Jon Solo Sebastian 11/26/2025:
Well this prompt came up at the right time! I just finished making something for Thanksgiving for tomorrow. Ever since I can remember, on Thanksgiving, we would have all the usual dishes for the holiday on top of pasta and sauce (my mom’s side is full Sicilian)… I don’t know if that’s an Italian and Sicilian tradition across the board, but it’s been tradition in my family ever since before I was born. My grandma used to make it, and ever since she passed away, my mom has taken over. That is not the dish I make, but I felt like if you’re reading this that you might want a little backstory on why my family has pasta and sauce along with everything else on Thanksgiving.
My task for the holiday is to make something else my grandmother used to make. It’s called olive salad. It’s something we all used to essentially fight over back in the day. She used one of those containers made long before tupperware was a thing (I think, don’t quote me on that. Tupperware isn’t in my wheelhouse). The salad would barely fill a quarter of the small container, so we’d all pretty much get a spoonful. Some of my family members, including myself, would sneak a little more if we were fast enough. So for a few years after my grandma passed away, my aunt would make it. No offense to my aunt, I love her dearly, but it just wasn’t the same. Fast forward to about ten to twelve years ago, and I decided I would take a stab at it. I’m not a cook, or a chef, or anything, but everyone seems to love what I make. Here’s the thing… I don’t follow recipes, and I don’t measure anything. I go off of what I think will be good, and then like any chef or cook, I taste test it. I do it with my chili, I do it with this salad, I do it with my own sauces and dressings, along with a few other things I might share on here one day.
The Olive Salad: green olives—they can be jarred and drained, canned, or fresh, but they cannot have anything stuffed inside them. Along with the olives, I chop onion, garlic, and celery. Oh and I chop the olives into small pieces. Then I add the dressing. I make my own dressing, but it’s Italian themed. Let it marinate in the fridge overnight, and badaboom… it’s ready to bring smiles to everyone’s faces. I make a lot, so everyone gets a decent amount. I’d rather have leftovers than not enough.
So that’s it. That’s my holiday dish. I’d honestly like to do something for Christmas, but I haven’t come up with anything yet. Now that I have a smoker and a new grill, I’m sure I’ll be coming up with something. Hope you all have a wonderful holiday season.
For those of you that have subscribed to my page: Thank you so much for reading my words every week. You mean the world to me! I will not be sharing a cryptid blog this week due to the busy holiday stuff, but I will be back at it next week. I wish you all good health and happiness!!
jonsolosebastian.org 