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Trees put on their Autumn best with vibrant displays of reds, golds and oranges. The succulent smells of roasting turkey, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie fill the crisp air.

Football insanity seizes most members of the male species and some of the female as well.

Oh glorious November! The time of family and insanity!

This month in Welcome Home magazine you will find answers for your most common Thanksgiving dilemmas! What started the football craze that occurs every year at Thanksgiving? Chewing you nails to the quick worrying about snagging that perfect deal on Black Friday? Terrified of making a mistake cooking the perfect Thanksgiving turkey for your guests? There is no need to get stressed out! So take a load off and enjoy having all the answers at the click of your mouse!

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Rob Johnson 580-584-2809 ¡

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Recipe and Design Slow Cooker Sweet Potatoes With Bacon

Faux-Leaf Garland

Ingredients: • 4 pounds slender sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch-thick slices • 1/2 cup frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed • 4 tablespoons butter, melted • 3 tablespoons light brown sugar • 2 teaspoons kosher salt • 2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary • 2 teaspoons cornstarch • 1 tablespoon cold water • 1/2 cup loosely packed fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, finely chopped • 1 tablespoon orange zest • 2 garlic cloves, minced • 3 cooked bacon slices, crumbled

Preparation: 1. Place sweet potatoes in a 5- to 6-qt. slow cooker. Stir together orange juice concentrate and next 4 ingredients in a small bowl. Pour over sweet potatoes, tossing to coat.

2. Cover and cook on LOW for 5 1/2 to 6 hours or until potatoes are tender.

3. Transfer potatoes to a serving dish, using a slotted spoon.

Increase slow cooker to HIGH. Whisk together cornstarch and 1 Tbsp. cold water until smooth. Whisk cornstarch mixture into cooking liquid in slow cooker. Cook, whisking constantly, 3 to 5 minutes or until sauce thickens. Spoon sauce over potatoes.

4. Stir together parsley, orange zest, and garlic. Sprinkle potatoes with parsley mixture and crumbled bacon.

Whitney Wright, Southern Living December 2014

• • • • • •

Faux Fall Leaves Ribbon Hot Glue Gun Glue Sticks Newspaper Scissors

Instructions: 1. Lay down the newspaper to protect your work surface. Plug in your glue gun and let it start heating, making sure that it is properly loaded with the glue sticks.

2. Prepare the faux leaves by removing them from their branches or vines. You might be able to purchase them lose, if so then you can skip this step.

3. Cut the ribbon to the desired length and lay it flat on the newspaper.

4. Being careful to leave enough ribbon for tying later, glue the faux leaves along the ribbon in your desired pattern.

5. Continue gluing until you have enough leaves to cover the ribbon. Try not to use so much glue that it runs over as this will cause the garland to stick to the newspaper.

6. Allow the glue to cool completely before attempting to hang your garland.

7. Hang your garland in the desired area and step back to admire your handy work. Good Job! :) Courtesy of Better Homes and gardens.com

The Advantages Of Staying Home On Black Friday Thanksgiving is a day when families come together and celebrate all that they are thankful for. It is, in most cases, a peaceful day. However, Thanksgiving is a reminder that Christmas is fast approaching and that it is time to buy Christmas presents for everyone on your list. Because of that, Black Friday, the Friday after Thanksgiving, has become the biggest shopping day of the year. Businesses open early, offer discounts that could never be seen any other day, and bring out huge crowds.

If you have ever shopped on Black Friday, you know that stores open early, as early as 5 am. You also know that you will get discounts that are not offered any other time of the year, as much as 50% off on the latest products. You also probably know about the headache that comes from the huge crowds, traffic, and all the other problems that come with Black Friday.

However, there is a way that you can enjoy all the benefits of the day, without all the problems. The solution is online Black Friday shopping. In most cases, you are able to get the same discounts that you can get in the stores. You are also able to wake up whenever you like, can avoid all the big crowds, and can guarantee you will be able to get the products you like.

