#WriterWednesday Interview with Meredith Stoddard
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I’d like to welcome author, Meredith Stoddard to the blog for the holiday edition of #WriterWednesday!
A few of your favorite traditions: Until the last couple of years we have always spent Christmas at my grandmother’s house in North Carolina. We have a lot of traditions associated with it; church on Christmas Eve, followed by visiting with extended family, walking around the block to the neighbor’s light show.
Something holiday-related that you’ll never do again: Santa hats. For the last few years we have taken a picture of the extended family in front of the family home wearing ridiculous Santa hats. I think we would all like to give up that tradition, but Granny loves them.
Favorite holiday song: “Angels We Have Heard on High”. I just love singing it.
Holiday song that always gets stuck in your head for the wrong reason: “Mary Did You Know?” It gets stuck because it’s so repetitive. But for years the minister and my family’s church in North Carolina used to grace us with his comically bad solo rendition of it EVERY Christmas Eve. I have terrible memories of that.
Favorite holiday treat: Coconut pie. It’s not exactly a holiday treat, but we always had one at the holidays, so it's a holiday treat for us.
A holiday treat that makes you gag: Does anyone really consider fruit cake a treat?
Favorite holiday show or movie: Any Hallmark Christmas romance. I’m a sucker for them. I watch them while wrapping presents, and endure constant teasing from my family but I don’t care. I’ll never give them up.
A holiday show or movie that you’ve seen too much: A Christmas Story. It’s great. It’s a classic. I’m just over it.
Favorite holiday beverage: Hot Chocolate, spiced cider, mulled wine...Bonus if the hot chocolate and cider have whiskey in them.
A drink that gives you a sour face: Egg Nog, not even whiskey can save that holiday sludge.
Favorite holiday smell: All the earthy ones like evergreens, spices, poinsettias, and wood smoke.
Something that makes you hold your nose: Collard greens. I love eating them, but can’t stand the smell of cooking them.
Favorite holiday candy: Anything chocolate
A holiday candy that gives you a pickle face: Nougat, not a fan.
Best holiday gift you gave to someone: A few years ago, I gathered up old family photos from my grandmother’s house. I organized them by decade going back to a baby picture of my grandmother from 1918. I also scanned them so we would have them electronically. Then I decorated a wooden chest and filled it with the newly organized photos and gave it back to my grandmother for Christmas. It took a lot of time to sort and identify everyone in the photos, but it was well worth it.
A gift that needs regifting: Sweaters, Not just the ugly Christmas ones. I’m just not a sweater person.
Best thing you ever cooked/baked for the holidays: Peppermint meringues. I love making meringues in all flavors, but the peppermint ones just say holidays.
Your worst holiday kitchen disaster: Not sure if it counts as a kitchen disaster so much as a dinner table disaster. One Thanksgiving, just as we were putting the last of the meal on the table, the globe from their light fixture fell and shattered, spraying glass all over the food.
Favorite place you spent the holidays: Until last year, I have only ever spent Christmas at my grandmother’s house. That was an understanding when I married my husband that we would not miss Christmas at Granny’s.
The worst place to spend the holidays: Christmas 2020 was spent at home. And while it was a much more relaxing than trying to coordinate schedules with all the extended family, I missed hugging them and spending time with them.
About Meredith:
I have known since I was a little girl sitting at my Granny's kitchen table listening to her recount the stories of our family, that I wanted to be a story teller. Those family stories sparked a lifelong fascination with folklore. After a career of telling product stories in the corporate world, I have turned my attention back to the stories of people and culture.
Let’s Be Social:
Website: http://www.meredithstoddard.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063837990684&show_switched_toast=true
Twitter: https://twitter.com/M_R_Stoddard
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrstoddard/
