My Favorite Riders in December

     TWO WOMEN AND THE RAVENEL BRIDGE

My story of the Ravenel bridge in Charleston is literally getting better every month.  Last month I asked my trivia question on what the bridge was built to look like to a woman who won an art contest in 3rd grade and was driven by a limo across the bridge as the first car over it in 2005.

This month, one of my first riders the next time I drove in Charleston, I  asked the same question to a young woman and she told me that her name was, "Ravenel." I asked her, "Are you related to Arthur Ravenel, who the bridge was named after?" She replied, "Yes, he's my uncle.  He's 95, I was just with him for Thanksgiving." I was stunned by her answer and I had the picture of  the winning picture of the Ravenel Bridge in 2005 hanging in my car.

The very next rider I had to tell the woman the above story.  She told me that, "The bridge had to be named for Arthur Ravenel because he fought for twenty years to get it built." It cost $635 million to be built. The weekend before it opened they had the roads open for pedestrians to walk across it. This woman walked across the bridge for her family. She told me that she watched the bridge being built since her house and the family store was right next to the bridge. She told me a whole neighborhood was bought out for the bridge, but one guy would not move. They actually took his roof off his house and then he decided to pack up the car to leave. She said, "As a child I also saw the two bridges before that built in the sixties."  She is writing a record of her old neighborhood so her family will have a history of it. Seventeen years after it was built, I have a pretty good story too.

                                        THE PROFESSIONAL CORNHOLE WOMEN

One of my last rides of the year turned out to be one of the most interesting rides of the year.  The two mile ride was with four women from Ohio and Michigan and it was filled with a lot of energy and enthusiasm.  I took them to their cornhole tournament in Myrtle Beach. I got a quick education and was told there are only about 250 professional cornhole players in the country and only 34 women, which includes the women in my car. They are trying to make it an Olympic Event in the future and they have appeared on TV on ESPN.  They all have full-time jobs and travel around the country for tournaments and earn money.  I looked it up online and found out that the best players make around $25,000 a year. One women's husband started playing first and she said, "I got sucked into this and then I got addicted to it."

The American Cornhole Association is located in Rock Hill, South Carolina and they host 25,000 tournaments a year. At a local tournament, a team of two can win up to $3,000.  There are about 100,000 active players in the country. My riders were obviously having a lot of fun and they did not know each other before they started playing.  Below is a picture of us after the ride. Wishing them all much success and I'm looking forward to a longer ride next time.

 

                                               A VERY DIFFERENT WOMAN

In over 9,700 rides I have had maybe ten riders who would stand out in any crowd, on any day. I can tell as soon as they get in the car. It's like being on a roller coaster with your eyes closed and you have no idea where the ride is going, other than to their destination. I would love to have them all over for dinner and just sit back and watch. She said, "You'll never meet anyone like me," and she's right. The first thing she did was do a "Joey from Friends" impersonation which made her sound like a New Yorker, but she wasn't. She has lived in many places including Guam and Hawaii. She loved Hawaii and hopes to get back there next year.  She still feels part of the Hawaiian family although it's been many years since she was there. 

She was told that she couldn't have children, but she gave birth and has a six-year old little girl.  I think her daughter is a lot like her mom. My rider remembers the first time she got, "A What The F_ _ _ _" look from her daughter. She told her boss to pick one: "I can control my mouth or my face, but not both." I could tell she has a strong work ethic and when I told her the she worked like a New Yorker, she laughed. She grew up in the South and her dad would always complain about "The Yankee did this or that." She found out only after he passed away that her dad was born in New York, so she does have New York blood and a whole lot more going for her.

LIVING IN SOUTH KOREA

Possibly the best ride of the holiday weekend was an American businessman who lived in South Korea for 16 years and a few years in China.  He told me that his family "Loved living in South Korea. It was like being in the U.S. in the fifties." He worked for many years with one of the large American car companies. He said, "There are some countries in the world that people don't even know about." He took up biking there and once biked, "The four hundred mile border in five days." Just before the pandemic he tried to send masks back here, but South Korea was very strict about any masks leaving the country. He tried to warn people here what was going to happen, but no one believed him. When he arrived back in the U.S., he said, it was, "Culture shock." He was surprised that there were so many people who didn't want to work. He's looking forward to retiring in a few years, but for sure he's going to be active doing a bunch of things.

