Hey, it’s that guy! Time for some winter musings – it’s Frank Adamo, Dick Van Dyke’s stand-in and personal assistant–who appeared in something like 70 episodes of the Dick Van Dyke Show, back in the day! How did Frank inspire my poetry and haunt my nights? How did Nick at Nite enrich our lives with its television promos back in the ‘90’s? How didn’t it! Huddle up—it’s the unforgettable Mr. Frank Adamo!

Tripping Over the Ottoman Podcast: Remembering Frank Adamo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PppkjNzZg1k

https://jamesreasoner.blogspot.com/2013/09/tuesdays-overlooked-tv-character-actor.html?m=1

Alice’ll Kill Ya

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VV32-Z1qr2g

https://youtu.be/lfFk91gEnRw?si=kc2Eh-aZkmZgzAp1

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Impromptu song, podcast unscripted—packed with music, New Year’s doings, New Year’s memories—where were you during Y2K? Indulge in an eggnog-infused pudding for your pancakes! Read to your darling! And check out a new collection of poetry, “Am I A Poet in December,” born from the first line of a Podcast in A Minor holiday favorite! So dive in and take it slow—winter is for pondering….

Am I A Poet in December?

https://a.co/d/2ArCOf1

https://a.co/d/5tm5cRD

https://a.co/d/9RE2WkJ

And it’s nearly Christmas Day! 2025! Let’s stir up old memories of loved ones departed—how easily we conjure the aromas of their breads and pies, we can hear their joyful, off-key singing! This, of course, leads us right into the old tradition of telling ghost stories at Christmas. I’m sharing three of my own, from Wassail to the Mausoleum Cakes and Glitter and Ghosts! (links below) Revisit some old favorite carols from your own Amy Z McAnally. Plus, a helpful blogger puts us onto some old Christmas ghost stories in the public domain, that we may read them for free!

Don’t forget your free music on Bandcamp—a new collection of Christmas goodies, WHAT A BUNCH OF FRUITCAKES!

Bandcamp—What a Bunch of Fruitcakes

Wassail to the Mausoleum Cakes by Amy Zoellers (McAnally)

https://a.co/d/hSZWotY

Glitter and Ghosts by Amy Zoellers (McAnally)

https://a.co/d/3MawDSI

Horror Delve blog: Christmas Ghost Stories

https://horrordelve.com/2013/11/28/christmas-ghost-stories-reviving-a-dead-tradition/

…..

https://carterhaughschool.com/10-spooky-ghost-stories-for-christmastime/

Let’s do it. Let’s open the mythical poinsettia cookie jar and see what flies out! Will it be soft, fat molasses cookies in star shapes? Sad poetry? Persona reinvented—again? Pull your plush futon up to the roaring fire and inhale the sweet spices and rum! Christmas cookie time!

Christmas is coming! This time of year, don’t we all get flooded with memories! Indulge with me—in a tale of ice storms and cherry sour candies, precarious trips to the mall, a cat on top of the chimney, A Very Brady Christmas, and the pillowiest bangs a boy could ever have!

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)