HOME |
RSS | 
Zoos love to give their animals holiday treats, but for the most part, it’s just little more than a pumpkin. But this lemur feast at the San Francisco Zoo goes beyond the norm, providing the little guys with silver plates, candles, lovely centerpieces and a tasty meal.
Link Via Laughing Squid
Comments Off
They might not be big fans of turkey, but tortoises love pumpkins, which is a great way for them to celebrate Thanksgiving dinner. Of course, they are super cute while munching down on the holiday treats.
Zappos certainly got in the spirit of the Thanksgiving holiday on Wednesday evening, they went ahead and paid all of the tolls for drivers heading through one section of the turnpike between 5-7 PM. While it was only a $1.50 savings per person, but certainly a great way to cheer people up as they headed home for the holiday weekend.
Link Via Consumerist
Image via Dan4th [Flickr]
Comments Off 
Sure Thanksgiving is over, but while watching your family members stuff their faces might not be all that entertaining, seeing a hamster munch down a pint-sized dinner is certainly enjoyable.
The resident felines at the Big Cat Rescue in Tampa, Florida may not know what Thanksgiving is, but they sure know how to celebrate! Watch as these big ole kittehs chomp down on some turkeys and chickens, loving every minute of it and proudly strutting their poultry prize around for all to see.
–via Break
It was supposed to be a fun family holiday, but things got tense yesterday. Really, Luke and Leia just can’t seem to let go of the past when Vader is trying to hard to rebuild relationships. Photographer Stephen Hayford was on the scene for a portrait, but ended up taking a more revealing shot of family drama.
Link -via That’s Nerdalicious! | Photographer’s Website
Miss C just posted about the Turdunkin, a turkey stuffed with donuts and brined in Dunkin’ Donuts Coolatas, but if that’s not enough to treat your turkey sweet tooth, then you might consider the Twinkie turkey:
I spent last Sunday in my kitchen, cutting Twinkies in half, scooping out the crème filling, and cubing and toasting the, uh, “shortcake.” I mixed those cubes with crumbled corn muffins and a chopped apple, stuffed it all into a turkey, and roasted at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
When the turkey was almost done, I mixed the reserved Twinkie crème with a quarter cup of honey, and used it to glaze the hot bird before popping it back in the oven for another 12 minutes. Suddenly, the smell coming out of the oven changed.
As for the taste?
I lifted a forkful of stuffing to my lips. Oh, dear God: cake doused with poultry grease. I quickly took a bite of turkey to try to erase the taste. Turkey, not too dry, normal flavor. And vanilla—sweet, sweet vanilla—mixing with the taste of roasted bird, the vilest thing I’ve eaten in a long time.
Would you guys rather have the Turdunkin or the Twinkie turkey?
Neatorama presents a guest post from actor, comedian, and voiceover artist Eddie Deezen. Visit Eddie at his website.
How straight-laced were the Pilgrims? They tried to be, but you know how it goes. A shoe gets unbuckled, a bonnet becomes unlaced, and suddenly your hormones go into overdrive. The next thing you know, your horn of plenty hath spilled forth with wicked abundance.
Pretty much everything we “know” about the Pilgrims is untrue. Our modern-day image of the stern, clean-living, God-fearing residents of Plymouth Colony is largely mythical. It’s an illusion that took shape in the nineteenth century, as some overzealous American attempted to construct an official, more respectable history of our growing nation.
Historians cannot even determine exactly how many of the approximately 100 passengers on the Mayflower were Puritans and how many were just leaving to find better lives away from the gripping poverty that plagued England at the time. It is generally believed there were more of the latter than the former.
First off, they never referred to themselves or thought of themselves as “the Pilgrims.” The term “pilgrim” was reserved for Muslims making the pilgrimage to Mecca. The Pilgrims referred to themselves as “the Saints” or “the Separatists.”
They also referred to themselves as “Old Planters” or “Old Comers.” Draw your own conclusions from that. The name “the Pilgrims,” as we call them today, caught on around the time of the American Revolution.
Yes, they were notorious beer drinkers. They weren’t even headed for Massachusetts; they aimed for Georgia or a place further south, because of the milder weather. One of the reasons they ended up in Massachusetts in the first place was the lack of beer. According to one of the diaries of a Mayflower passenger, “We could not take time for further search …our victuals being much spent, especially our beer.”