Most major retailers, like Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Circuit City, etc., offer all of their Black Friday deals on their websites. You will typically be able to go on

at anytime during the day, and receive the exact same deal you would get in their store. If you were to go to the store, most deals are early bird deals, and end by 10 am. However, online, the deal will last all day.

One of the biggest advantages to staying home and shopping online on Black Friday is you avoid the crowds. Most of the stores have people line up the night before so they are the first people to be able to get into the store and get the items they want. If you do not want to camp out the night before, you are going to have to wait for a long time before you can enter the store.

The final advantage is you can guarantee that you will be able to get the product that you want. While stores try to stock up on their products, there is no guarantee that they will have the one you want when you get there. This is never a problem when you shop online though. If the product is new, the website will have it available to purchase.

Black Friday is the biggest shopping day of the year. Stores open early, offer huge discounts, and bring in large crowds. With online Black Friday shopping, you can shop at anytime throughout the day, receive the same discounts, avoid the crowds, and guarantee that you will get the product you want. Stay at home, shop online, and make your Black Friday experience a joyous one.

Written by Noah Ulrich. Courtesy of ezinearticles.com

Thanksgiving Football Fun and games are always an inevitable part of entertainment for the young and the old alike. People in America celebrate this festival of charitable giving through their avid participation in the game of football that brings in waves of sheer joy and pleasure in the hearts of multitudes of fanatic football fans who are driven mad by football mania during this festive season. Over the years, football has become synonymous with this joyous festival of Thanksgiving.

Many interesting traditions permeate deep into the festival of Thanksgiving such as the game of football compliments this festival of merrymaking. Professional football was the last of the contemporary trends of celebrating the spirit of Thanksgiving. In 1874, eleven years after Lincoln's proclamation, the first intercollegiate football game was played. Two year later the Intercollegiate Football Association was formed in the northeast, which instituted a championship game principally to amuse the people on Thanksgiving Day. Every year, strong competitors like Princeton and Yale would vie with each other to bag the most coveted winner's trophy. Players, students and fans would wear their school colors as a mark of representation with banners flying high from carriages, hotels and business establishments of New York City. On Thanksgiving Day church services would wind up early to accommodate the fans, with the game kicking off the season of festivity for the social elite in New York. It had gained such popularity that soon by mid-1890s, 1,20,000 athletes from colleges, clubs and high schools partook in 5,000 Thanksgiving Day football games across the nation.

The custom of watching a match of football on Thanksgiving Day has evolved during the early decades of twentieth century. As football paved its way into the heart of the people winning hearts of millions, giving it a huge popularity as early as 1920s and 1930s and earning itself the much prestigious position that it enjoys at present, many people began to visit the football stadium to watch the same. Renowned teams playing for the world famous football league of America eventually established the tradition of playing nationally televised games on Thanksgiving afternoon. Besides the conventional competition organized by the nationally recognized football league in America, many high schools and colleges also organize "Turkey Day" football games over Thanksgiving weekend, often between regional or historic rival. However, Thanksgiving football played in schools and colleges of America, has now more or less faded into oblivion in most sections of the country with it being kept alive only in two franchise cities of this globally recognized football league of America, namely Detroit and Dallas, where Thanksgiving football is very much a way of life.

Thanksgiving football more often than not is associated with the team of Lions and a tradition that has been popular since 1934 in the city of Detroit. The game has been the idea of G.A. Richards, the first owner of the team with ferocious lion like quality players comprising the team. In fact four generations of Detroiters have been a proud part of the American celebration of Thanksgiving. Some 71 years later, fans residing in the state of Michigan have transformed a local event into an annual holiday event, giving it the shape of single greatest tradition in the history of American professional team sports. In fact no other team in professional sports can claim to be so much a part of an American holiday as that team with ferocious lion like players' team with Thanksgiving. This team has hosted a game every Thanksgiving Day since 1934, with the exception of 1939-1944 due to World War II. The Dallas have also hosted football matches every Thanksgiving Day since 1966.

between the Lions and the invincible World Champion, meaning the robust Bears of Chicago proved to be an all time classic. The Lions were exceptionally good with eight wins backing them, leading them to their entry alongside the Bears with a 10-1 record. But Chicago had even a better record holding a commanding position with 11 straight wins. The match then reached an interesting phase where a win in the sole fateful game would ensure whether the Lions will get the first-place tie with the Bears. Two weeks in advance of that fateful match, 26,000 tickets were sold out for the "Turkey Day" clash in the University of Detroit Stadium.

