November 27, 2025 • 19 mins
Ben and Ashley are getting ready to sit down for a Thanksgiving feast, but first they’re sharing some of their favorite traditions, their favorite food, and what Ben is expecting for his first holiday season as a dad!
By the time you’re done with this episode, you’ll be looking for a way to crash the Higgins Thanksgiving, on this holiday edition of The Almost Famous podcast!
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous podcast
with iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
It's Almost Smith's podcast. We're here today with you and
want to wish you from the bottom of our hearts
a very happy Thanksgiving. Now. For me personally, Thanksgiving is
a very special holiday one because I moved away from
Indiana years ago, thirteen years ago, and so holidays are
always really important because it just means somehow, some way
(00:29):
family is going to get together. This year is my
first year of hosting Thanksgiving, Ashley.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
We're doing officially an adult I haven't done it yet.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Well, my parents are coming out to celebrate. We always
love going back to Indiana to be with the aunts
and the uncles and the grandparents. But due to some
family stuff, we're going to be staying in and my
travel schedule this year at the end of the year,
we're gonna be staying here. And I'm doing something that
I think people could find unconventional. You want to hear about.
Speaker 4 (00:58):
It ordering dinner in.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
No, that's a good idea though. I love to cook
and it's like a very fun thing for me to
do is to host people. And due to our dog
who is lovely and loves us and loves when he
does not love other people very well.
Speaker 4 (01:15):
Even your parents.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Loves my parents. Okay, absolutely doores my parents. That's why
they're coming.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
No, it's okay. You and I relate on this dog thing.
Like Lois loves the family. But besides the family.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
It's impossible, so we can't host very often, or we
just don't because it's hard. We have to lock them up.
I'm doing. I went to Costco and I bought if
nobody's seen this yet for a holiday, and you want
to spend some money, but it's actually a great deal.
You can buy the whole backstrap, like tinderloin, like the
(01:47):
filet of a cow. So I'm doing steaks. I mean
it's like it was like one hundred and twenty bucks,
but we're going to get twelve steaks. Out of her mind, right, Yeah,
that's incredible. Twelve steaks for one hundred and twenty bucks.
What's the worst part of Thanksgiving?
Speaker 3 (02:04):
The turkey? The turkey sucks. The sides are awesome.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Nobody wanted it, and so they were like, hey, yeah,
let's order in, let's get pizza, let's just do it.
And I'm like, no, I want to cook. And so
we're doing all the sides. We're doing the mashed potatoes,
we're doing the mac and cheese, we're doing the green beans,
we're doing the salad, we're doing the stuffing. But here's
how I'm going to Here's how I'm going to get
away with this. And I think I actually am very
proud of myself because when somebody asks you, hey, did
(02:31):
you like how is the turkey for Thanksgiving? A response
you don't want to have is I didn't have any.
What I'm doing is I'm making these little bites like
they're almost like the fancy restaurant bites and little like
pastry cups with stuffing, cranberry sauce and turkey.
Speaker 5 (02:48):
That's fantastic, so you can say you had it. You're
not lying, but you're not making a whole turkey.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
No goodness, gracious, I got like one turkey breast that
I'll like, shave down.
Speaker 5 (02:58):
Perfect, Ben, you want to come over?
Speaker 4 (03:01):
Can we come over?
Speaker 5 (03:03):
Jared loves turkey, and Jared.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
Loves the Thanksgiving meal like that is his ultimate favorite
food is a Thanksgiving meal that's wild. And so when
I we ended up getting together, I realized that he
does Thanksgiving legit twice.
Speaker 4 (03:19):
And it's both in a month.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
A part like why do you make a turkey and
then four weeks later you make a whole other turkey
but you never make a turkey any other time of
the year.
Speaker 4 (03:29):
So I was like, Jared, why.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
Don't we do like a Christmas hamor for a short
rib or whatever? But he insists that he has the
exact same Thanksgiving meal again on Christmas Day.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
Interesting, so we do this Italian Christmas?
Speaker 5 (03:43):
Yeah, so I would like to do that too.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
Yeah, Like an Italian Christmas is the pasta's, the meats,
the like the best part honestly is like the cheese
and meat board that comes out before like the ANTIPASTI. Yeah,
I could go all year without having a turkey.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
Same, I could never have turkey again. The kind of
turkey that I like is the process thin slice stuff
with all the nitrates or whatever at the grocery store,
Like I want a turkey, sup?
Speaker 4 (04:12):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (04:13):
A piece of bread.
Speaker 4 (04:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
So that's what we're doing. And here's the cool part.
Our neighborhood does this thing on Thanksgiving because most people
stay here. It's a beautiful time of the year in Colorado.
