Follow me in merry measure….to a defunct pizza joint and a discovery of a coveted pie dish…on the trail of the Magi and the complicated, excited feelings they elicit—oh yes! It’s all in the song—a new Christmas banger, a destined classic! And no, I don’t believe for a moment it would make the Baby Jesus cry.

What A Bunch of Fruitcakes (free tunes)

https://minutewax.bandcamp.com/album/what-a-bunch-of-fruitcakes

Merry Swingin’ Wassail (free tunes)

https://minutewax.bandcamp.com/album/merry-swingin-wassail-2

Gramma's Cutters, Inc - Gramma's Cutters - Baking and Decorating Products (grammascutters.com)

Cranberry Eggnog Braid Recipe: How to Make It

www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/cranberry-eggnog-braid/

Eggnog Yeast Bread

www.chefsbliss.com/eggnog-yeast-bread-recipes/

Turkey bowling? Did you ever?? I never did, but I’ve seen it on TV. An obscure rite of American Thanksgiving, where sport is king and it’s time for turkey and stuffing and cranberry sauce and pie, LOADS of pie! But we’re not talking pie in this here episode 124—we’re talking turkey bowling! To get you PUMPED for the big feast!!!

Turkey Bowling History

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkey_bowling

Turkey Bowling video

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/cVUZIvgAs3M

Here, There and Elsewhere: Stories from the Road

https://a.co/d/ieeZ2CB

The Thanksgiving Book

www.betterworldbooks.com/product/detail/the-thanksgiving-book-an-illustrated-treasury-of-lore-tales-poems-prayers-songs-and-the-best-in-holiday-feasting-9780440585039?shipto=US&curcode=USD&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=pMax-Used-USA&utm_content=&utm_term=&creative=&device=c&placement=&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=16440140764&gbraid=0AAAAADMQnG_TFz7vtZ0x1-FpCKz9daWME&gclid=CjwKCAiAzrbIBhA3EiwAUBaUdRmz24ItNJ7-yw6NZHwuLaPv2W2ay9yhQukSBuxV1glwa4p1UsFwFxoC3kMQAvD_BwE

Nikommoh!

https://books.google.com/books/about/Nickommoh.html?id=T9ZvPQAACAAJ

Chocolate Turkeys! Let’s gorge on a super-smooth party favor for that most gluttonous of American holidays, Thanksgiving! Plus: a look at some kooky and expensive chocolate molds for homemade gift-giving, and the Ritz Cracker turkey recipe you know you need!

The Bissingers Turkey

https://www.bissingers.com/products/the-original-centerpiece-turkey-3-lb-5?variant=43259113865465&country=US¤cy=USD&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&tw_source=google&tw_adid=779437094560&tw_campaign=15903587207&tw_kwdid=pla-2444488592289&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=15903587207&gbraid=0AAAAAD6kdF8ebUZorE8Hh1OHtOiSRKcld&gclid=Cj0KCQjw9obIBhCAARIsAGHm1mRfC01LNSE7ArEkXguj4JFhaDHesTkfoD4TL-Ts6gG-XBwFDfbIjQ0aAs4FEALw_wcB

Li-lac Chocolate Turkey

https://www.li-lacchocolates.com/products/jumbo-chocolate-turkey

Pie birds! That most adorable and sassy of pie accessories as Thanksgiving sprints our way! Let’s explore some of these treasured pie tools—and how they tie into MOBY DICK, my favorite book! Oh, the air is electric around here, and filled with quirky tunes of Thanksgiving, that beloved American food holiday, a cozy lighthouse in the dark shroud of the soon-coming year’s end.

https://www.peterpots.com/bakeware/piebird?srsltid=AfmBOopEk7Z1_BKDN-Y6yHHVBaffRY6XsBZN13KZcjrFo06GlQDhTMNg

https://yesterdayontuesday.com/2010/11/trendspotting-pie-birds/

https://chasingflukes.com/reading_guide-overview/glossary-contents/3skrimshander/

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/christopher-kimballs-milk-street-radio/id1158889592?i=1000734007672

The Art of the Pie

Art of the Pie: A Practical Guide to Homemade Crusts, Fillings, and Life: McDermott, Kate, Scrivani, Andrew: 9781581573275: Amazon.com: Books

SEVEN HALLOWEEN SONGS this year! That’s more songs than trick-or-treaters ringing our original 1978 doorbell—a disappointing turnout. But on the bright side, my Christmas shopping is done! (spoiler alert—it’s leftover Halloween candy)

A MERRY HALLOWE’EN! (as stated on a treasured cat-in-a-pumpkin mug my sister gave me years back!)

