soup
Hot Chicken (or turkey!) Salad
Chicken (or turkey!) Salad 3 Ways
Cordon Bleu Casserole

Thanks for catching up with me this week! Don't forget to like, share and pin the stuff you enjoy from South Your Mouth - it's what keeps the wheels a' turning!

Sign up for Hey Y'all!  Enter your email address here:


Delivered by FeedBurner

"The sensation of falling into the past is not unlike that of coming home for the holidays."
- Patrick O'Brian