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November 26, 2020 • 17 mins

This very special bonus episode begins with a Thanksgiving Blessing from Andrew before he and David dig into topics of gratitude, food, and the communal elements of Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone from the bottom of all of our hearts, minds, and souls here at Hyphenated-Life.

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Episode Transcript

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Speaker 1 (00:13):
We joined hands and hearts and gratitude on this
wondrous day, where we have theabundance of our lives before us
in the faces who are in front ofus and the voices beside us.
And we remember on this day ofabundance and bounty, all those

(00:35):
who do not have enough, who areafraid, who are lonely and who
suffer.
We wish for the abundance ofthis world to be shared or fear,
to become love for the lonely,to feel welcomed and for the
suffering to no rest and joywhere the labor, the love, the
care that gave us the delightsof this day and every day of our

(00:59):
lives, we say, thanks for thenourishment of our spirit, the
challenges that strengthen usand the friends we have on the
journey we say, thanks for allthat is our lives for these good
gifts.
We whisper.
Thanks.
Overflowing with gratitude.

(01:20):
We say, thank you.

(01:46):
Thank you, Andrew.
That was, that was, that waslovely.
So on this

Speaker 2 (01:50):
Thanksgiving day, we take this day too, to be
thankful for the abundance ofgreatness in our lives, in the
world, on our tables, in ourhearts.
And this is a tough one thisyear, huh?
Finding gratitude can bedifficult.

(02:11):
I don't know if you've foundthat Andrew.
I think it is, can be difficult,but I believe that gratitude,
it's hard for resentment oranger to persist.
When you find a place forgratitude in your life.
We talked about, uh, last year,I think in a Thanksgiving week

(02:33):
message where you go through thealphabet, you take each letter
and you think of somethingyou're grateful for based on
that letter.
And he can get reallycompetitive with it too.
Like yeah.
Someone shout out what they'regrateful for.
That starts with letter a beforeeveryone else does kind of
thing.
Right?
So this year, Oh yeah, thatsounds right.

(02:56):
No, I think that's actually,that's, that's great.
Uh, it's

Speaker 3 (03:00):
Immediately engaging in it and it you're communing
with the people you're doing itwith.
And it depends on who that crowdis on what direction that game
would take, like the Cowboysgame today.
Right, right.
That would be the Cowboys areplaying the, is it the

(03:22):
Washington football team?
I think so.
You would know

Speaker 2 (03:27):
It's, it's a tough year to be a Cowboys fan, which
they're my one B team.
So one a Broncos, one B Cowboys.
It's a really rough year to be aBroncos and Cowboys fan.
It is yeah.
Double the pain.

Speaker 3 (03:40):
Yeah.
It's a rougher year to be DakPrescott.
Oh, prayers for Dak.
We're grateful for you deck.
So yeah, I like it.
The gratitude alphabet game.
Is that the name?
Try that at home.
Yeah.
I think that's a, that's a funway to do it because, uh, you

(04:02):
need a different strategy thisyear for attaining that space
that you talked about of true ofexperiencing and acknowledging
true gratitude.
It's uh, it's, it's fleeting,but I think you're right.
Even in the face of thesemonumental global disasters,
there is still space and roomfor gratitude.

(04:23):
And you just start withalphabet.
I like that.
Um, I think, yeah

Speaker 2 (04:27):
Know, but you know, if something starts with a
letter, see what you might begrateful for

Speaker 3 (04:32):
Calvin, Calvin, Edward longed year.
Um, this will be his firstThanksgiving that makes it easy.
I feel, you know, a lot of, uh,if you didn't know, the
listeners didn't know, um, mywife, Emily and I had our first
child this year on May 2nd,Calvin Edward Lumnia was born in

(04:54):
the middle of the Corona viruspandemic.
We're in the middle of alockdown stay at home order and
a lot of people.
And we thought that this wasgoing to be the case.
A lot of people said, Oh, what adifficult time to have a baby,
to have a child to bring a childinto the world.
And for me, it's, it feels likea cheat code on a video game.