One of the first structures built when they landed was a common brewery for the colonists. Many of the Pilgrims were brewers, this being done primarily in the home at the time.
While we don’t have the details about their private lives, we do know that by 1636, the colonists had a published set of rules that listed capital offenses. Among them were sodomy, rape, buggery, and some cases of adultery. So they were certainly concerned with sex, if not necessarily always having it.
However, court records from the colony indicate that sex-related crimes were common transgressions. Fornication, which was defined as sex outside of marriage, was a frequently committed crime, one that often resulted in a fine. Sometimes the evidence of a conviction was solely of the birth of a child in the early months of a marriage.
The only recorded execution for a sex crime occurred in 1642, when 17-year-old Thomas Granger was convicted of buggery. The young man had engaged in unfortunate, intimate relations with some local sheep, and he paid the ultimate price for it.
Less severe penalties (relatively speaking), often consisted of whippings. And like Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter, adulterers were sometimes required to wear the capital letters “AD” on their clothing.
No, the Pilgrims weren’t exactly saints. But they definitely took their sins seriously!
The secret to my wife's most wonderful and tasty turkey (stuffed with unpaid bills and expired medication) is finally outed, thanks to this clever bit of art by Lisa Hanawalt as published in the New York Times Sunday Review: Link - via The Fox is Black
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
Tomorrow, we scale the Western Stuffing Slope and conquer the Sweet Potato Peak!
Just in time for Turkey Day, Grant Snider of Incidental Comics gives us this handy Map of Thanksgiving Dinner. View the larger size here: Link - via Laughing Squid
Comments Off 
Yep, that just about says it all. Don’t forget the whipped topping! From Jeff Wysaski at Pleated Jeans. Link -via Buzzfeed
Biola University professor Matthew Weathers does it again! He p[resented entertaining lectures for Halloween and April Fool’s Day that we’ve seen, and now Thanksgiving gets the treatment. -via reddit
Comments Off
How
many turkeys are there in the United States? No, not that big frozen blob
of white meat masquerading as real bird you'd find at the grocery store.
I mean real turkeys.
Not many, it turns out. A survey in 1997 showed that there were only 1,300 turkeys - in the entire country - not bred for the food/avian industrial complex we know as Thanksgiving.
But thankfully, turkey (again, the real variety) is making a comeback. Claire Thompson wrote an interesting article over at Grist:
... if you’re not old enough to remember a time before the Broad Breasted White, you may be surprised that the ALBC’s website calls turkeys “the quintessential American bird.” Indeed, Benjamin Franklin wanted to designate the turkey—indigenous to North and South America—as our national symbol instead of the eagle. And for hundreds of years “turkeys were barnyard staples” in the U.S., says Vaughn. “They’re an easy, abundant source of meat, resilient and self-reliant. It was a no-brainer to have [them] around.”
Fast forward to today, when “they have literally bred all of the turkey out of the turkey,” says Will Harris, owner of White Oak Pastures, the largest USDA-certified organic farm in the state of Georgia. Harris raises American Standard Bronze turkeys, one of eight varieties identified by the ALBC as heritage breed turkeys—or birds descended from a continuous gene pool dating back to before the rise of the Broad Breasted White. Heritage birds can still mate naturally, and have a long outdoor lifespan and slow growth rate. Industrial turkeys, on the other hand, said Harris, “are satisfied to sit in one place and eat and defecate.”
Link - via GOOD Finder
No matter how busy we are with family on Thanksgiving, we always find a way to watch a little TV around the holiday, and that includes Thanksgiving stories on our favorite series. Today’s Lunchtime Quiz at mental_floss will test your nostalgia for those shows. You’ll be given a Thanksgiving plot, and you guess what show its from. It’s not that hard; I scored 9/11 (82%) even though I hadn’t seen even half these shows. Link
Sure anyone can eat their Thanksgiving meal, but it takes a truly creative mind to ignore the temptations of such delicious treats and instead turn their food into a work of art. Here are a few creators that know just how truly tasty a great work of art can be.