Richards was not disheartened over the last two losses rather pretty content the way his team performed in its very first year. His faith and confidence in the team was well rewarded when Lions won the 1935 America's popular football league Championship. The final match was scheduled on Thanksgiving Day when the Lions defeated the Bears 14-2 to bag the west Championship trophy. Radio with its huge publicity potential was used as a bait to capture the audience. Richards along with the nationally recognized broadcasting radio company, set up a 94-station network to broadcast the Lions-Bears showdown. Since then the league conventionally schedules two nationally televised games on Thanksgiving, usually featuring the famous football players of Dallas, one of the most successful and popular franchises in the sport and the players of Detroit, one of the least successful.

Friends and family all over America usually prefer to huddle around their radio or TV sets to catch the live telecast of the match while munching on the special dishes prepared to commemorate Thanksgiving. Thus each Thanksgiving would actually revive the old, classic tradition of enjoying a match of football as a part of the celebration. Over decades, football and Thanksgiving has established a strong bond, leading to a high adrenaline rush.

We thus find that it all saw its genesis in 1934 when a local radio executive, G.A. Richards, had purchased the Portsmouth (Ohio) Spartans and moved the team to Detroit, the Motor City. The Lions being nouveau arrive in town had taken a backseat to the Baseball Tigers in the sport pages. Richards had practical reasons for scheduling the game on Thanksgiving Day as he was also wise enough to figure out that the best way to give publicity to the team would be opting for the Thanksgiving Day contest for attracting the Motor City fans during the teams' first season. The fierce clash Written by Sean Carter, article courtesy of ezinearticles.com.

In The Kitchen Instructions:

Sweet Thanksgiving Turkey Legs Ingredients:

Large pretzel rods 1 bag mini marshmallows 3 Tbsp butter, plus more for hands 8 cups rice krispies cereal 4-6 cups bran cereal (I used Raisin Bran and picked out the raisins) • 1 bag white candy melts • Milk chocolate bar or Peanut butter • waxed paper • • • • •

1. Lay out some waxed paper on your work surface.

Decide how many turkey legs you want to make, you can either use the whole pretzel rod for jumbo turkey legs or break them in half to create more manageable portions of non-meat meat. You’ll want to open the bag of marshmallows, grab two marshmallows for each pretzel rod.

2. Melt the white candy melts in a narrow, deep container according to the package directions.

Using the candy melts, adhere two marshmallows at the end of each pretzel rod like in the photo above. Lay on the waxed paper and let dry.

3. Then dip the end with the marshmallows into the candy melts about halfway down the rod. Turn the pretzel rod right side up and tap the on the table to help the candy melts even out and drip down along the rod like in the photo above. Lay on the waxed paper and let dry. Don’t worry about covering the whole rod. The other half of it will be covered with rice krispy treats.

4. In a large microwave safe bowl, combine butter and marshmallows. Microwave for 1 minute. Stir. Add rice krispies cereal, mix gently with a spoon coated in butter or cooking spray and let cool slightly.

5. Coat your hands using butter or cooking spray. I usually use gloves– they come in super handy at times like this. Using your hands, form the “meat” on each coated pretzel rod. You’ll have to work kind of quickly, pressing firmly as you’re shaping.

Place them on the waxed paper and let set, about 20 minutes.

6. While you’re waiting, take the remainder of your white candy melts, reheat and add a bit of milk chocolate or peanut butter (small amounts at a time) to it to darken the color as closest as you can to the color of the bran cereal. This is what we will use to adhere the bran flakes. I covered my turkey legs with whole flakes– warning, it takes forever if you do it this way, but looks super good. I recommend you crush up the bran flakes and maybe use the whole flakes to patch up some bald spots. This takes less time and makes it enjoyable longer, lol.

