
by Wasan Abu-Baker
On a recent trip that I took with my husband to Turkey to celebrate our 13 year wedding anniversary, I was amazed at the beauty and diversity of Istanbul. I heard a lot about Istanbul being the place where East and West meet, but it was truly amazing to see all the cultures and people from all over the world living in peace in this amazing city. We spent 10 days in Istanbul, but there was still a lot that we didn’t have time to see. We stayed in the old city near the Sultan Ahmed Mosque where we enjoyed being near a lot of historical sites and museums.

by Maria Ruiz
We entered Turkey at the end of January and began our tour of the country. The first thing we needed to do was buy some groceries. Ahead was a mall that looked like any mall in the world. We found a place to park and entered to find the grocery store. The first thing I noticed was the store windows covered in red Valentine hearts. Another window had men’s jockey shorts covered in red hearts and red Xs, and risqué red panties with black ribbons and little gold hearts hanging from a bow.

by Terrance Mc Arthur
The Great Food Search has been an interesting experience, with FoodQuests exploring Chinese restaurants, taco wagons, chain diners, burger joints, donuts, grilled cheese sandwiches, pumpkin dishes and summer cool treats. This time, the suggested subject was…Turkey. What was I going to do? Go to different submarine sandwich places? I tried to think of ways to approach the article, and what came to me were memories of Thanksgivings Past. They crowded out any new ideas, so I am going to share with you two of these memories: The Thanksgiving Without a Pie, and The Slow-Cooker Turkey.

by Alicia Lieu
With the holidays coming, I became increasingly nostalgic for Thanksgiving with my family. It is just not feasible to fly cross country for a few days, even if I can get the days off of work. Because I happen to be holding down a retail job, holidays are the busiest time of year and difficult to request off. Not to mention that airfare the week of Thanksgiving is noticeably higher than the rest of the year. At least in New York, however, I’m still in my home country.

by Sheryl Wall
I always look forward to the Christmas movies that come out every year in the Theater and to my surprise this year we got to enjoy a Thanksgiving movie called Free Birds. It is an animated story about Turkeys and how they don’t want to be the main course for the holiday anymore.

by Patricia Harrington
Here is another fun Thanksgiving mystery short story for you to enjoy, originally published ten years ago online in Laugher Loaf!

by Claire Lang
One thing I don’t necessarily believe in is following a strict diet during Thanksgiving and Christmas. However, that doesn’t mean that one needs to just gorge and completely disregard a healthy lifestyle altogether.

by Karen Lewis
Have you ever wondered why people sit around watching football on Thanksgiving and eating pumpkin pie? And where did the turkey come from? There are many traditions connected to this holiday, and each and every one has a story to tell.