While there are tons of artists who work with food out there, Jason Mecier is the only one I could find that actually created a portrait using aspects of a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Using turkey, sweet potatoes, corn, mushrooms, onions, green beans, cranberries and more, Mecier was able to construct a portrait of Sarah Hale, the woman largely considered responsible for the creation of a national Thanksgiving holiday. Personally, I couldn’t think of a more appropriate subject for a Thanksgiving meal artwork.
It might not be as artistic as some of the other creations on this list, but the Meta Turkey was the winner for Best Conceptual Turkey in the 2008 Turkey-shaped Jell-O Mold Competition. So what makes a turkey mold become a Meta Turkey? It must contain aspects of all parts of a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, including turkey, cranberry sauce, gravy, stuffing and mashed potatoes.
This entrant into the 2008 Turkey-shaped Jell-O Mold Competition might just be the only artwork on this list that you would actually want to serve at your own Thanksgiving meal. That’s because aside from its strange turkey shape, the sweet potato pineapple casserole adorned with marshmallows and pecans looks simply delicious. Of course, I would recommend toasting the marshmallows before serving, but that’s just me.
Family Shmamily … I’m Here For The Turkey T-shirt – $9.95
Can we talk turkey? Is there a little holiday secret you need to get off your chest? You need the Family Shmamily … I’m Here For The Turkey T-shirt from the NeatoShop. This design is also available on sweatshirts and hoodies in case your family doesn’t think you are funny and makes you eat outside.
Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more Thanksgiving tomfoolery and Chris Murphy designs!
Comments Off 
#1 Chef Oven Mitt- $9.95
Thanksgiving is almost here. Are you looking for a way to inspire greatness from your home chef? You need the #1 Chef Oven Mitt from the NeatoShop. Nothing says I believe you can cook a giant turkey like a neoprene oven mitt shaped like a foam finger. Go Chef!
Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more fun Kitchen Stuff.
Comments Off 
Store-M’s Matryoshka Nesting Storage Boxes - $24.95
Are you looking for a fun way to pack your favorite after Thanksgiving snack? You need the Store-M’s Matryoshka Nesting Storage Boxes from the NeatoShop. This great set of 3 storage boxes will help keep your food air-tight and fresh.
Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more fun Kitchen Stuff.
Comments Off 
Inflatable Turkey – $11.95
Let’s talk turkey. Are you tired of always having to call the turkey hotline for help with your Thanksgiving bird. Forget cooking and get yourself the Inflatable Turkey from the NeatoShop. The Inflatable Turkey pairs perfectly with Chinese takeout.
Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more great Inflatables and Thanksgiving foolishness.
Comments Off 
Jen Yates, of the blog Cake Wrecks, published the book Cake Wrecks: When Professional Cakes Go Hilariously Wrong in 2009. The response was so great, she and her husband John went to work on a new book. That book, Wreck the Halls is available now. In it, you’ll find hundred of holiday cakes, 232 pages of them, that are doubly sweet: you get to laugh at them, and someone got to eat them. Here’s a sampling for you.
The book begins with just a couple of Halloween cakes, and quickly moves on to Thanksgiving. There’s an entire section of turkey cakes, both the feathered kind and the cooked kind, all looking like something besides turkeys. And some are mashed up with other Thanksgiving traditions.
But I was particularly drawn to this cornucopia.
Maybe because it reminded me of this guy:
more …
Comments Off 
Thanksgiving Gumballs – $2.95
Thanksgiving Gumballs are back in stock at the NeatoShop. This fantastic seasonal item includes 22 delicious gumballs in the classic flavors of Thanksgiving:
Get your yummy Thanksgiving Gumballs before they run out.
Be sure to check out the Neatoshop for more Thanksgiving fun and fantastic hostess gifts.
Comments Off 
By this time you’ve likely had your fill of Thanksgiving food and the leftovers are on the way from your fridge to the garbage bin but they needn’t go to waste (or to your waist). According to Stacy Cox, who runs the Pampered People spa in Los Angeles they can be applied to your face, hair and body as beauty treatments. A pumpkin face mask, high in Vitamins A, C and zinc, soothes, moisturizes and exfoliates. A paste made of cranberries will add shine to your hair while mashed potatoes can be mixed with sea salt to make a body scrub. Frozen bits of Jell-O mold can be applied to the eye area to reduce puffiness. Unfortunately Cox hasn’t come up with a spa treatment that incorporates the festive fowl; you’ll have to solve that dilemma yourself.