We have good weather, so our neighborhood does. Starting at
nine thirty am, they do a bloody Merry bar, so
you can go like to certain houses and have a
(04:36):
couple of bloody Marys. And the whole idea is to
like warm you up to then leave at noon to go. Now,
the driver probably wouldn't be consuming, so don't get mad
at me for saying I'm insinuing you should drink a drive.
The driver can stay sober, but the families should come
and have a bloody Mary because then then they're going
to go spend the rest of the day with their families.
Speaker 5 (04:58):
Where is it Is it outside?
Speaker 2 (05:00):
No, it's at people's houses.
Speaker 5 (05:01):
You just go to random people's houses, like you.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
There's only a few.
Speaker 3 (05:05):
There's designated bloody like like a bloody Mary bar crawl,
but with houses.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (05:09):
Yeah, that's fun. That's fun.
Speaker 5 (05:12):
Really like that. That's so neighborly.
Speaker 4 (05:14):
I love that.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Yeah. It goes from nine thirty to noon, and then
at noon it stops and everybody like goes to wherever
they need to go and they eat and they do whatever.
It's great.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
Wow, that's awesome, Ben, that's really exciting.
Speaker 4 (05:28):
So is it just your parents coming?
Speaker 2 (05:30):
It's just my parents we're gonna have a great time.
We're gonna go cut down a Christmas tree in Colorado.
It's a really good thing for the environment to go
and cut down a tree that's like had some beetle kill,
which is like a bug out here that kills trees.
So we're gonna go cut down our Christmas tree. The
next day, we're gonna go to an aquarium with Winnie,
(05:51):
Jess and I. You're gonna have a date night when
they're out here. We're like really living things giving up
this year.
Speaker 5 (05:56):
That's awesome.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
So do you guys have like what's the conversation about
Christmas versus Thanksgiving with your families?
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Well, I'm an only child, so it's pretty easy. And
Jess's parents, You're right, Yeah, it's easy for me. And
Jess's parents are so hospitable and I'm very grateful for
this that they've invited my parents to Nashville for Christmas,
and so my parents just come and spend time with
their family. They're Italian, so they're also very welcoming of
(06:29):
like anybody that wants to come, right.
Speaker 4 (06:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
But then for the last few years we've gone to
Rhode Island. A couple of weeks before Christmas to just
really have a big meal with her family as well.
So we kind of do like is we kind of
go wherever invited. But so far it's never been an issue.
And Thanksgiving is kind of this one off holiday. And
this year I told Jess I was not well, to
(06:53):
be completely honest, about three weeks ago. I was in
the midst of three months of travel, had only been
home like eight days, missed when he missed, Jess missed,
Whalen came home and I was like, hun, I'll be honest,
I can't leave again, Like I'm just really done traveling. Yeah,
And so that's when it decided that we're gonna host Thanksgiving.
(07:14):
We're gonna hang out, and I could not be more
excited for it.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
That's so nice, Ben, So you know why I it's
not an only child or having a sibling thing that
prevents that they're like is part of the conversation when
we decide what we're going to do for the holidays.
It's my dad. My dad who will not retire. He
always works. The twenty sixth of December, m this is
(07:40):
a third year in a row that he's the only
time that he ever has off the day after Christmas
if it's it's a weekend because my dad, which he's
very sweet, but it's also getting annoying now that he
has grandchildren. Yeah, he decides to work the week of Christmas,
like legit, the Christmas Eve sometimes and then the twenty
(08:03):
six because he wants his partners who have kids to
be able to be home. Yeah, so that always sucks.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
You know what that says about you though, what he
believes that you're you, your mom, your sisters are understanding
enough to be like be the family that takes the sacrifice,
and that you'll love him anyways and that you'll work
around it. And I think that's a huge compliment to you.
Speaker 5 (08:32):
Well, well, it's very sweet.
Speaker 3 (08:33):
I give him crap for it every year, but of
course I'm glad that kids, you know, the parents who
have little kids are and.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
It means a lot that's he's able to do that.
Speaker 4 (08:44):
It does.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
I think it says a lot about I think it
says a lot about how he sees his family, is
that he sees his family as ones that would be
able to adjust. And I think that's a big deal
for you.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
For you, well, yeah, so we have adjusted. That's why
Christmas every year is different. But what we have remained
consistent is that I've never had a Thanksgiving without my family.
Speaker 4 (09:06):
Isn't that weird.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
We've never done Thanksgiving with Jared's family, but we've always
done Thanksgiving here. And the only Christmas that Jared's never
had his family was last year.