7. Spread candy melts onto the rice krispy treat-part of the turkey legs and roll around in the crushed up bran flakes. Fix bald spots by dotting candy melts on the spot and covering it with pieces of bran flakes. Let set on waxed paper.

Courtesy of goodsbykcreative.com

Health & Wellness

Potatoes What's in a potato? Abundance. It is second only to rice in quantity consumed. Nutritionally speaking it has: 1. High water content and thus low-calories. A plainboiled potato has only 78 calories – about the same as a third of a bowl of rice, or one and a half slices of bread. However more calories are added when you deep-fry them.

2. Vitamin C. an astoundingly rich source of Vitamin C, potatoes are suitable option when fresh fruits are not available. On the other hand, the Vitamin C content varies with length of storage time and process of cooking. Never store at home for too long as nutrients are at their maximum when fresh. Avoid peeling the skin as it contains many vitamins and minerals that are very good for you.

3. Other significant vitamins and minerals, the potato obtains wonderful amounts of the vitamins, iron, calcium and magnesium. Once more, much of the nutrients lie in or near the skin, so the best way of preserving these nutrients is to leave the potato unpeeled when cooking.

4. Lots of protein. The protein content in potatoes is similar to that of rice, wheat and other cereals and in fact, the quality is somewhat superior.

5. Food for the pregnant. Potatoes are frequently assured to be fattening and condemned as inappropriate for pregnant women trying not to increase weight. This is not true. Potatoes are only fattening when butter, cream or oil is added. In fact, since pregnant women must have as varied a diet as possible to guarantee a balance of nutrients, it makes good sense to eat potatoes at some meals.

When purchasing potatoes choose smooth-skinned which are dry and rot-tree avoid green coloring as the green skin of some varieties may obtain solanine, a poisonous stuff which causes skin rash. Potatoes must be stored in a dry, well-ventilated place. Do not keep in the refrigerator. Cooked potatoes can be stored for up to three days however they do not freeze well.

Written by Zimmerman Cain Courtesy of sooperarticles.com

How To Cook A Turkey Without Poisoning Your Guests!

Why temperature is so important NB. F = Degrees Fahrenheit and C = Degrees Centigrade Temperature is critical in determining how long to cook a turkey, for the simple fact that the bird must have reached a uniform temperature of at least 165 F throughout in order to destroy harmful bacteria. You do not want to give your guests food poisoning!

The turkey is a weird shaped food source! Large body covered with thick flesh around the breast area, large legs made up of dense muscle and a large internal cavity. Because of this, it is not so easy as cooking a single joint of meet for example. The breast meat tends to cook much faster that the dense muscular leg meat, so there is a risk of over-cooking the breast meat whilst waiting for the leg meat to cook thoroughly.

Deciding how long to cook a turkey is not an easy question to answer as there are so many variable factors to consider.

The type of oven Convection ovens are more efficient than conventional ovens because an internal fan circulates hot air all around the food. Turkey cooked in a convection oven should be more evenly cooked with maybe a 50% saving in time.

Rotisserie ovens are also more efficient than conventional ovens because the food is continually turned allowing heat to penetrate evenly.

Size and weight of the turkey No surprises here, but the larger and heavier the turkey, the longer the time period for cooking! If the turkey is so large that it only just fits into the oven, seriously consider using a bigger oven or buying a smaller turkey. The reason for this is that to cook the turkey thoroughly, there must be a good air space all around the turkey to enable hot air to circulate.

If this is not the case then it will be difficult to gauge cooking times and ensure even cooking throughout.

Fresh or frozen turkey?

Many people prefer to cook a fresh turkey as the taste is said to be superior to frozen. Fresh turkey should be purchased 1 to 2 days prior to cooking and stored in a refrigerator. When ready to cook take out of the refrigerator and allow to come up towards room temperature.