On behalf of everyone here at Neatorama, I extend our sincerest wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving! May your holiday be filled with family, friends, food, football, and fun. We owe a great big thanks to all of YOU for making this past year a success for this site! Posting may be pretty light the rest of the day. For those in other countries, once you’ve had your fill of what’s here, may I suggest you check out the extensive links at the NeatoHub.
There aren’t many Thanksgiving songs, but some folks don’t consider it a holiday until they listen to Arlo Guthrie’s epic 1967 song “Alice’s Restaurant” (or watch the movie). The song follows the events of Thanksgiving 1965, when Guthrie did a favor for Alice and her husband Ray and hauled off their trash, which led to a criminal investigation and a strange experience later with the draft board. Metafilter has the epic internet version, with all the lyrics to the 18-minute song peppered with relevant links throughout. It could take all weekend to explore the post properly, but if you’re not going to wait in line for Black Friday sales, you might be looking for something to do. You’ll meet the real-life people and see the places referenced in the song, learn a bit about the Vietnam War, and see clips from the 1969 movie that the song inspired. Link
In this version of the Thanksgiving story, Mario fled a famine to try raising power-ups in the New World. He had a hard time until he and his people made friends with the natives, which, of course, eventually leads to a feast. Link -Thanks, Scott!
Comments Off 
The editors of Slate asked their readers how Thanksgiving cooking traditions get passed from one generation to the next. They collected stories and posted them. It seems that in many families, the one who cooks every year has a hard time giving that position up to anyone else. Some even refuse help from those who should be learning how to do it.
My mom doesn’t accept much help in the kitchen, holidays or Mondays—not because she doesn’t trust others to get it right, but because she just doesn’t know how to slow down. Never did. And accept help? She’s as likely to do that as she is to ask for it; i.e., not at all. She reminds me of the Black Knight in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, who systematically gets his appendages hacked off in battle but still won’t call it a day. Make no mistake, having grown up as one of five girls in an inner-city, working-class home, I’m no stranger to hard work. But there was never a time when we did more work than she did. Ever. Even at 83, I’m not sure it’s even possible to outwork my mom. As she’s aged, all we can manage is guerrilla warfare.
My mother and grandmother helped me learn the family recipes as soon as I was old enough to be interested, and I’ve been hosting the family feast for quite a few years now. Now if I could only get my children interested… How about your family? Link
Oh no! The family will be here anytime and you forgot to cook the turkey! What to do? I don’t think the Butterball hotline has the solution you’re looking for. What heats up faster than a microwave? Thermite! No, we don’t advocate trying this, but you can watch the magic of thermite cook a turkey in under thirty seconds in this video. And yes, they eat it. Link
The following is an article from The Best of the Best of Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader.
If you think the radio talk shows get a lot of strange calls, take a look at some of the questions that the folks at the Butterball Turkey Talk-line have fielded over the years.
DIAL “T” FOR TURKEY
If you bought a Butterball turkey in the 1970s, it would have included a sheet of cooking instructions, just like they still do today. But people still called the company to complain when their birds didn’t come out right, which made Butterball wonder if people even bothered to read and follow the instructions. Disappointing dinners make for poor repeat business, so in 1981 Butterball started printing a toll-free number on the packaging and inviting customers to call in with any cooking questions they might have.
In those days 800 numbers were fairly rare, and the idea of calling one to get free cooking advice was a novelty. The company wasn’t sure that callers would get the concept or even understand that the long-distance number was free. But they hired six home economists, set them up with phones in the company’s test kitchen, and waited to see if the phone would ring. They were flabbergasted when more than 11,000 people jammed the line during the holiday season, especially on Thanksgiving, when the company figured hardly anyone would bother to call. An American institution was born.