Speaker 4 (09:17):
And that was because his sister has moved away. Anyway,
all this is us blend details of my life.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
No, it's interesting because I think these are the conversations
that people are having at this time of the year,
or hopefully months before this time of the year, every year,
and there's different ways to do it. I don't think
Jess and I have figured out a perfect combination yet,
we haven't necessarily had to. We usually before kids went
(09:43):
somewhere warm every Christmas, which was great. We loved it,
but it's no longer an option. Right You can't bring
Winnie to the beach necessarily, nor do we really want
to right now. It doesn't make a lot of sense.
So we're figuring out as we go. But this year
we have our plan. We're excited for our plan. My
parents could not be more excited.
Speaker 5 (10:05):
To be beach ben.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
It's the fact that you want to have a traditional
Christmas day when you have a baby.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Yeah, that's true, right, Like we have snow.
Speaker 4 (10:14):
In the opening the presence that morning.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
Wouldn't that be fun? Like Mormon cozy. That'd be cool,
that'd be nice. This is Whennie's first Thanksgiving. She is
starting to eat more and more solid foods, cut up
(10:37):
real small. She loves them us, she loves them so much.
She loves me, and we're very excited for that. It's
just gonna be. Honestly, it's gonna be a very chill day.
My family and Jess are big football fans, so I
have a feeling we're gonna do like a four o'clock dinner,
eat a ton of like good steak and sides. I
(11:00):
hope it's all good. And then you can look this up.
This is a restaurant in Indiana, Ashley. This is my
secret weapon. Hopefully nobody in my family listens to it.
There's a salad called the Casa de'angelo salad. It's an
Italian salad that's not really Italian. It's kind of like
you're like olive garden salad.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
Huh.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
I'm gonna recreate that. It is spectacular and it's a
little Italian restaurant in Indiana. That's so good. So we're
gonna eat and then we're gonna watch football, probably take
big naps and just chill for the rest of eight
It's gonna be very relaxed.
Speaker 4 (11:35):
So great.
Speaker 3 (11:36):
I'm sure mine will be the exact same. It is
just me, Jared, the kids, my mom, dad, my sister,
and my brother in law, and we will have the
TV on as well. One of our questions here is
do you TV on Thanksgiving or not? And yes, we
have the football on, and but we don't have it
on when we go to the dining room and use
(11:58):
the dining room for like the one meal a year,
what's used for I'm confused.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
Some people don't TV. Is that the whole point of this?
I mean Thanksgiving, you know, obviously, like outside of everything else.
Here's how I view Thanksgiving. It is a reason for
family to get together. It is a reason to be
where you're at, to be where your feet are. Bob
Goff told me this once when I was moving and
(12:26):
grooving and traveling all the time. It's like, just when
you're somewhere, be where your feet are. So it's a
day of nothing more than being where your feet are,
eating food, being around people you love, and being cozy
because typically in most places in the United States at least,
it's going to be cold. The idea that there's not
(12:46):
a TV in every household playing the Turkey Games is
crazy to me.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
I agree it adds to the cozy vibe.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
There's the puppy, there's the NFL games, and then here's
the thing that I still watch. It will be on
as soon as I wake up, The Mazing Parade.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
You and Jared are supposed to be best friends, like absolutely,
Jared has to make a point to watch that.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
How does Macy's have enough money to keep putting on
his prie?
Speaker 3 (13:18):
I wonder all the time about things like department stores.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
I don't know how they do it, but I'm happy
they do it.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
Oh. I told Jared last year that we could this
year do a New York Thanksgiving and go to the parade,
because it's a dream of his to go to the parade,
and thinks I'd be the kids would love but the kids.
Speaker 4 (13:39):
Would love it.
Speaker 3 (13:40):
So now I'm going to have to remember this for
next year, really like put it in the back of
my head, like we have to do a family meet
in the middle situation in New York anyway. But before
we wrap up this Thingsgiving episode, I do want to
know what's your favorite Thanksgiving food?
Speaker 2 (13:56):
Honestly, uh it is well, I eat fairly healthy, good
for you, I don't it is my one day. There's
more than this. I ate a lot of chips in
my life. I'm a big chip guy.
Speaker 5 (14:09):
Me too, big chip I had Masa chips.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
No, but I had pound any chip that's.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
In front of me. Molly, It's going to change your life.
I think I'm going to send that for you for Christmas.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
Yeah, please do. I would pound any bag of chips
in front of me, and I did today. In fact,
at about ten thirty, I ate a whole thing of
chitter and sour cream ruffles and I felt great about it.
I'm a big fan of mac and cheese. It's like
it is my if. It is my favorite. So I
am making the most unhealthy, thick, cheesy, creamy mac and
(14:43):
cheese available to the world for this day, and I'm
going to eat a lot of it.
