Cranberry Sauce

Cranberry sauce is an interesting Thanksgiving tradition. For some people it is essential whether they like it or not. My family, we are usually not very consistent with having it. None of us like it that much. However, this Thanksgiving, we went up to my aunt's house in Farmington. She had her whole family there, so there was a big crowd. While we were eating, I asked my cousin if her family was big into cranberry sauce because I saw it on every table. She said that they didn't really all love it, but her dad liked it and wanted to have it every year. Later, when we were cleaning up, she and I were clearing the tables and it was interesting to see that the bowls of cranberry sauce were barely touched. The group did not seem to enjoy it that much, but it seemed to be an essential tradition to have it as part of the Thanksgiving dinner.

Family Pictures

During our discussion about family photos, I was reminded of an occurrence that my friend told me about. She was getting ready to go home for her brother's wedding and was talking to her mom about pictures. Her mom said something about that she wanted a picture with just her children. My friend reminded her that the girl that was marrying her brother would be a part of their family and her mom said, "I know, I just want a picture with just my kids." This is an example of some of the folklore of photos. Who is in the picture and who is not is a major part of the picture and it gives us a glimpse into the thinking of the people in the picture.

Family Sayings

During our discussion of the reading in class, I remembered a saying that my family says. Whenever one of the kids drinks out of another kid's cup or they use the same fork or something else like that, someone always says, "It's okay; the doctor said it doesn't matter." I think this saying came about because one of the earlier children was complaining about some such occurrence, so my dad said, "The doctor said it doesn't matter" and it has become a often repeated saying in my family.

Pineapple Hospitality

I was just walking down the hall in the Administration Building on Campus (where I work) and I heard this lady say, "Did you know that the pineapple is a sign of hospitality in the East?" We talked about that in class last week, so I was surprised to hear it so soon when I have never heard it before. Maybe she heard it from someone who was in our class and them sharing it is passing on folklore. I think I will tell someone else today to pass it on as well. :)

Cherries--A healthy fruit

My group presentation was on cherries. The part that I did involved the belief that cherries are very good for you because of their anti-oxidants. In staff meeting at my work my co-worker asked if anyone had learned anything new that week. I decided to share that cherries supposedly help with arthritis and are believed to be a pain reliever. They found it very interesting and some of them said that they wanted to start eating cherries. It's fun to pass on things that you learn even if they may only be home remedies that may not necessarily have scientific backing.

Cranapple, Please.

In the book, Rooted In America, the chapter on Cranberries talked about how the industry has profited by combining cranberry with many other fruits. I experienced this first hand when I flew to visit my sister in Chicago. On the plane, the stewardess came by with her cart of drinks and when I asked what kind of juice she had, she replied, "apple, cranapple, orange, and tomato." Thinking of the book, I chose Cranapple and greatly enjoyed it. I thought it was interesting that they would have that choice among only four. When I was in Chicago, I also encountered cranapple there. My sister had it in her refridgerator and we had it for a few different meals. She also told me that she loves cranapple juice. Interesting to see how it has really become popular.

Hot Pepper Punishment

Our reading today on hot peppers reminded me of my mom's punishment for saying bad words. When we would say a bad word, she would get her finger wet, dip it in the jar of cayenne pepper and wipe it on our tongue. I remembered this because of the story Sister Rudy told about the pepper eating contest. My second oldest brother had a quick temper and thus would often get this punishment. However, he, being a stubborn boy, pretended that he didn't care and would say that he liked it. I think he may have developed a taste for it or convinced himself that he did like it because to this day, he likes his salsa and other things very spicy hot. :)

Apple Stem Twist

The reading on apples in Rooted in America made me think of apple traditions that I know. Later when I was eating the apple in my lunch I remembered the one about twisting the stem and saying the alphabet and whichever letter the stem broke off on is the first letter of your future spouse's name. I learned this when I was a young girl, but my friend reminded me of it on my study abroad in Sweden because she would do it all the time. Since I was eating my lunch with my brother and dad, I shared this tradition with them and later my brother did it when he ate his apple, so I am helping to pass on folklore. :)

Put on your thinking cap

I was reading my cousin's blog and came across her saying "So, as my elementary teachers always used to say, put your thinking caps on!" I have heard this my whole life, but never really thought about the literal meaning. Why should we put a hat on to think? Does it really help us think better? I searched online and found a website that gave a possible origin of the phrase. It said, "In previous centuries, it was customary for judges to put a cap on before sentencing criminals. Because judges were respected thinkers, it was referred to as a 'thinking cap.'" Hmm, interesting. So, from now on, whenever I say that phrase I will be imagining a judge with his cap on thinking really hard to decide whether to sentence a criminal to death or not. :)

Bent out of Shape

I heard one of my teachers use this phrase and was just curious about its origin. I have heard it all my life, but never really thought about it. Free Dictionary defined it as "very angry or upset." Answers.com said that it is slang used during the later half of the 1900s.