                                                            THE PALLET GUY

Having worked in a warehouse as a courier my last full-time job, I've moved a lot of pallets around. My rider was running a fun house and a guy who worked with him had a pallet company.  They decided to join forces in the pallet business. They sell plastic pallets which go for $17-$250 per pallet.  During the pandemic there business grew since wood pallets are much more expensive. Their marketing slogan is, "Wood is Not Good." Working together with his partner he's able to take off 13 weeks a year to follow his passion of traveling. He travels with a group of friends and has had some amazing experiences.  One of his favorite trips was his first trip to Italy. They used an app to find people who like to have a meal with tourists. A small group of them had a five course meal with a woman who was a widow. He told me it was a great experience and meal. We ran out of time, but I know he's had a number of  other interesting travel adventures.

                                                        MONSTER TRUCKS

There are plenty of subjects I know nothing about and monster trucks is definitely one of them.  The short ride to the airport gave me just a little bit of information.  If you don't know much about them, this is a definition: A monster truck is an off-road vehicle that is used for competition and entertainment.  It has four-wheel steering, oversized tires, large, displacements V8 engines and a heavy duty suspension.

The woman I was driving told me that they were meeting with HBO to do more projects with them.  She builds monster trucks and her brother does stunts in the trucks.  I asked her how they got into the family business and she said that, "We traveled for two years with our family when we were younger." They are negotiating with the Discovery channel to do a reality series on their family. 

                                                ENCOURAGING RETIREMENT

The woman from Minnesota was fun to talk with on the long ride to Isle of Palms. Her and her husband may possibly move to the area but her husband keeps putting off retirement.  A dedicated optometrist at for his whole adult life, he's been talking about retiring for several years and is now 67. I talked with her about my semi-retirement and many of the things I've learned from other riders about being retired and being active in several things. He has a bunch of hobbies and he should have little trouble adjusting even if he works or volunteers a couple days a week. I asked her if she wanted me to write a note to her husband and she said yes.  This is what I wrote: "Your wife was delightful to talk with.  Start retiring and spend the rest of your life with her." She was very happy with the note and hopefully she will encourage him further.

                                            

FIVE YEARS IN SOUTH CAROLINA!

It was December 27th, five years ago, that my wife, daughter and I arrived in Myrtle Beach.  My mother-in law was riding with me and we had a caravan of three vehicles that arrived in the dark. We had planned the drive for two days, but didn't count on the four hours of delays the day after Christmas, so we arrived in Richmond, Virginia at 11 pm. the first day.

My wife and I ran out to Publix before they closed to get a few things and what we found was-southern hospitality.  The store was about to close and we walked up to the register and the young man asked if he could take our items out of the cart for us. We looked at each other and said okay, but it was odd. He wanted to bag everything and then he asked if he could walk them out to our car. At this point we were laughing until he got to our car. I popped the trunk and he asked, "Can I put the bags in your trunk?" I said, "If you do, you're going to have to come back and put everything in our refrigerator too."

Looking back at some of my blogs that first month, here are some of the highlights:

1. My friend Larry e-mailed me saying he, "Couldn't wait until I was writing southern." Just letting y'all know, he's still waiting.

2. My mother-in-law tried to encourage me to go to the eye doctor. She said, "If I give you a dollar, will you get your eyes checked?" Keep in mind, she sat next to me for two days and about 17 hours of driving and I never had a problem. I told her, "If you give me a chicken I might consider it." I'm going to have to do that this year.

3. Driving back to Myrtle Beach from Atlanta where I dropped my daughter off at school, I got stuck in a five hour traffic jam because we had a half inch of snow and ice suddenly on the ground. I had to get a hotel room that night at midnight and drove home the next day.  I almost had thrown my shovel in the trunk and I would have made headlines, 'New Jersey man shovels South Carolina highway." Here I am below posing and possibly the only time I'll be holding a shovel in South Carolina.

4. We got our driver's license and in South Carolina you're allowed to smile for the picture.  It still looks good.

5. I did a little ice skating on the beach in sneakers after watching some kids do it. Sorry, no pictures of that, but it would have been a great picture.

6. In discussing building our new house I was told that the toilet was going to be in a little room enclosed by a wall. I told the guy I really didn't want the wall built, but we have it.  I did figure a way around the wall, I use the other bathroom for reading and it is much larger too.

7. At 8 am on a Sunday I was walking out of a supermarket lot with a small bag and it started to drizzle. A car pulling into the lot, suddenly stopped and asked, "Hey buddy, need a lift?" Why would a guy going into the lot stop a complete stranger in a light drizzle and offer a ride? What's wrong with these people? (Answer: I'm from Jersey and they are southern.)