Speaker 3 (14:48):
So you are going to handle everything? Are you going
to be the chef? Jared's going to be the chef.
Jared's going to do the predominant work.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
Yeah, I'll do everything.
Speaker 4 (14:56):
Okay, that's great. I do my corn.
Speaker 3 (15:00):
It's a slow cooker cream corn. It's the easiest thing
in the entire world. It's like butter and cream cheese
with corn, little salt.
Speaker 4 (15:09):
Sit there for like.
Speaker 3 (15:11):
Chet little cheddar, little cheddar squares. Yeah, melt it all
together for about three hours.
Speaker 4 (15:15):
It's really good.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
So it's like mac and cheese with corn.
Speaker 4 (15:17):
It literally is macar ese corn. Yes.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
And then Jared actually, well, Jared does the turkey for sure,
for sure every year now because my dad.
Speaker 4 (15:28):
It's making these.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
Or smoke it oven it oh oven. It interesting. The
new thing is the fryer.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
I kind of feel like, where would the heck do
would you put that?
Speaker 4 (15:40):
Though?
Speaker 5 (15:40):
You have to like make a fryer in your backyard?
Speaker 2 (15:42):
Yeah, you put it outside. You buy a fryer. It's
the big thing in Indiana. It's the big thing out
here now in Colorado. Is I'm sure it's better you
buy the fryer and you stick that turkey in there,
and it is. You drink a couple of beers as
you stand around the fryer and watch that turkey sizzle.
It's great.
Speaker 4 (15:58):
For how long does it have to be there.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
No, it's I mean, it's a while, but it's not hard.
It's like the easiest way to cook it. But it's
definitely the tasty it. It gets that crunchy.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
Outside nice because every year it's like, yeah, you did
a good job with the turkey.
Speaker 4 (16:14):
Baby, It's just like turkey is so even if chicken
would honestly excite me more.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
Tell him to start frying. It is a cool party
trick too. If nobody there is like down to do
it but him, the coolest thing for him to do
as a dad. This is the world I'm like moving into.
Is you like put the frey in the driveway, you
get the grease going. You stand out there with the cooler.
A couple of the neighbors who are doing the same
thing come over and they talk to you as your
(16:41):
turkey's cooking and their cook turkey's cooking. You talk about
whatever game's on today. You're you know, you know, elbowing
it up. It's great. So it's a good life.
Speaker 5 (16:52):
Ark Christmas vacation right there, it's a good life, Clark Griswold.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
Yeah, it's who I want to be, Ashley in you
know what, he gets a bonus on Thanksgiving or on Christmas,
which is a big deal because I work for myself
and so I'd love to give myself a bonus. It's
a great time of the year, Ashley. I think we
close this show with saying one thing you're grateful for
in twenty twenty five.
Speaker 3 (17:17):
Well, it's just really boring, but it's very true, and
I'm just so grateful that I have just all my family, happy.
Speaker 4 (17:26):
Healthy and safe. Every year it's the same thing. But
it's as long as you got that, you're rich.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
You're rich. You're rich kid. I mean, obviously this year
has been the most incredible year. In February when he
was born. There is not a night that goes by
in my life. And I don't want to like over
spiritualize this that I don't go to bed and go
how in the world did I get here?
Speaker 4 (17:52):
Exactly, Like, how do we get so lucky? It's like unreal,
I know.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
Same, So I am so thankful for my daughter, my dog,
my wife, my family, her family. Like the show that
keeps going and going and going and going and going,
exactly are things. Things aren't perfect by any means, but
(18:16):
this time of year helps me take a step back
and go. But things are good, and I hope, I
hope for everybody out there. I know it's not always
that things are good. I know it's sometimes a tough
time of the year. Ashley and myself recognize that the
holidays often bring up all sorts of emotions.
Speaker 3 (18:35):
I don't even like have any sense of like lost
wrong of holidays or whatnot, but I can still in
the energy feel it for others exactly.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
So here's the message. If you're listening, you have breath,
and if you have breath, you matter, and we hope
this holiday season it's either you soaking in all the
good news or here's another option, maybe it's you giving
some goodness to others around you. Either way, Happy Thanksgiving,
(19:11):
Happy Holidays. Thank you for listening. We have a big,
big year ahead.
Speaker 4 (19:16):
Ben, You're the best. You really have to be a minister.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
I'm grateful for you, Ashley.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
Ben, it's a given. I'm gonna have to say it
out laughing. So grateful for you.
Speaker 5 (19:26):
We love you.