Frozen turkey is more convenient for many people however and provided the correct thawing out procedure is followed, should be safe and tasty. Care must taken to follow the suppliers thawing out instructions correctly, including that applying to stuffing. A general guide to thawing frozen turkey stored in a refrigerator is to allow 24 hours for every 4-5 pounds weight (e.g. a 14 pounds turkey would take 3 to 4 days to thaw out).

Deciding how long to cook your turkey Professional chefs cook their turkey at an oven temperature range 325 F to 350 F (170 C to 180 C). As a guide, if you are cooking a 12 pounds weight fresh or thawed frozen turkey without stuffing using a conventional oven operating at a temperature of 325 F, the likely cooking time would be 3 Hours. When stuffing is placed within the turkey it will take a little longer to cook through so the cooking time must be increased. Refer to a good turkey cook book for full instructions.

Testing temperature when cooking your turkey The old school method for testing when your turkey is cooked is to use a clean metal skewer. When the approximate cooking time is up, you take the turkey out of the oven and carefully pierce the thickest part of the leg with the skewer. Remove the skewer and press against the leg to see if the juices run out clear without any trace of pink - if the juices are clear then the turkey should be cooked.

There are more accurate methods available using modern technology, more suited to the amateur or newbie chef:

Use a temperature probe food thermometer designed to be inserted directly into the turkey during the cooking process, as directed by manufacturers instructions. This continuously monitors the internal cooking temperature so you can be certain that the correct minimum temperature is achieved.

Use a thermometer (designed for the • specific purpose) to register the internal temperature of your oven so as to check the accuracy of your ovens temperature controls.

When the turkey has cooked and has been • removed from the oven, use an "instant read" probe food thermometer to check the internal temperature of various parts of the turkey e.g. legs, inner thigh, breast, internal cavity stuffing. The turkey should be allowed to rest for approximately 30 minutes after cooking and the internal temperature must be at least 165 F to ensure that the meat is cooked sufficiently well and safe to eat.

•

Turkey cooking tips Some professional chefs suggest pre • heating your oven to a much hotter initial temperature of 425 F ( 220 C ). Place your turkey in the oven and leave for approximately 15 minutes. Then reduce the temperature down to the correct range selected e.g. 325 F for the remaining time.

The idea here is to give the turkey a good blast of heat which penetrates right into the meat and any stuffing.

Consider cooking stuffing outside the • turkey in a casserole.

To protect the turkey breast from over• cooking and drying out, consider placing stuffing under the breast skin. You should carefully peel back the skin and work your fingers and then your hand under the skin to free it from the meat. Spoon the stuffing into the cavity and then replace the skin and secure down to avoid anything leaking out.

Enjoy your turkey dinner celebration!

Written by Jan Stuart. Courtesy of ezinearticles.com

Traveling At Thanksgiving Having A Plan Makes All The Difference

You only have to be at any transport hub at Thanksgiving to know that it is one of the most popular times to travel. Use these tips to help put a successful Thanksgiving travel plan in place.

Step 1: Make sure that your house is ready. As long as you're away from home during Thanksgiving, be sure that your home is suitably cared for. Have trusted friends stop by and check on the house every few days. Arrange for pets to be looked after too. If possible, put your lights on automatic timers so they go on and off automatically. To give the illusion that someone is home you might want to have a friend or neighbor pull their car into your driveway. Switch off anything electrical too.

Step 2: Get your luggage ready. Have everything that you'll need with you to ensure you enjoy. Pack adequate clothing, but don't overdo it; consider the climate for the destination of your Thanksgiving trip. Don't forget any photos that you have been wanting to share with people all year!

Step 3: If you're driving, get directions or get a GPS! And remember to take the phone numbers of important people so that you can get in touch with them in case something happens.

Bring something to pass the time for yourself (or the kids).

Thanksgiving travel can be tedious, especially for kids. Have lots to do - get a load of books, hand-held computer games and or iPod in the bring-on bag. Kids can sleep during the trip if you do your traveling at night. This way you will have a more peaceful drive to your Thanksgiving destination.