8. Finally, the biggest news of the month was something my wife and kids were very excited about-I was finally getting rid of my flip phone and joining the new generation with an i-phone.  This is what I said in my blog in mid-January: "I told our mortgage guy I was "Making the switch." He said, "Don't do it, it's the downfall of society. When I got my i phone my beard was black and now it's grey." I don't have a beard, will I be able to grow hair back now? I told my dad on the phone yesterday that I was going to get a "real" phone. He said, "You mean a landline?" I guess I can call it anything I want-maybe George."

The five years have gone by quickly, but it has been great.  I'm not southern yet, but I have slowed down some and I'm only "working" three days a week now instead of seven. This is blog number 570. This is some of the highlights from the first month, I'm probably going to have to do one blog on some of my favorite blogs in the next week. You know I'm going to mention Cocoa Krispies and chicken and I know you can't wait.

 

My Christmas Card to My Wife on Christmas Morning

Merry Christmas to everyone. When my wife wakes up on Christmas morning she is going to find this "card" and I thought as I was finishing it that I would share it with you.

Hi Monika, it’s me, Jim Gaffigan, the comedian. Merry Christmas! Your husband invited me for dinner tonight, but I was booked for Christmas with my wife and 10 kids. Actually, it’s only 5, but sometimes around the holidays I see double-like this.

Since I couldn’t make it for Christmas, I’m coming down to the Charleston Convention Center on Thursday, January 26^th and I thought maybe you and your husband could stop by. They’ll be 13,293 other people there, but I’ll be the one on stage.  You two could come down early and maybe we can get some chicken and waffles.  Your husband said that he likes chicken (he wouldn’t stop talking about it) and you like waffles and we would be in the south where everyone loves chicken and waffles.

I know it’s a month after Christmas but he said you have no problem celebrating a holiday on another day.  If you prefer, we could meet at Lewis’s Barbecue. I heard they have the best brisket and your husband said you love brisket.  You decide, your husband said you prefer to choose the restaurant-always.

Hope to see you on the 26^th.  Your husband did not buy tickets yet, he said he wanted to make sure you wanted to see me.  I can’t believe that! Bring Toto too, no one will notice you have a dog.

Sincerely: Your favorite comedian…. Sebastian

(P.S. Her favorite comedian may be Sebastian Maniscalco, I mentioned that to Jim)

Leaning To The Right-Physically

For many, many, many years I have joked about being on the right side of things since I do lean to the right politically.  However, lately my wife has been telling that I am physically leaning to the right side.  From time to time I will wake up and my back is bothering me. Why it bothers me I'm not sure, but I actually think it is how I am sleeping. 

So, what do I do about it? Sometimes I take hot showers, put a heating pad on, put icy hot on, and I put CBD on it too. Does it work? Sure, something always works and a day or three or four later, I'm fine.  If you don't know what CBD is, my wife tells me it's pot and it works great when you rub it on sore places. I'm terrible with initials, so I think it stands for Can't Buy Drugs, but maybe not.

Sometimes I feel like the Leaning Tower of Pisa and I can feel myself leaning.  Other times I feel like I'm about to squeeze into a small space and I'm just getting ready to do it.  But there are advantages to leaning one way physically.  This morning, my wife walked up to me and put her arms around me and tried to straighten my stance.  I said, "Can we do this every fifteen minutes?" She laughed, but that was it for the day. It's not the first time she has tried to straighten me out and hopefully not the last.

What Am I Doing Christmas Weekend?

MERRY CHRISTMAS                        HAPPY HANNUKAH

On Saturday night my wife is making a very good dinner, but Friday, Saturday and Christmas Day I'm going to be driving people around as I usually do on the weekend. A few years ago, my wife and I both drove on Christmas in Charleston and it was busy despite everything being closed. I expect to be pretty busy in Charleston this Sunday and I'm going to make sure it's a fun day. 

Driving on the holiday weekend is going to be a little different.  My second published article came out recently and it was about driving during the holidays. In writing the article, I pretended to interview another driver, Ebeneezer, and we discussed what drivers could do on the holidays.  Below is part of my discussion with him:

Ebeneezer: What do you do during the holiday season for riders?