(05:16):
Um, all I have to do is go homeand look at him and have him
smile at me.
And there is nothing else that Ican feel other than love and
hope and gratitude.
So I know not everyone out therehas that on their list of things
to be thankful for and gratefulfor.
But, um, there are things tofind even in the face of these

(05:38):
difficulties.
And I, I, like I said, mine'skind of a cheat code, but I, so
that idea, this idea of family,uh, maybe you're not sharing a
table with them this yearbecause of an inability to
travel, but you can stillreflect on the meaning there,

(05:59):
right?
The meaning of sitting down andcommuning with, with loved ones
of sharing a meal, um, that's atthe core of what would typically
top my gratitude lists.
Um, I am always grateful toshare delicious meals with good

(06:20):
friends and family.
So what is the thing skippingdish

Speaker 2 (06:25):
That absolutely has to be on your family table?

Speaker 3 (06:28):
So for me, it's, uh, not what most people would
think, cause it's not on mostpeople's table.
And I'm talking about the main,the main thing, the main event,
we don't do Turkey onThanksgiving, in my home, what
that's right.

(06:49):
We do prime rib bone in rack ofrib roast.
Go on.
Yup.
And I'm going to share a littlerecipe with you that I got from
my grandfather, grandmother, mymother's mother and Dowdle

(07:09):
Stouse and it's, uh, I adaptedit to use for a prime rib roast,
um, from she, she did it with atender loin roast.
So you mixed together and I alsomade some amendments, so I won't
do the original and the new one,but okay.
You get roasted garlic, a lot ofit, uh, great boom pole, Dijon

(07:32):
mustard, Tabasco sauce, Tony[inaudible] Cajun seasoning and
pepper, and you blend it in afood processor.
And so basically what you haveis a wet rub, right?
Opposite of a dry rub, cause ithas wet ingredients, mustard,
and Tabasco, and you, you put itall over the roast and let it

(07:57):
sit overnight.
And then the next day you cookit, like you would a Turkey, I'd
put it on a roasting rack.
And, and when that thing comesout, it's one of the greatest
moments of the year for me everyyear.
And talk about transcendentexperience.
Talk about having a, a sacredexperience in your kitchen at

(08:22):
your dining table.
Um, there is no wall there.
That's, uh, that's a magnificentmoment for me and, uh, and we
share it together and I can'ttell you how much I look forward
to that every single year.
Do you have, uh, do you haveanything that you do every year
for Thanksgiving?

(08:43):
You know,

Speaker 2 (08:43):
I'm a son of the South grew up in Tennessee, so
it's casserole extravaganzatypically on Thanksgiving day.
So I remember the first evercasserole I made was a green
bean when I was maybe in middleschool or so.
And I was my first contributionto the family Thanksgiving and I
thought I was a pretty big deal,uh, doing that.

(09:05):
Is that right?

Speaker 3 (09:05):
The crunchy onions on top.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's one way to do it forsure.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And the cream of mush.

Speaker 2 (09:12):
So in my adult life, I have become very much a
traditionalist having to havethe big bird on the table,
apologies to all the herbivoreswho are listening today.
Cause we're very carnivorescentric with this conversation
right now.
We just want to acknowledge that

Speaker 3 (09:27):
There are great vegetarian options out there as
well.
You can start with green beancasserole.
I'm sure some people could justeat a whole tray of that, right?

Speaker 2 (09:36):
Yes.
Pointing to myself.
Uh, so yeah, casseroles centricon Thanksgiving typically, but
definitely with the big birdthese days.
And I usually I'm prettygeneric.
Like just use a food networkrecipe from Tyler Florence, I
believe is his name.
Oh yeah.
Chef.
He used to be on the foodnetwork.
I'm not sure what he's doingnow.

Speaker 3 (09:57):
I'm not sure what happened to the food network.
It was a lot of game shows,right?

Speaker 2 (10:01):
Yeah.
It's been a while since I'vechecked that out.

Speaker 3 (10:03):
Yeah.
They're always culinary expertslike Tyler Florence and Bobby
Flay and exactly.
I'm role gassy.
Yeah.
Bam,

Speaker 2 (10:13):
Bam.
Indeed.
So the Sage butter Turkey recipefrom Tyler Florence is sort of
my default.
So

Speaker 3 (10:20):
That's nice.
Yeah.
The warm herbaceous Snus of Sagemixed with the, the richness of
it.
Do you use a nice butter?
Like a Kerry gold Irish butter?
Oh yeah.
For sure.
Like grass fed cows in Ireland.