It’s one of the most wonderful times of the year! Let us dive into American Halloween circa 1919 with Ruth E. Kelley’s Book of Hallowe’en—-then wallow in the atmosphere of Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. And for the final goody in our treat bag, we swing back to Ruth Kelley for three poems, ALL titled “Hallowe’en”!! NIFTY. Sit by the fire…roast some apples…chug some candy corn! Here we go!

Opening Song performed on the Daisy Rock Pixie Acoustic Guitar—-minus high E string!

The Book of Hallowe’en

https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/the-book-of-halloween/

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

https://bookssnob.wordpress.com/2010/10/12/the-legend-and-the-reality-of-sleepy-hollow/

https://ex-puritan.ca/blog/washington-irving

Zombies! Another icon of terror as Halloween creeps ever closer! Bubblegum zombies? Well, you’d better get in here and find out!

zombie cucumber

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datura_stramonium

GTTUPOD Secret Creepy Folder

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/guide-to-the-unknown/id1313915711?i=1000704452755

Atlas Obscura

5 Creepy Tales of Real-World Zombies - Atlas Obscura

www.atlasobscura.com/articles/real-life-zombies

Fantods! A feeling of deep unease! Or a little dragon creature from mysterious writer and illustrator of eerie stories, Edward Gorey. I also like to imagine them as wispy ghosts in the woods. Or star creatures. Take your pick. And what is it about their howling that makes it so much more unsettling? Expand your vocabulary of American slang….and dig some pleasing terrors this October!

What Does Fantods Mean? Definition & Examples

www.twominenglish.com/fantods/#:~:text=Mark%20Twain’s%20use%20of%20“fantods”%20is%20very%20famous.,This%20makes%20his%20use%20of%20“fantods”%20stand%20out.

www.thehowlingfantods.com/

https://www.neh.gov/humanities/2010/novemberdecember/statement/the-gorey-details

https://literature.fandom.com/wiki/A_Neighbor%27s_Landmark

Halloween draws ever closer! Got the morbs yet? The what? That’s a Victorian slang phrase meaning “to sit under a cloud of despondency.” But for our purposes, we’ll dwell on the definition of “morbid” pertaining to an unusual interest in disturbing and unpleasant subjects, especially death and disease. Come along and visit some creepy, morbid sites around the globe! Then relax for some morbid poetry in the public domain this exquisite, haunted October!

This episode was roundly inspired by my archivist/childhood best friend Tammy Williams—who made me an embroidery of the marvelous phrase GOT THE MORBS. for Christmas last year!! Hear her in episode 76, “If Your Pajamas Could Talk”—oh, we did have fun!

https://www.buzzfeed.com/angelicaamartinez/dark-facts-i-learned-2024

https://www.atlasobscura.com/users/crazyfreak1989/lists/morbid-curiosities

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-hardy-tree-london-england

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/jeweled-skeletons-of-the-furstenfeld-abbey

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/705578/morbidly-curious-by-coltan-scrivner-phd/9780143137344/?ref=PRH61B68A24621A&aid=21938&linkid=PRH61B68A24621A&gad_campaignid=23096680980&wbraid=ClMKCAjw0sfHBhBgEkMAFTW3V9181DStm3HexfioVj44DwbD1cUWyaft9PLavSXsTncPbXhYuAlqs6BSBjWJlwGan4_PpNzfDe_WSAr5QJ1XGgJygQ

https://www.boredpanda.com/morbid-facts/

https://www.morbid-poetry.com/

Candy Corn, oh dearest October paramour….

Some love it! Some hate it! But candy corn makes her dazzling appearance every autumn on display endcaps of food stores far and wide. Look, I’m a songwriter, not an internet troll. So when the anonymous despisers of the ’corn come out and disparage her good name, I do not respond in kind. Instead, I bestow a love song upon the world. Showers of harvest corn blessings to you! May your candy corn have a fluffy mouthfeel. And Happy Upcoming Hallowe’en!!

Candy Corn facts from USA Today!

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2016/10/26/halloween-fave-10-spookily-sweet-candy-corn-facts/92767432/#:~:text=1%3A%20Candy%20corn%20was%20invented,run%20by%20an%20existing%20manufacturer.

Candy Corn Factory!

https://youtu.be/DgTvgQfcllM?si=26ZE27dJg528b2bm

Chocolate Halloween Bat Filled with Candy Corn

https://www.vermontcountrystore.com/breakable-milk-chocolate-halloween-bat-filled-with-candy-corn-set-of-2/product/93736