Speaker 3 (19:27):
We love you guys, and we will see you after Thanksgiving.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone, waw bye.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
Until the next time I've been, Ben, I've been Ashley
Speaker 1 (19:38):
Follow the Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous podcast on
iHeartRadio or subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.
This is the Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous podcast
with iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
It's Almost Smith's podcast. We're here today with you and
want to wish you from the bottom of our hearts
a very happy Thanksgiving. Now. For me personally, Thanksgiving is
a very special holiday one because I moved away from
Indiana years ago, thirteen years ago, and so holidays are
always really important because it just means somehow, some way
(00:29):
family is going to get together. This year is my
first year of hosting Thanksgiving, Ashley.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
We're doing officially an adult I haven't done it yet.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Well, my parents are coming out to celebrate. We always
love going back to Indiana to be with the aunts
and the uncles and the grandparents. But due to some
family stuff, we're going to be staying in and my
travel schedule this year at the end of the year,
we're gonna be staying here. And I'm doing something that
I think people could find unconventional. You want to hear about.
Speaker 4 (00:58):
It ordering dinner in.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
No, that's a good idea though. I love to cook
and it's like a very fun thing for me to
do is to host people. And due to our dog
who is lovely and loves us and loves when he
does not love other people very well.
Speaker 4 (01:15):
Even your parents.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Loves my parents. Okay, absolutely doores my parents. That's why
they're coming.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
No, it's okay. You and I relate on this dog thing.
Like Lois loves the family. But besides the family.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
It's impossible, so we can't host very often, or we
just don't because it's hard. We have to lock them up.
I'm doing. I went to Costco and I bought if
nobody's seen this yet for a holiday, and you want
to spend some money, but it's actually a great deal.
You can buy the whole backstrap, like tinderloin, like the
(01:47):
filet of a cow. So I'm doing steaks. I mean
it's like it was like one hundred and twenty bucks,
but we're going to get twelve steaks. Out of her mind, right, Yeah,
that's incredible. Twelve steaks for one hundred and twenty bucks.
What's the worst part of Thanksgiving?
Speaker 3 (02:04):
The turkey? The turkey sucks. The sides are awesome.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Nobody wanted it, and so they were like, hey, yeah,
let's order in, let's get pizza, let's just do it.
And I'm like, no, I want to cook. And so
we're doing all the sides. We're doing the mashed potatoes,
we're doing the mac and cheese, we're doing the green beans,
we're doing the salad, we're doing the stuffing. But here's
how I'm going to Here's how I'm going to get
away with this. And I think I actually am very
proud of myself because when somebody asks you, hey, did
(02:31):
you like how is the turkey for Thanksgiving? A response
you don't want to have is I didn't have any.
What I'm doing is I'm making these little bites like
they're almost like the fancy restaurant bites and little like
pastry cups with stuffing, cranberry sauce and turkey.
Speaker 5 (02:48):
That's fantastic, so you can say you had it. You're
not lying, but you're not making a whole turkey.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
No goodness, gracious, I got like one turkey breast that
I'll like, shave down.
Speaker 5 (02:58):
Perfect, Ben, you want to come over?
Speaker 4 (03:01):
Can we come over?
Speaker 5 (03:03):
Jared loves turkey, and Jared.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
Loves the Thanksgiving meal like that is his ultimate favorite
food is a Thanksgiving meal that's wild. And so when
I we ended up getting together, I realized that he
does Thanksgiving legit twice.
Speaker 4 (03:19):
And it's both in a month.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
A part like why do you make a turkey and
then four weeks later you make a whole other turkey
but you never make a turkey any other time of
the year.
Speaker 4 (03:29):
So I was like, Jared, why.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
Don't we do like a Christmas hamor for a short
rib or whatever? But he insists that he has the
exact same Thanksgiving meal again on Christmas Day.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
Interesting, so we do this Italian Christmas?
Speaker 5 (03:43):
Yeah, so I would like to do that too.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
Yeah, Like an Italian Christmas is the pasta's, the meats,
the like the best part honestly is like the cheese
and meat board that comes out before like the ANTIPASTI. Yeah,
I could go all year without having a turkey.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
Same, I could never have turkey again. The kind of
turkey that I like is the process thin slice stuff
with all the nitrates or whatever at the grocery store,
Like I want a turkey, sup?
Speaker 4 (04:12):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (04:13):
A piece of bread.
Speaker 4 (04:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
So that's what we're doing. And here's the cool part.
Our neighborhood does this thing on Thanksgiving because most people
stay here. It's a beautiful time of the year in Colorado.
