Who hasn’t known a holiday feast that turned into bedlam? The not-quite-done turkey, lumpy gravy, sparse side dishes, or the tasteless dessert? While devastating to the host at the time, those tend to be the feasts that family and friends most fondly remember.

Such is the story Margaret Olivia McManis recounts in her delightful tale of a childhood Thanksgiving dinner gone wrong. 

“The Ham Grenade Holiday” sees young Margo wanting something different for dinner this year, but Mom insists on the traditional family menu of baked canned ham and all the American trimmings. In an already hectic rush and distractions to feed an expanding guest list of new neighbors from Venezuela, China and Ukraine, Margo’s mother neglects to remove the ham from the can before placing it in the hot oven. What follows is a frightening explosion yet amazing way her artistic mother pulls together a delicious meal that now includes favorite dishes from the neighbors’ homelands. With everyone participating and contributing their own creations, that thanksgiving meal became a family treasure. 

“The Ham Grenade Holiday” is a tender look at how working together and accepting one another’s culinary differences, a simple meal can become a tender way to bring cultures together and form bonds of lasting friendship. “The Ham Grenade Holiday” is a delightful story for any special event.

Margaret McManis is a Montgomery County author and retired Aldine ISD librarian. She loves Texas history, especially the life and gardens of Miss Ima Hogg, daughter of James Stephen Hogg, one-time Governor of Texas. McManis is a popular speaker and guest for book talks and author visits about the entertaining, educational children’s books she has written that are set in Texas and feature little known facts about the state.

One book entitled “Ima [Hogg] and the Great Texas Ostrich Race,” recounts the story of 10-year-old Miss Ima Hogg, riding her pet ostrich in a race against her brothers who are on horseback. A Montgomery County Master Gardener, she also speaks to groups about roses, especially her own and those of Ima Hogg’s Bayou Bend gardens. Her books are available at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble. Visit Margaret at her website https://momomcmanis.com

Book details: “The Ham Grenade Holiday” – by Margaret Olivia McManis; Ages 5-10; Paperback; Amazon.com; $16.99
 
    

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