Me: Spreading good cheer and putting riders in a good mood, is something that I do all year long. I don’t decorate my car for the holidays, because I already have a bunch of things displayed to entertain riders. I’ll put up a sign that says, “Happy Holidays,” and I’ll wish riders a good holiday or Christmas. I’ll ask if they have any special plans, and we’ll talk about it. I’ve never even played Christmas music in my car. (I did write a pretty good Christmas song once) But I do give out a little gift to some riders. I always come out with my list of favorite rider comments of the year mid-December. Many riders start laughing when I tell them I’m going to give them a gift.

RIDERS ENJOY GETTING SOMETHING THEY DON’T EXPECT.

Ebeneezer: You’re not going to do anything different?

I’m going to get creative and make a big effort just to show you there are a lot of possibilities.  An easy thing to do is to have Christmas music playing in the background and I’ll ask if they’ve heard too much of it or if they’d like to hear some Christmas music.  I’m going to get a few gift certificates from Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts of $3-$5 and give them out Christmas weekend. I’ll hang them in my car so riders can see them, and I’ll tell them what it is. I have not heard a single good holiday story from a rider over the years, maybe the riders with the best holiday stories will get the gift certificates?

I’ll ask some of the riders, “What does the holiday season mean to you?” Since I’m Jewish and celebrate Hannukah and Christmas, I have a different perspective to share. (Hannukah is from the 18^th-25^th.) I’m going to borrow an idea from a driver in Las Vegas who writes a personal note to each rider and I’m going to write in advance some special wishes and give them out, maybe to all of my riders Christmas weekend?

Below are the four Dunkin Donut gift certificates I am giving out and one of the personal notes I'm going to give to my riders. And, my new 2022 favorite rider comment list will be given out for the first time.  "Tis the season to be jolly......."

Does this drawing look like me?

The Sour Cream Question

For many of you reading this, you probably did not know there was a "Sour cream question." Sour cream is a very unusual food and you're going to know more about it after finishing this blog than you ever wanted or needed to know.  First up, the big question is: "Do people eat sour cream by itself?"

Why do I ask this question? Recently my brother and sister and I were discussing our dad on the phone. We lost him a year and a half ago and we have very fond memories of him and also a few unusual ones.  One thing he liked to eat as far back as we can remember is sour cream, by itself. We don't know how it started, buy my brother and I picked up the habit.  My dad used to eat sour cream for lunch and at times he would throw in some blueberries, which I can assure you taste great in sour cream. In the final years of his life he forgot that he liked blueberries in his sour cream.

My sister made a comment that my brother and I may be the only people who eat sour cream by itself and I had no clue that this was very unusual.  I eat cottage cheese by itself, why not sour cream? I think sour cream is best with strawberries in it, but I will also cut up bananas and even rip off some bread and eat it with sour cream. I only add one thing to sour cream, not several things. Below is a picture of rye bread(I made it a Jewish meal) and sour cream for lunch.  There's a bit too much bread in this, but the sour cream is there. If it wasn't it would be a bowl of bread and that would lead you to ask some other questions.

  

Before I get to the answer, there's a whole lot of info about sour cream.  Here's what I learned: Sour cream is good and bad for you. (Like most things including vegetables and peanut butter- yes, I made that up) In moderation, sour cream is fine and it "may" help with your skin, some kinds of sour cream "may" help with your gut,(Not working for me), "may" help build bone strength and "may" reduce the body's bad cholesterol. It is also higher in levels of Vitamin A and some other vitamins that are good for us. It is high in fat, but in moderation it is okay to eat and you don't have to worry about gaining weight.

What are some uses for sour cream? There are a lot and some of them will surprise you. The "normal" uses are: in dips, adding to nachos and to a baked potato and in some foods. But, did you know these uses? You can add it to biscuits and other baked goods, make deviled eggs with it, use it for better pasta and potato salad, in a soup, as a sandwich spread or in scrambled eggs. My stomach isn't responding well to some of those. One bartender uses it for a drink and another person said this:

"Adding full-fat sour cream (My secret ingredient!) to your regular coffee may sound strange to some of you, but you'll be surprised of how delicious (And creamy) your coffee will turn out. Once you try it, you'll not go back to your regular coffee soon." Below is just a picture of a bowl of sour cream so you know what it looks like.

And now the answer to the "Sour cream question," Do people eat sour cream by itself?" They do and my brother and I are not the only ones. Here are some of the comments I found:

"Of course, it's also plenty good all on its own—given the opportunity, I'll gladly sneak a few spoonfuls over the kitchen sink."

