The Happy Hour Choir (30 page)

1.
How would
The Happy Hour Choir
change if it were written from Luke's point of view? Ginger's? Or if it included multiple points of view?

2.
One of the themes of
The Happy Hour Choir
is family. At one point Beulah says, “Sometimes organizations underestimated the family we had created, somehow thinking it inferior to those defined by shared blood. In my experience, many of the strongest bonds came from those who
chose
to be together.” Do you think Beulah, Tiffany, and Ginger make a “real” family? Why or why not?

3.
Discuss the relationship between Ginger and Beulah. How does Beulah's relationship with Tiffany differ, and what are the parallels?

4.
Is there a scene that made you laugh? Cry? Shake your fist?

5.
Do you think Tiffany did the right thing by having the baby? Would you feel the same if Carl had been her actual father instead of her stepfather?

6.
Why do you think Luke is attracted to Beulah and vice versa? Do you think their differing beliefs on faith will be a problem for them?

7.
In
The Happy Hour Choir
we learn about abuse against female characters. Carl abuses both Tiffany and Beulah. Beulah was raped by Mr. Vandiver. How does that abuse color the story? How did it affect their characters?

8.
An actual vow of ordained Methodist ministers is that they are to be faithful in marriage and celibate while single. Do you believe this should be a vow? Why or why not? Do you think Luke will abide by it?

9.
What kind of parents do you think the Lands were? Do you think Beulah would've made the same choices if they had been different? Do you feel like Beulah should forgive her mother or try to mend their relationship?

10.
Another theme of
The Happy Hour
Choir is to explore why bad things happen to good people. At the end, Beulah sees a series of connections between the good and the bad events in her life. Do you think that God had a hand in all of those events? Did free will play a part? Is life simply a series of events, some good and some bad?

11.
Do you think
The Happy Hour Choir
will continue to sing together and finally go on to record their own music with the help of John the Baptist? Would you buy a CD of their work if they did?

12.
What parts of
The Happy Hour Choir
are distinctly Southern? Do you think that some of the events could take place in any small town? In a city?

 

 

Cornbread
Light bread or biscuits
Chicken and broth
Onion
Sage
Eggs
Salt
Celery

 

Make dressing thin.

 

 

Now, let me interpret that for you:

 

Cornbread (see page 310 for that recipe)

 

Light bread (about two slices of sandwich bread) and/or biscuits (about four from your own recipe made the night before or from the freezer where you've been collecting extras over the past few months. Thaw those first.)

 

Pepperidge Farm stuffing mix (about a third of a bag)

 

Chicken (traditionally a whole one, but we've used anything from chicken picked from the breast to boneless, skinless chicken. It depends on your preference. Mom prefers her dressing sans chicken. Oh, and cook the chicken first.)

 

Broth (At least two cans, plus a nice cream of chicken OR you can warm the broth with a stick of butter because . . . yes—but not too hot or else it scrambles the eggs.)

 

Onion (I skip this.)

 

Sage (I skip this, too, because there's more than enough sage in the Pepperidge Farm Mix.)

 

Eggs (anywhere from two to four)

 

Salt (and black pepper)

 

Celery (No. Just say no. Not in
my
dressing.)

 

Mix everything together in a bowl. Make dressing thin; the extra liquid will be absorbed. (Depends on how fast you want it to cook. The more liquid you add, the longer it's going to take. I prefer mine fluffier and thus don't make it as thin. Mom prefers hers sloppy and adds onions. These are the little things we squabble about on Thanksgiving Day.)

 

Other things you need to know that my Granny Patterson left out:

 

 

Vegetable oil (a TBSPish)
½ cup corn meal
¼ cup self-rising flour
½ cup buttermilk
1 egg

 

Put oil in a small cast-iron skillet and put the skillet in the oven while it preheats to 450 degrees. Mix all of the remaining ingredients and then pour into skillet once oil is hot. If the batter starts cooking as you pour it in, then you know you did it right. Bake for approximately 15 minutes or until brown—it will get brown on the bottom before it gets brown on the top. Dump bread on plate and serve. Smack the hands of those who pinch off the delectably crunchy crust around the circumference—unless, of course, it's your Daddy.

 

(When making cornbread for dressing, make it the night before.)