Skewampus

I was at my boyfriend's grandpa's house and his grandpa said that something was "skewampus." My boyfriend and his brother laughed at that and were joking about it on the way home. I have grown up hearing that phrase, but have not heard it from very many people (my co-worker from Utah and this elderly man from Utah), so I decided to look it up. I found out that it is a mixture of the words askew and cattywampus. One source said that it was frequently used in the West which makes sense with my experience of it.

Boise

The other night, I was talking with my roommate, Jess, and our friends J and L. We were talking about where my roommate is from, the Boise area, and then we got into a discussion about how to say it. Jess said that she says it with an s sound like "boy see," but J and L insisted that it was said "boy zee." From TX and CA respectively, their proof that theirs was the correct pronunciation was that the sportscasters on ESPN said it like that. However, I have grown up with hearing it like Jess says it. A few days later I asked a girl in one of my classes, who is from Idaho how she said it and she told me the same pronunciation as Jess. I assume from this that people in Idaho say the s rather than the z and also those in Utah, since that is where I am from. Some people from TX and CA obviously say it with the z sound, but that may be the influence of ESPN sportscasters. :)

Squaw Peak

So, I was walking with my friend Lewis on Sunday and we were talking about the mountains and I was commenting how beautiful they are with the colors changing. He asked which one was Squaw Peak and I pointed it out to him and asked him if he knew why it was called that. He said he didn't and I proceeded to tell him something about how a young Indian maiden jumped off the peak when her lover died. I didn't know the precise legend, so I left it at that. I also had heard a story in my Church History class about how during a time of conflict between the settlers and the Indians, some of the Indians were cornered up there and some of them fell off the cliff and died.

However, I started to get curious about it and wanted to know the real story. I searched online but it took me a little while before I could find anything about the story. I finally found an article in the Deseret News about the name of Squaw Peak: "In February 1850, a white-Indian conflict broke out at the mouth of the Provo River. Big Elk, a chief of the local Piute Indians, was killed in the struggle, and "his squaw fled with others toward the foothills to the east." During the escape, she fell from the peak and died." I found another account of the story in a document about Indian names in Utah. However, I did find a reference to the story that I told my friend: "Squaw Peak was formed when an Indian maiden died so she could be with her lover"

I found it interesting that I had heard the story in its changed form of a Indian woman jumping off the cliff when I was a child, but then also the story about the Indians being cornered up there, but I reverted to the story I had heard in my childhood when telling it to a friend.

Tense and Lax Vowels

In my English Language class today I learned the different characteristics of the vowels in English. One thing that I thought was really interesting is the Utah or Western States dialect (Sorry, I don't know all the correct terminology yet. Maybe later in the semester). Anyway, many Utahns and other Westerners make many of their vowels lax where others make them tense.
The classic example of this that most people have heard of is creek being pronounced "crick." However, I have not heard this one very much. Ones that I find much more common (and which I do myself) are leg and egg pronounced with the e vowel sound in "end" instead of with the a vowel sound of "age." Another case of making a vowel lax (this one I do not do, but many of my friends do) is making the word "sale" sound the same or very similar to "cell." Other examples that I noticed are "feel" being pronounced as "fill" and "steal" pronounced as "still."
The interesting thing is that the vowels that are switched to lax from tense (or vice versa) are similar in every other aspect (e.g. high, front, unrounded). Thus the switch is partially logical.

Too Many Cooks...

So, I was at my apartment a few days ago when my roommate came into my room and had me listen to one of her messages. The message was from her classmate who was talking about some group project and too many people in the group. In the message she said, "You know, it would be like too many cooks cooking the meal." My roommate laughed at that because she said, "That's not even how the saying goes. It is 'too many cooks in the kitchen.'" I thought this was interesting that the girl used this proverb, albeit differently than my roommate knew it, so I looked it up online. The most common version I found was "Too many cooks in the kitchen spoil the soup," however, often the word soup was replaced by stew or broth. Interesting.

Straw wrapper

So, I was at Red Robin on Saturday night after the football game against UCLA (We beat them 59 to 0. Go Cougs!) eating with some friends. While we were waiting for our food to arrive, we were playing with our straw wrappers and Lewis tied one in a knot and gave it to Jessica to pull apart. When she appeared confused, he proceeded to explain the tradition involved with it. He said that you tie it in a knot and then pull on both ends until it rips. If it still has a knot in it after you tear it apart, it means someone loves you. If not, you're out of luck.
While I (from UT), Lewis (from CA), and Jonny (from TX) all knew the tradition, Jess and her sister (from ID) had never heard of it.
I searched online and I found a few variations of this tradition. One of them was that you think of someone and if the knot stays in (or comes undone--another variation) then that person is thinking of you. I also found one that was for two people. You tie the knot, both make a wish, and both pull on one end. The person who gets the knot on their end has their wish come true.
Fun little tradition.