Speaker 2 (10:35):
Yes.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I was going to ask you earlierif you did delivery or shipping
from your, with yourThanksgiving prime rib roast.
Right, right,

Speaker 3 (10:46):
Right.
You know, uh we've we've uh, uh,I think you're asking if I would
deliver one to you, is thatright?

Speaker 2 (10:54):
Pretty much what I was asking you.
Yeah.
Audience of one, you're such aconnoisseur of culinary.
Goodness.

Speaker 3 (11:03):
I do.
I do love cooking food.
It is a spiritual experience forme, sharing that experience with
others is, is like, it'sliterally at the top of my list
of life experiences that I don'tever want to have go away.
And so Thanksgiving to me is myfavorite holiday of the year.

(11:25):
It's one of my favorite days ofthe year because it that's the
whole point of it.
There's no, you don't have tomake an excuse to spend 24 48
hours preparing and cooking foodtogether with loved ones.
It's what you're supposed to do.
Right.
So that's how it became myfavorite holiday.
And you throw in there that thatalready is one of the things I'm

(11:48):
most grateful for.
And that's the other element ofThanksgiving is, is cultivating
gratitude.
So this is a very special dayfor me.

Speaker 2 (11:59):
Beautiful.
Thanks for sharing.
That's plenty to be gratefulabout right there.
Yeah.
Reminds me to be, and I'm sureit's taking you a while to fine
tune your Thanksgiving recipes,what you have shared with our
audience and what you'll bedelivering to me later today,
hot off the grill.

(12:20):
Um, I was thinking about howgratitude takes practice to, you
know, whether you're like finetuning a golf swing or teaching
little Calvin or me teaching my11 and nine year olds still to
say, please, and thank you.
It's like all the things wewould want for our kids to say
and feel from their hearts.
This is a day to celebrate thatand reflect about that.

(12:43):
And I was thinking earlier aboutthere's this monk named, uh,
David, I'm going to butcher hislast name.
David Steindl-Rast I believe S TE I N D L hyphen R a S T.
He's really dedicated his wholelife to studying and practice
what all of us crave and wantfor ourselves, for the people we

(13:07):
love, which is the H wordhappiness.
And there's a twist to that inhis research.
I mean, he spent, I'm not quitesure how old he is, but he spent
decades researching happiness.
And he has this beautiful bookcalled gratefulness, the heart
of prayer, which if you'reinterested in reading a book

(13:27):
that really helps you cultivategratitude.
That's a, that's a classic, buthe says, it's not happiness.
That makes us grateful.
It's gratefulness.
That makes us happy.
Um, and I would say happiness,maybe that would be in my
gratitude game list H forhappiness, because I dismissed
that word for a long time, butI'm kind of finding that there's

(13:51):
a happiness that goes deeperthan the word happy, which might
be called gratitude as well.
But I love, I love, uh, DavidSteindl-Rast work and, uh,
there's a Ted talk where heasks, how do we, uh, how, how
exactly do we live gratefully?
And he says, by becoming awarethat every moment is a given

(14:13):
moment, meaning it's a gift.
You don't earn it.
You don't buy it.
There's no assurance thatanother moment will be given to
us.
So when we think about how everymoment is a given moment, it
really is, uh, every, everybreath that we on the inhale and
exhale being grateful that wehave this moment with ourselves

(14:36):
with one another.
I know the world is crazy rightnow.
It's difficult.
And even the leading mostsophisticated scientists, uh,
are saying, Hey, holidays mightsuck this year, but next year is
going to be great.
But just the thought of doingall that can to get this

Speaker 3 (14:52):
Pandemic under control, the sacrifices that
we're being asked to make rightnow in the midst of those
circumstances, we can still begrateful.
Um, and I think that's where Igo to, to the Monk's advice of,
um, you know, happiness, uh, isnot what makes us grateful.
It's gratefulness.
That makes us happy.
Pretty good to remember duringthese heady times, that's,

(15:18):
that's a beautiful thought and Ilove flipping things around
sometimes.
Uh, it's like looking in themirror and it gives you a
perspective that you didn't havebefore.
And that's great.
Gratitude leads to happiness,happiness.
Doesn't lead to gratitude.
So on this Turkey day,Thanksgiving day of gratitude,

(15:40):
happy Thanksgiving to you andhappy Thanksgiving to you.
David, happy Thanksgiving toeveryone out there today.

Speaker 1 (15:48):
Happy Thanksgiving, everybody[inaudible].
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