We have good weather, so our neighborhood does. Starting at
nine thirty am, they do a bloody Merry bar, so
you can go like to certain houses and have a
(04:36):
couple of bloody Marys. And the whole idea is to
like warm you up to then leave at noon to go. Now,
the driver probably wouldn't be consuming, so don't get mad
at me for saying I'm insinuing you should drink a drive.
The driver can stay sober, but the families should come
and have a bloody Mary because then then they're going
to go spend the rest of the day with their families.
Speaker 5 (04:58):
Where is it Is it outside?
Speaker 2 (05:00):
No, it's at people's houses.
Speaker 5 (05:01):
You just go to random people's houses, like you.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
There's only a few.
Speaker 3 (05:05):
There's designated bloody like like a bloody Mary bar crawl,
but with houses.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (05:09):
Yeah, that's fun. That's fun.
Speaker 5 (05:12):
Really like that. That's so neighborly.
Speaker 4 (05:14):
I love that.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Yeah. It goes from nine thirty to noon, and then
at noon it stops and everybody like goes to wherever
they need to go and they eat and they do whatever.
It's great.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
Wow, that's awesome, Ben, that's really exciting.
Speaker 4 (05:28):
So is it just your parents coming?
Speaker 2 (05:30):
It's just my parents we're gonna have a great time.
We're gonna go cut down a Christmas tree in Colorado.
It's a really good thing for the environment to go
and cut down a tree that's like had some beetle kill,
which is like a bug out here that kills trees.
So we're gonna go cut down our Christmas tree. The
next day, we're gonna go to an aquarium with Winnie,
(05:51):
Jess and I. You're gonna have a date night when
they're out here. We're like really living things giving up
this year.
Speaker 5 (05:56):
That's awesome.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
So do you guys have like what's the conversation about
Christmas versus Thanksgiving with your families?
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Well, I'm an only child, so it's pretty easy. And
Jess's parents, You're right, Yeah, it's easy for me. And
Jess's parents are so hospitable and I'm very grateful for
this that they've invited my parents to Nashville for Christmas,
and so my parents just come and spend time with
their family. They're Italian, so they're also very welcoming of
(06:29):
like anybody that wants to come, right.
Speaker 4 (06:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
But then for the last few years we've gone to
Rhode Island. A couple of weeks before Christmas to just
really have a big meal with her family as well.
So we kind of do like is we kind of
go wherever invited. But so far it's never been an issue.
And Thanksgiving is kind of this one off holiday. And
this year I told Jess I was not well, to
(06:53):
be completely honest, about three weeks ago. I was in
the midst of three months of travel, had only been
home like eight days, missed when he missed, Jess missed,
Whalen came home and I was like, hun, I'll be honest,
I can't leave again, Like I'm just really done traveling. Yeah,
And so that's when it decided that we're gonna host Thanksgiving.
(07:14):
We're gonna hang out, and I could not be more
excited for it.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
That's so nice, Ben, So you know why I it's
not an only child or having a sibling thing that
prevents that they're like is part of the conversation when
we decide what we're going to do for the holidays.
It's my dad. My dad who will not retire. He
always works. The twenty sixth of December, m this is
(07:40):
a third year in a row that he's the only
time that he ever has off the day after Christmas
if it's it's a weekend because my dad, which he's
very sweet, but it's also getting annoying now that he
has grandchildren. Yeah, he decides to work the week of Christmas,
like legit, the Christmas Eve sometimes and then the twenty
(08:03):
six because he wants his partners who have kids to
be able to be home. Yeah, so that always sucks.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
You know what that says about you though, what he
believes that you're you, your mom, your sisters are understanding
enough to be like be the family that takes the sacrifice,
and that you'll love him anyways and that you'll work
around it. And I think that's a huge compliment to you.
Speaker 5 (08:32):
Well, well, it's very sweet.
Speaker 3 (08:33):
I give him crap for it every year, but of
course I'm glad that kids, you know, the parents who
have little kids are and.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
It means a lot that's he's able to do that.
Speaker 4 (08:44):
It does.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
I think it says a lot about I think it
says a lot about how he sees his family, is
that he sees his family as ones that would be
able to adjust. And I think that's a big deal
for you.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
For you, well, yeah, so we have adjusted. That's why
Christmas every year is different. But what we have remained
consistent is that I've never had a Thanksgiving without my family.
Speaker 4 (09:06):
Isn't that weird.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
We've never done Thanksgiving with Jared's family, but we've always
done Thanksgiving here. And the only Christmas that Jared's never
had his family was last year.
