Thanksgiving with the Apple Seed

Happy Thanksgiving from The Apple Seed! Wherever you're gathering this year we hope you'll take an opportunity to not only give thanks for the blessings in your life, but that you'll also share memories with or about the people that you love. And we'll provide the stories to help spark those memories. So put together a plate of turkey, yeast rolls, pumpkin pie, and an etrog, and get ready for stories from Bruce Walker, Bill Harley, Linda Goodman, Kevin Kling, and Martha Hamilton. On today's episode, enjoy the following: "Pie Made of Pumpkin" by Bruce Walker from Dear Friends and Gentle Hearts (3:57) If you're looking to bake your favorite pumpkin pie this Thanksgiving but can't track down the recipe card, here's what you do: just memorize this song from Bruce Walker which is basically step-by-step directions on how to make this festive dessert. "Yeast Rolls" by Bill Harley from Nothing For Granted (9:27) We're going to move from that food song to a food story from Apple Seed-favorite, Bill Harley. Have you ever been guilty of eating too much of a beloved side dish? How about the entire side dish? No judgment here, especially if it's something as good as yeast rolls. "I Need An Etrog" by Linda Goodman from Pass It On: A Journey Through the Jewish Holidays in Story and Song (8:31) If you were to ask someone 'What does Thanksgiving mean to you?', they might mention something about the food. But really at the heart of this holiday is gathering, being together with people you love. That will certainly ring true with this next story. And although it's not about Thanksgiving (it takes place during the Jewish holiday of Sukkoth) the elements are the same. Sometimes we focus too much on securing particular food items for our feast that we lose sight of what's really important. "Harvest" by Kevin Kling from Wonderlure! (6:20) What starts out as a humurous story about young Kevin Kling's reluctance to slaughter pigs that he's named turns into a rather sweet memory of Kevin's grandmother. "Why Anansi Has a Small Waist" by Martha Hamilton (with Mitch Weiss) from Stories in My Pocket Tales Kids Can Tell (3:15) Ever wonder why spiders have small waists? You're going to find out in this story about Anansi, the 'Trickster', who, when she doesn't receive an invitation to either of the local village's harvest festivals, devises a plan to find out when and where they will occur, that also includes attending both.