Thanksgiving

What's in Your Stuffing?

Photo courtesy of Slice Of Chic via Flickr


"The thankful receiver bears a plentiful  harvest " - William Blake


Don’t tell a turkey, but I really don’t like them. We have some that travel in our woods and it’s a bit creepy how these humongous chunky birds roost in trees. They aren’t particularly good looking and they can be very violent and will happily charge at you without notice. They will be pleased to learn that I really don’t enjoy eating them either. To me, turkey tastes bland and dry and perhaps it can be chalked up to the lack of cooking skills in our family tree. I just haven’t met a turkey that I like.

On Thanksgiving Day I am definitely more of a stuffing kind of gal. The taste of moist stuffing that has aged and been nourished by the cooking turkey is a treat. There are so many tasty and unique stuffing recipes and I’m willing to try them all. Meats, veggies, nuts, spices, herbs, berries, breads are all options for personalizing your stuffing. These ingredients mimic the paints that an artist uses to create a unique picture. Cooks create their own work of art that really brings out the best from within the turkey and brings the meal together.

Stay with me for a minute and imagine yourself as a turkey – pretend that it’s not Thanksgiving. We have all been one at one time or another. Our kids probably think it every day! What kind of stuffing would you have inside you? Don’t just reflect on the ingredients, texture, and smell. Really think of what is inside. Does your “stuffing” reflect who you really are? If you have strong values are they truly being reflected outside in your day to day activities? Are you growing and nourishing your “stuffing” so that it is served as the best part of you?

If you are a stuffing lover like me, you want to add the ingredients that really reflect your tastes and that you enjoy. You want your stuffing to reflect who you are and really “wow” others. So I ask you, what are your most effective “stuffing” ingredients?

  • Garbage in, garbage out. Strive for adding optimum ingredients and you will be rewarded. Surrounding yourself with people who challenge you will bring out your best
  • Join local Meet Up groups to add some spice and companionship with like minds
  • Read 30 minutes every day. Ingesting words will impact your written and verbal communication
  • Meditate daily. Relax and look within to bring out your best in the form of gratitude, serenity, and calmness in confronting issues and openness
  • Volunteer. Appreciate what you have by giving back and adding to others
  • Set goals and follow them. Set goals weekly so that you focus on them
  • Seek out new learning. There is a plethora of online learning opportunities or TED talk to beef up your mind
  • Find a coach to guide you. Cooking the best stuffing is achieved by lessons and practice. Find someone to teach you how to make and bake the best in you
  • Change is good. Why not change up your recipe for success? Try something new. Allow yourself to add new or different ingredients
  • Be willing to try the recipes of others. Watch and listen to what other people are doing to perform or achieve and mimic some of the best
  • Don’t hoard your recipe for success. Share it will others and be willing to guide them through the “stuffing” process


You really are what you learn, do, and give back every day. The best is always inside you as is the stuffing is in our Thanksgiving turkey. Take the time to add premium ingredients throughout the cooking process, allow it to simmer and reach its potential, and take that “stuffing” out this week to allow others to enjoy.

What ingredients will you be adding to your “stuffing” for the remainder of the year? Hopefully you will look at stuffing in a whole new way and Happy Thanksgiving!










Are You The Turkey?


“If a fellow isn’t thankful for what he’s got, he isn’t likely to be thankful for what he’s going to get” – Frank A. Clark
Photo courtesy of Tuomas_Lehtinen via Freedigitalphotos.net


It’s that time of year again when Americans overindulge on one single day more than they probably do any other time of the year. We also take more naps, watch a lot of football, and probably shop until we drop. Yup. It’s Thanksgiving! The holiday that turkeys hate with a passion….. 

Our colonial ancestors probably never imagined that their holiday would eventually revolve around a bird. A bird, by the way, that isn’t particularly attractive looking and looks rather menacing.  Have you really ever looked closely at a turkey? Even the name denotes something negative to us. Merriam-Webster identifies a turkey as “A stupid, foolish, inept person”. Hmmm. Remind you of anyone that you know or maybe even work with?  
 
In honor of Thanksgiving and the almighty turkey that you will be munching on this week, I’m sharing some turkey facts. Not only am I sharing two legged facts but turkey facts about someone that you may work with.
 
Are You The Turkey?
 
Turkey Dinner Tidbits
 
Co-worker Tom Turkey Tidbits
Turkey gobbling can be heard up to 1 mile away
Tom’s gossip spreads among the team and breeds distrust
Turkeys roost every night high up in the trees
Office turkeys live and breathe a silo mentality. The higher the better!
Turkeys see in color and have daylight vision 3X stronger than humans. They have horrible night vision
Your turkey cube mate fails to see (or refuses) the facts and team vision in front of her face
Turkeys will attack and peck at their own reflection (ask any turkey farmer with a shiny car)
Tom sees himself as the center of attention and wants people to “see” him
A group of turkeys is called a gang or posse
Your fellow  turkeys try to lead the gang down a slippery slope when they feel threatened or powerless
Turkey heads turn from bluish to red when they are mad. Their feathers quickly become ruffled
Need I say more? We have all seen this turkey enraged and burnt red with temper!
Wild turkeys can run up to 25 MPH and fly up to 55 MPH
Tom the turkey loves to have his ideas, and only his ideas, heard. He quickly runs away with them at the expense of the team
Turkeys were almost extinct in the 1930s
Your co-worker has a leadership style from the 1930s. The word “teamwork” is a foreign bird
Wild Turkeys are only 5-20 LBS and we fatten them up fast to eat!
The turkey in your group has a fat head and tries to tell everyone else what to do and how to do it because she’s right
Ben Franklin wanted the turkey to be our national bird
Tom turkey thinks that he’s the top bird!
I remember my few encounters with turkeys of the feathered kind. Years ago I was on a garden tour and found myself on a country farm with wild flower gardens and turkeys. The turkeys were massive and stalked people as they head butted us from behind. Worse yet, they quickly discovered my car and started pecking away at the mirror and anything else shinny.
I also saw turkeys in action by my Mom’s summer cottage a few years back. The town was under a turkey attack.  A gang (literally) of wild turkeys roamed the town chasing mailmen and terrorizing anyone on foot or bikes. They would even stop traffic daring anyone to interfere. They ruled!
Unfortunately, I have also worked with turkeys, for turkeys, and even managed a few. Their behavior was wild, puzzling, and disruptive. They really did resemble our feathered friends with their actions and behaviors. There may have even been times where I might have had visions of stuffed “turkey” on the table….
Happy Thanksgiving and I hope that this year YOU aren’t the turkey!