SUNDAY FUNDAY - NOVEMBER 27, 2022

 SUNDAY FUNDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2022

We have just finished Thanksgiving.  Let’s have one last Thanksgiving blog post.

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A TRADITIONAL THANKSGIVING HYMN

Come, ye thankful people, come,

raise the song of harvest home;

all is safely gathered in,

ere the winter storms begin.

God our Maker doth provide

for our wants to be supplied;

come to God's own temple, come,

raise the song of harvest home.

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SOME PUMPKIN FACTS:

The word ‘pumpkin’ comes from the Greek word, pepon, which means a “large melon.”

Pumpkins originated in Central America.

Pumpkins are actually a fruit. Many people think it should be our national fruit.

Pumpkin is also a squash; a member of Curcurbita family.

The yellow-orange flowers that bloom on the pumpkin vine are edible.

Pumpkin seeds taste great roasted and contain medicinal properties.

Native Americans grew and ate pumpkins and their seeds long before the Pilgrims reached this continent. Pilgrims learned how to grow and prepare pumpkins from the Native Americans.

Pumpkin was most likely served at the first Thanksgiving feast celebrated by the Pilgrims and the Native Americans in 1621.

The earliest pumpkin pie made in America was quite different from the pumpkin pie we enjoy today. Pilgrims and early settlers made pumpkin pie by hollowing out a pumpkin, filling the shell with milk, honey, and spices, and baking it.

Early settlers dried pumpkin shells, cut them into strips, and wove them into mats.

Pumpkin has been prepared in a variety of ways from soups to stews to desserts since the immigration of the first European settlers.

The ‘Pumpkin Capital of the World’ is Morton, Illinois. Home of Libby’s pumpkin industry.

The state of Illinois grows the most pumpkins. It harvests about 12,300 acres of pumpkins annually.

The latest U.S. record (2022) for the largest pumpkin ever grown weighed in at 2,560 pounds by Travis Gienger from Anoka Minnesota

Pumpkins were once considered a remedy for freckles and snakebites.

Natural medicine practitioners have proven that consuming pumpkin seeds reduces the risk of prostate disorders in men.

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TURKEYS

The price of a whole 16-pound turkey in the United States was expected to reach 24.69 U.S. dollars in the week before Thanksgiving in 2022. This marks the highest retail price for a whole turkey in over a decade. In 2018, a turkey only cost 13.46 U.S. dollars in the week before Thanksgiving.

The survey statistics are based on an independent survey of 2,760 American residents.

83% of people plan to eat turkey on Thanksgiving. This is down from 88% last year (that’s a 5.7% decrease)The average price of turkey per pound is $1.53. This is up 12.5% compared to last year’s price of $1.36 per pound.

74% of people prefer to have a second protein on the table (65% also want ham. 28% also want chicken, and 7% also want either roast beef or steak.)

62% of people said mashed potatoes were their favorite side, which made it the most popular  (WHAT - it isn’t green bean casserole!!!)

And, something to remember - It isn’t what you eat between Thanksgiving and New Year that makes you fat, it is what you eat between New Year and Thanksgiving that makes you fat!!!
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WRAP-UP

Thanksgiving is about “giving thanks”.  The Pilgrims were agrarian and gave thanks for a good harvest, and thanks to God for His blessings. 

May you and all those that you hold dear have a blessed Thanksgiving.
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Granny Basketball scrimmage against Waco on Tuesday, November 29th at 2:00 at the Georgetown Rec Center.


SUNDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2022 AT 3 PM
A Vintage Christmas - Free Holiday Concert
First United Methodist Church Round Rock, TX
A Christmas Scherzo, The Christmas Song, Skater's Waltz, The Huron Carol, Little Bolero Boy, White Christmas, Parade of the Wooden Soldiers, Sleigh Ride - and more!!!

LOVE TRANSFORMS
KAREN ANNE WHITE, ©, NOVEMBER 27, 2022