Speaker 4 (09:17):
And that was because his sister has moved away. Anyway,
all this is us blend details of my life.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
No, it's interesting because I think these are the conversations
that people are having at this time of the year,
or hopefully months before this time of the year, every year,
and there's different ways to do it. I don't think
Jess and I have figured out a perfect combination yet,
we haven't necessarily had to. We usually before kids went
(09:43):
somewhere warm every Christmas, which was great. We loved it,
but it's no longer an option. Right You can't bring
Winnie to the beach necessarily, nor do we really want
to right now. It doesn't make a lot of sense.
So we're figuring out as we go. But this year
we have our plan. We're excited for our plan. My
parents could not be more excited.
Speaker 5 (10:05):
To be beach ben.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
It's the fact that you want to have a traditional
Christmas day when you have a baby.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Yeah, that's true, right, Like we have snow.
Speaker 4 (10:14):
In the opening the presence that morning.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
Wouldn't that be fun? Like Mormon cozy. That'd be cool,
that'd be nice. This is Whennie's first Thanksgiving. She is
starting to eat more and more solid foods, cut up
(10:37):
real small. She loves them us, she loves them so much.
She loves me, and we're very excited for that. It's
just gonna be. Honestly, it's gonna be a very chill day.
My family and Jess are big football fans, so I
have a feeling we're gonna do like a four o'clock dinner,
eat a ton of like good steak and sides. I
(11:00):
hope it's all good. And then you can look this up.
This is a restaurant in Indiana, Ashley. This is my
secret weapon. Hopefully nobody in my family listens to it.
There's a salad called the Casa de'angelo salad. It's an
Italian salad that's not really Italian. It's kind of like
you're like olive garden salad.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
Huh.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
I'm gonna recreate that. It is spectacular and it's a
little Italian restaurant in Indiana. That's so good. So we're
gonna eat and then we're gonna watch football, probably take
big naps and just chill for the rest of eight
It's gonna be very relaxed.
Speaker 4 (11:35):
So great.
Speaker 3 (11:36):
I'm sure mine will be the exact same. It is
just me, Jared, the kids, my mom, dad, my sister,
and my brother in law, and we will have the
TV on as well. One of our questions here is
do you TV on Thanksgiving or not? And yes, we
have the football on, and but we don't have it
on when we go to the dining room and use
(11:58):
the dining room for like the one meal a year,
what's used for I'm confused.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
Some people don't TV. Is that the whole point of this?
I mean Thanksgiving, you know, obviously, like outside of everything else.
Here's how I view Thanksgiving. It is a reason for
family to get together. It is a reason to be
where you're at, to be where your feet are. Bob
Goff told me this once when I was moving and
(12:26):
grooving and traveling all the time. It's like, just when
you're somewhere, be where your feet are. So it's a
day of nothing more than being where your feet are,
eating food, being around people you love, and being cozy
because typically in most places in the United States at least,
it's going to be cold. The idea that there's not
(12:46):
a TV in every household playing the Turkey Games is
crazy to me.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
I agree it adds to the cozy vibe.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
There's the puppy, there's the NFL games, and then here's
the thing that I still watch. It will be on
as soon as I wake up, The Mazing Parade.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
You and Jared are supposed to be best friends, like absolutely,
Jared has to make a point to watch that.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
How does Macy's have enough money to keep putting on
his prie?
Speaker 3 (13:18):
I wonder all the time about things like department stores.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
I don't know how they do it, but I'm happy
they do it.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
Oh. I told Jared last year that we could this
year do a New York Thanksgiving and go to the parade,
because it's a dream of his to go to the parade,
and thinks I'd be the kids would love but the kids.
Speaker 4 (13:39):
Would love it.
Speaker 3 (13:40):
So now I'm going to have to remember this for
next year, really like put it in the back of
my head, like we have to do a family meet
in the middle situation in New York anyway. But before
we wrap up this Thingsgiving episode, I do want to
know what's your favorite Thanksgiving food?
Speaker 2 (13:56):
Honestly, uh it is well, I eat fairly healthy, good
for you, I don't it is my one day. There's
more than this. I ate a lot of chips in
my life. I'm a big chip guy.
Speaker 5 (14:09):
Me too, big chip I had Masa chips.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
No, but I had pound any chip that's.
Speaker 3 (14:15):
In front of me. Molly, It's going to change your life.
I think I'm going to send that for you for Christmas.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
Yeah, please do. I would pound any bag of chips
in front of me, and I did today. In fact,
at about ten thirty, I ate a whole thing of
chitter and sour cream ruffles and I felt great about it.
I'm a big fan of mac and cheese. It's like
it is my if. It is my favorite. So I
am making the most unhealthy, thick, cheesy, creamy mac and
(14:43):
cheese available to the world for this day, and I'm
going to eat a lot of it.