"Sour cream is delicious on its own with a spoon."(Me: a fork will not work well)

"I enjoy sour cream like I would enjoy a bowl of ice cream or soup." (Me: as good as ice cream?)

"It's amazing on its own."

"Is it odd that I buy tubs of sour cream and it throughout the week? (Me: tubs?)

"Eating sour cream plain is amazing!"

"Ok, time for everyone to hate me. So, yeah, I like to eat sour cream plain. The flavor of it just makes it taste good. The texture also makes it 10X better. In fact, as I'm writing this, I am currently eating sour cream."

"My daughter is eating sour cream for breakfast. I thought maybe she just mixed up the sour cream and yogurt containers, but after some discussion and taste tests, turns out she knew exactly what she was asking for. So now I'm sitting at the kitchen table with her watching her eat a bowl of sour cream."

So, if you're looking to try something different to eat, take a couple spoonfuls of sour cream and give it a taste. If you have some strawberries or blueberries, try it out. One last thing, there is another "Sour cream question".  Am I the only one eating fruit and bread in sour cream? I may be.

Have You Ever Hit a Mailbox With a Suitcase?

I take a lot of pride on doing things that other people don't do and this is certainly one of them. I've heard of people hitting a mailbox with a car or a lawnmower.  I imagine people have shoveled snow and hit their mailbox because they couldn't see the mailbox. I never expected to hit a mailbox with a suitcase, but here's how it happened:

This is the suitcase below. It's a pretty good size and it was full and on the heavy side. My wife and I had just arrived in New Jersey for Thanksgiving week and it had just gotten dark.  I was emptying the trunk and taking everything out.  I took this suitcase out and put it on the sidewalk.

 

I turned around and grabbed the smaller suitcase and put it next to the bigger one.  As I turned around towards the trunk, I heard a noise from the suitcase and it didn't sound good. Both suitcases were now rolling towards the mailbox pictured below.  As I started running towards the smaller suitcase, I grabbed it and watched the larger suitcase crash into the mailbox.

I quickly grabbed the larger one, because I didn't want my wife to see her suitcase lying on the ground.  The mailbox survived with no damage, but the camera on the house did see what happened.  I must have gently touched the big suitcase with the smaller one and the big one took off.  There is a video of this action, but fortunately you can't see everything since it was partially blocked out of view.  I was going to stage the suitcase lying on the ground playing dead a few days later, but I decided to spare you that awful image.

The moral of the story is that it is a lot better to have suitcases without wheels and you should always put a strong fence around the mailbox for protection. This will keep dogs away and also of course runaway luggage.

The Motion Sensor Trash Can

We were away for Thanksgiving and I was sitting in my daughter's kitchen minding my own business when I heard a sound.  I turned around and saw the garbage can pictured below. I thought nothing of it until a couple minutes later, it talked again. Someone had walked by the garbage can and it opened, again.  I stared at it for a little bit and wondered, "Why would anyone want something like that opening and closing all day?

Much to my surprise, one of the big advantages of owning one is that it keeps your hands away from all the germs in your garbage. I can't believe it, germs? In my garbage? I may be traumatized and think of that every time I empty my own garbage. Why are people putting their hands in the garbage after they threw the garbage in the can? I don't know, but my wife probably does. Should I really ask her that question later today?

Later that day, I walked up to the garbage can to throw something in it.  I stood there in front of it and waved my hand like a magic wand and nothing happened.  I did it a few times and it finally worked. I thought to myself, "Is that easier?" All week I had a new challenge-get the garbage in the can quickly, if I can.  There were times I conducted an orchestra in front of the can, with the garbage in my hand. Sooner or later, (It was later) I learned that you have to stand over the garbage can with a menacing scowl and lean toward the can angrily, and the top will open. Once, I even pretended to walk by the garbage can as if I didn't have garbage, but that didn't work.

After awhile, (About four days) you get used to the can opening and closing accidentally, but the smell? Maybe if people throw some nice smelling flowers in the can it would be perfect?

The Dog and Squirrel Show

I imagine it is pretty common for dogs to chase squirrels, but our dog, Odin, has not seen many squirrels in South Carolina.  However, that changed when he visited New Jersey Thanksgiving week and it happened immediately.  Our dog, Odin, smelled them and saw them.  How many were there? I have no idea, but I think there was a "Chief" squirrel. Below is a picture of the squirrel, running for dear life near the steps.  What you can't see is Odin pulling me. I was not able to do a selfie at the time. 