Step 4: Allow some additional time to travel. You can't really know what the traffic will be like, so leave a little earlier. You don't want to miss out on turkey!

Step 5: Stay calm. Your nerves will likely be on edge due to the larger numbers of people in traffic or airports at Thanksgiving. Everyone is just trying to get to their families, the same as you. Have some patience and remind yourself that you will get there in the end. This is not going to happen over night, it may take some time for you to reach your goals, but you will get there. Taking things to nibble on and play with will help pass the time. You will be with your family for Thanksgiving before you realize it!

Written by Tiffany Provost, Courtesy of ezinearticles.com.

Products To Love In November It's easy to entertain in style with this Holiday Turkey Feast. This meal delivery has everything from Diestel turkey raised under strict standards to mouthwatering blueberry peach crisp. In this gourmet gift there's even slow-cooked gravy made with that "roasting pan" flavor and cranberry relish orange zest made in small batches. This year, consider getting dinner delivered. Our prepared Thanksgiving dinner is shipped with dry ice to ensure that it arrives in perfect condition, ready to heat and serve. Contains Readyto-cook turkey, Apple raisin stuffing, Parmesan creamed spinach, Amaretto sweet potatoes, Blueberry peach crisp, Classic turkey gravy, Cranberry relish with orange zest. Please click here for more information.

KNLSTORE 6 FT AIRBLOWN TURKEY!!!

What a turkey! Our inflatable Thanksgiving decoration is over 6' high. All dressed up for Thanksgiving, our dapper inflatable turkey is hoping to be a guest at the table and not the main course! The Inflatable Turkey Fall Decor is made of sturdy weather-resistant with a built-in fan. Just plug Tom into a standard outlet and he inflates in seconds to add seasonal fun to your yard. Lighted from within, the Inflatable Turkey includes stakes and tethers to keep him from flying away.

Please click here for more information.

Don’t feel left out of the roar of the crowd!

Football is the most popular sport in America today.

It's also the most complicated, especially to those who watch their loved ones hibernate in football heaven from September to February. Here's the book that levels the playing field for novices, giving them a simple, clear, and comprehensive guide worthy of a Lombardi Trophy. Please click here for more information.

DIY Project - November You’ll Need: • • • • • •

Glass Vase Pillar Candle Indian Corn Jute Twine Floral Clay Sand or Rock Salt

Directions: 1. To start, fill a simple cylinder vase with sand, gravel or even solar salt—remember the arrangement from the flower workshop?— then place a pillar candle so it sits up higher than usual. I used a vase from Michael's that's 7" in diameter by 18" tall, together with 4" of salt. The handmade candle is a modern three-wick version that's 6" x 6".

2. Tie each ear of corn with twine to hold in the husks, apply floral clay to the jute, then adhere the ears to the glass.

Don't worry if they fall off at first; it's just a simple way of adhering the ears before tying them more securely. For my vase, I used 15 ears approximately 8" in length, alternating colors as I went. Just make sure you tie them evenly around, so the twine lines up nicely!

3. Next, trim the husks on a diagonal, so they feel more even but still natural.

4. Tie twine all the way around, knot it tight, then wrap around about 12 times in all.

INDIAN CORN CENTERPIECE

5. Check out the final result!

Indian corn may have been done before, but to me, this feels much more modern.

Courtesy of eddieross.com

Get To Know Your Turkey

All turkeys are not created equal. Knowing the type of turkey you want before going out to purchase it will make the trip easier and a lot less time consuming. When it comes to purchasing a turkey, there are many choices that one can make. Do you want fresh or frozen? Should you buy a Kosher or an Organic Turkey?

There is no right or wrong answer in the type of turkey to buy. I'm going to give you some clear information on the types of turkeys available so you can purchase what you really want.

Frozen Turkeys These are probably the most common turkeys you will find. In order for a turkey to be labeled a "frozen" turkey it must be cooled to 0째F or below. When these turkeys are commercially processed, they are usually flash frozen to this level. Freezing the turkeys this way will help keep its freshness.