Speaker 3 (14:48):
So you are going to handle everything? Are you going
to be the chef? Jared's going to be the chef.
Jared's going to do the predominant work.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
Yeah, I'll do everything.
Speaker 4 (14:56):
Okay, that's great. I do my corn.
Speaker 3 (15:00):
It's a slow cooker cream corn. It's the easiest thing
in the entire world. It's like butter and cream cheese
with corn, little salt.
Speaker 4 (15:09):
Sit there for like.
Speaker 3 (15:11):
Chet little cheddar, little cheddar squares. Yeah, melt it all
together for about three hours.
Speaker 4 (15:15):
It's really good.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
So it's like mac and cheese with corn.
Speaker 4 (15:17):
It literally is macar ese corn. Yes.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
And then Jared actually, well, Jared does the turkey for sure,
for sure every year now because my dad.
Speaker 4 (15:28):
It's making these.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
Or smoke it oven it oh oven. It interesting. The
new thing is the fryer.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
I kind of feel like, where would the heck do
would you put that?
Speaker 4 (15:40):
Though?
Speaker 5 (15:40):
You have to like make a fryer in your backyard?
Speaker 2 (15:42):
Yeah, you put it outside. You buy a fryer. It's
the big thing in Indiana. It's the big thing out
here now in Colorado. Is I'm sure it's better you
buy the fryer and you stick that turkey in there,
and it is. You drink a couple of beers as
you stand around the fryer and watch that turkey sizzle.
It's great.
Speaker 4 (15:58):
For how long does it have to be there.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
No, it's I mean, it's a while, but it's not hard.
It's like the easiest way to cook it. But it's
definitely the tasty it. It gets that crunchy.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
Outside nice because every year it's like, yeah, you did
a good job with the turkey.
Speaker 4 (16:14):
Baby, It's just like turkey is so even if chicken
would honestly excite me more.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
Tell him to start frying. It is a cool party
trick too. If nobody there is like down to do
it but him, the coolest thing for him to do
as a dad. This is the world I'm like moving into.
Is you like put the frey in the driveway, you
get the grease going. You stand out there with the cooler.
A couple of the neighbors who are doing the same
thing come over and they talk to you as your
(16:41):
turkey's cooking and their cook turkey's cooking. You talk about
whatever game's on today. You're you know, you know, elbowing
it up. It's great. So it's a good life.
Speaker 5 (16:52):
Ark Christmas vacation right there, it's a good life, Clark Griswold.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
Yeah, it's who I want to be, Ashley in you
know what, he gets a bonus on Thanksgiving or on Christmas,
which is a big deal because I work for myself
and so I'd love to give myself a bonus. It's
a great time of the year, Ashley. I think we
close this show with saying one thing you're grateful for
in twenty twenty five.
Speaker 3 (17:17):
Well, it's just really boring, but it's very true, and
I'm just so grateful that I have just all my family, happy.
Speaker 4 (17:26):
Healthy and safe. Every year it's the same thing. But
it's as long as you got that, you're rich.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
You're rich. You're rich kid. I mean, obviously this year
has been the most incredible year. In February when he
was born. There is not a night that goes by
in my life. And I don't want to like over
spiritualize this that I don't go to bed and go
how in the world did I get here?
Speaker 4 (17:52):
Exactly, Like, how do we get so lucky? It's like unreal,
I know.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
Same, So I am so thankful for my daughter, my dog,
my wife, my family, her family. Like the show that
keeps going and going and going and going and going,
exactly are things. Things aren't perfect by any means, but
(18:16):
this time of year helps me take a step back
and go. But things are good, and I hope, I
hope for everybody out there. I know it's not always
that things are good. I know it's sometimes a tough
time of the year. Ashley and myself recognize that the
holidays often bring up all sorts of emotions.
Speaker 3 (18:35):
I don't even like have any sense of like lost
wrong of holidays or whatnot, but I can still in
the energy feel it for others exactly.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
So here's the message. If you're listening, you have breath,
and if you have breath, you matter, and we hope
this holiday season it's either you soaking in all the
good news or here's another option, maybe it's you giving
some goodness to others around you. Either way, Happy Thanksgiving,
(19:11):
Happy Holidays. Thank you for listening. We have a big,
big year ahead.
Speaker 4 (19:16):
Ben, You're the best. You really have to be a minister.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
I'm grateful for you, Ashley.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
Ben, it's a given. I'm gonna have to say it
out laughing. So grateful for you.
Speaker 5 (19:26):
We love you.
Speaker 3 (19:27):
We love you guys, and we will see you after Thanksgiving.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone, waw bye.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
Until the next time I've been, Ben, I've been Ashley
Speaker 1 (19:38):
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