Odin is smelling the squirrel up the block at the squirrel's" home tree" in the picture below.  The first two days they played hide and seek with the squirrel winning. Do you know what it's like trying to get a picture of a squirrel in a tree, while your dog is pulling you with all it's strength? I can only imagine the people on the block watching out the window  in hysterics.  Below is the second picture of the squirrel's "hometree."I am absolutely convinced that the squirrel is in the tree. If you find it let me know.

After the first few names they each understood what was going on.  The squirrel would take off as if it was on fire when Odin was nearby.  Odin however, seemed to understand he was not fast enough and could not catch the squirrel. He got into the "scouting" mode and would cautiously watch the squirrel from a distance.  He may have been thinking, "If he doesn't see me and he comes this way....."

Me, well I was rooting for the squirrel and I think he won. Odin is now home where he occasionally chases birds. I'm thinking, "Maybe when Odin gets older I'll teach him about the birds and the squirrels.

Do You Ever Mouth The Words to A Song Instead of Singing It?

Heading out of town with my wife and dog in the car I learned something very important. My wife was playing music and a song came on that I liked and I was "mouthing" the words instead of singing it. My wife told me that she doesn't like when I do that and she wanted to know why I did it.

We've been married for 39 years and whenever we're in the car, I almost never sing out loud.  I know I don't sing that well and by "mouthing" the words, she doesn't have to hear my singing.  I'm being considerate for her and it never occurred to me that she didn't like it. She doesn't sing that often, but she does sing out loud instead of "mouthing' it.

When I asked her what she didn't like, she said, "Your mouth or lips are making smacking noises." She thought it sounded like I ate a ham sandwich and I needed some soda to drink. (I know you've been there as I have) So, I asked her, you want me to actually sing the song? She said she really did.

I couldn't wait to test this out when we drove home. I figured I would let the idea sit awhile and then I'd  find out the truth. Sometimes, I prefer to "mouth" the words, because I don't know all the words and it sound better to ME when I can only hear the real singer.

On the way home, I was singing some songs as best I could and I knew that she knew I was doing it FOR her. We did talk about it some and she seemed to be perfectly fine with what I was doing.

I knew our conversation was about to end, but I just wanted to make sure I had the right information.  I asked her, "Is it okay if when I sing the words I kind of whisper them?" She said, "You can do whatever you want." And so, there you have it.  As Johnny Nash once sang in the 70's, "I Can See Clearly Now."

My Thanksgiving Dinner Game Plan

Just when you thought Thanksgiving was over, guess what? I'm getting the last word on it.  We had a terrific time up in New Jersey and of course we enjoyed our Thanksgiving dinner with our oldest daughter and husband.  But, when it came time for dinner on Thursday, I decided to do something different.

My usual Thanksgiving dinner plan is simple: eat a lot of the good things I enjoy eating and ignore the things I normally don't eat. This year, I decided to eat some things I have never eaten or may have tasted once.  For the main course, here are the two things I ate for the first time.  There was a sweet potato dish which tasted like potatoes that were very sweet.  It was okay, but it's not as good as regular potatoes, mashed potatoes, or french fries. The bacon and string beans tasted unbelievable, but it tasted like bacon with something in it.  I'm not sure I really tasted the beans, all I could taste was bacon and what could be wrong with that. It was terrific.

When it was time for desserts, this was going to be a significant moment.  Take a look at this picture below and I'm sure some of you will be ready to eat...right now.

The pumpkin chiffon pie was very different for me.  I may have tasted pumpkin pie once, but I like to look at pumpkins and not eat them.  The taste was not for my taste, but it was okay. Chocolate cheese cake? Well, I've always said I like chocolate and I like cheese and I like cake, but all together? I imagined something that was very chocolatey (like Cocoa Krispies are now) and a bunch of cheese all mixed in and that didn't sound very good to me. It was pretty good, but it tasted about 90% chocolate and 10% cheese. which is a good thing.  Whipped cream? (No, it was not sour cream) I have that on a Jim Dandy sundae at Friendly's and my mom's old recipe for Lady Fingers, which was an unbelievable jello/cake dessert. I don't really use whipped cream, but I put a little on the two desserts and it was pretty good.  I imagine it's not healthy food.

So, that's the final word on Thanksgiving. What am I going to do for Thanksgiving next year? No promises, but I may blog about it then.