Fresh Turkeys A turkey will begin to freeze at 26째F. In order for a turkey to be considered fresh it can never go below this level.

Fresh turkeys need to be prepared within a couple of days, or by the "use by" date on the label. Due to this, fresh turkeys will be more expensive than your frozen turkeys.

Hard Chilled Turkeys Hard chilled turkeys cannot be label fresh or frozen because they fall in between 0째F and 26째F. You'll want to handle turkeys of this nature as if they are fresh.

Organic Turkeys In order for a turkey to be considered organic, it must be free of any growth hormones, pesticides, and antibiotics.

It can only be fed organic feed as well. It should be noted that the use of hormones in any poultry is prohibited.

You can find organic turkeys both fresh and frozen.

Heritage Turkeys Heritage turkeys are breeds of turkeys raised on small farms, in comparison to the mass produced turkeys at large commercial facilities. Heritage turkeys have a long life span and a slow growth rate. These turkeys are free range and also mate naturally. They are a leaner turkey, with a smaller breast than commercial turkeys. Heritage turkeys are far more expensive than your commercially available turkeys, but may be worth the price since the meat is much more flavorful and juicy than commercial birds. Heritage turkeys can be purchased directly from these small farms or from various online sources.

Kosher Turkeys Kosher turkeys are free-range, grain fed, and never given antibiotics. These turkeys are processed in a salt brine, which imparts a juicy, distinct flavor to the meat. In order for these turkeys to be considered kosher, they must be raised and processed under strict rabbinical supervision.

Free-Range Turkeys Free-Range turkeys are allowed to roam outdoors at least part of the time. Some growers may allow them to be outdoors longer than others, but both can be labeled as free-range. Turkeys that are allowed to roam outdoors are said to have better flavor than those that are not. If at all possible you'll want to check into the practices of the turkey grower to see if it is worth the increased cost associated with labeling a turkey as free-range.

Natural Turkeys The term "natural" has nothing to do with how the turkey was raised. They may be raised free-range or not.

Natural turkeys contain no added colors or artificial ingredients and are minimally processed. Natural turkeys will be untreated with any solutions.

Save some time, know what type of turkey you're looking for before going out to buy it. Now that you've done your homework and know generally what you want, the obvious next step is going out and buying a turkey.

Written by Tom Genung. Courtesy of ezinearticles.com

Thanksgiving Dinner! The centerpiece of contemporary Thanksgiving in the United States and Canada is a large meal, generally centered on a large roasted turkey. The majority of the dishes in the traditional American version of Thanksgiving dinner are made from foods native to the New World, as according to tradition the Pilgrims received these foods from the Native Americans.

According to what traditionally is known as "The First Thanksgiving," the 1621 feast between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag at Plymouth Colony contained turkey, waterfowl, venison, fish, lobster, clams, berries, fruit, pumpkin, and squash. William Bradford noted that, "besides waterfowl, there was great store of wild turkeys, of which they took many." Many of the foods that were included in the first feast (except, notably, the seafood) have since gone on to become staples of the modern Thanksgiving dinner.

The use of the turkey in the USA for Thanksgiving precedes Lincoln's nationalization of the holiday in 1863.

Alexander Hamilton proclaimed that no "Citizen of the United States should refrain from turkey on Thanksgiving Day," and many of the Founding Fathers (particularly Benjamin Franklin) had high regard for the wild turkey as an American icon, but turkey was uncommon as Thanksgiving fare until after 1800. By 1857, turkey had become part of the traditional dinner in New England.

Turkey being the most common main dish of a Thanksgiving dinner, Thanksgiving is sometimes colloquially called "Turkey Day." In 2006, American turkey growers were expected to raise 270 million turkeys, to be processed into five billion pounds of turkey meat valued at almost $8 billion, with one third of all turkey consumption occurring in the Thanksgiving-Christmas season, and a per capita consumption of almost 18 pounds. Most Thanksgiving turkeys are stuffed with a bread-based mixture and roasted. Deep-fried turkey is rising in popularity due to its shorter preparation time, but carries safety risks.

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