CLUELESS ON LINE 4
Today Butterball has an automated phone system and a website to handle the most frequently asked questions. Still, more than 100,000 people call in each year to talk to the 50 turkey experts who staff the phones from November 1 through December 25. The advent of cordless and cell phones has put the Talk-line in even greater demand: People now call right from the dinner table to have someone talk them through the carving of the bird!
What’s your favorite way to cook a turkey? Over the years, Butterball has tried to come up with cooking tips for every weird turkey fad that has come down the pike. In the early 1980s, they perfected a technique for cooking turkey in the microwave- which, believe it or not, was the third-most popular question in those days. (By 1987, it had dropped all the way down to #20.) Do you cook your turkey in a big brown paper bag? In a deep fryer? In a pillowcase smeared with butter? On a countertop rotisserie? The Butterball people won’t always approve, but they will try to help.
DO TURKEYS HAVE BELLY BUTTONS?
Butterball has fielded some pretty bizarre questions over the past 25 years. Here are some favorites, along with the answers.
* Should I remove the plastic wrap before I cook my turkey? Yes.
* I don’t want to touch the giblets. Can I fish them out with a coat hanger? Yes.
* Can I poke holes all over the turkey and pour a can of beer over it to keep it moist? You’ll do more harm than good- the skin keeps the moisture in. Poking holes in it will dry it out.
* Can you thaw a frozen turkey using an electric hair dryer? Or by wrapping it in an electric blanket? In the aquarium with my tropical fish? In the tub while the kids are having their bath? No, no, no, and no. If you’re in a hurry, thaw the turkey in the kitchen sink by immersing it in cold water. Allow half an hour per pound, and change the water every half hour.
* How can I thaw 12 turkeys all at once? The caller was cooking for a firehouse, so Butterball advised them to put them all in a clean trash can and hose them down with a firehose.
* The family dog bit off a big piece of the turkey. Can the rest of it be saved? Maybe. If the damage is localized, cut away the dog-eaten part of the bird and serve the rest. Disguise the maimed bird with garnishes, or carve it up out of view of your guests and serve the slices. The less your guests know, the better.
* The family dog is inside the turkey and can’t get out. A few years back, Butterball really did get a call from the owner of a chihuahua that climbed inside the raw bird while the owner’s back was turned. The opening was big enough for the dog to get in, but not big enough for it to get back out. The turkey expert instructed the owner on how to enlarge the opening without injuring the dog. (No word on whether the bird was eaten.) Butterball has also fielded calls from owners of gerbils and housecats. “I was told not to talk about that,” one Talk-line staffer told a reporter in 1997.
* I need to drive two hours with my frozen turkey before I cook it. Will it stay frozen if I tie it to the luggage rack on the roof of my car? The caller was from Minnesota, so the answer was yes. If you live in Florida, Arizona, or Hawaii, the answer is no.
* I’m a truck driver. Can I cook the turkey on the engine block of my semi while I’m driving? If I drive faster, will it cook faster? There’ve been cases in wartime where soldiers cooked turkeys using the heat of Jeep engines, but Butterball gives no advice on the subject.
* I scrubbed my raw turkey with a toothbrush dipped in bleach for three hours. Is that enough to kill the harmful bacteria? The heat of the oven is what kills the bacteria; scrubbing the turkey with bleach makes it inedible. (In extreme cases like these, or anytime the Talk-line staffers fear the bird has become unsafe to eat, they advise the cook to discard the bird, eat out, and try again next year. If the caller can’t imagine Thanksgiving without turkey, they can get some turkey hot dogs.)
* I don’t want to cook the whole turkey, so I cut it in half with a chainsaw. How do I get the chainsaw oil out of the turkey? Toss the turkey and go get some hot dogs.
* The turkey in my freezer is 23 years old. Is it safe to eat? Butterball advised the caller that the bird was safe to eat, but that it probably wouldn’t taste very good. “That’s what we thought,” the caller told the Talk-line. “We’ll give it to the church.”
MORE QUESTIONS FOR THE TALK-LINE
* How long does it take to thaw a fresh turkey?
* How long does it take to cook a turkey if I leave the oven door open the whole time? That’s how my mom always did it.
* Does the turkey go in the oven feet first or head first?
* Can I baste my turkey with suntan lotion?
* When does turkey hunting season start?
* How do I prepare a turkey for vegetarians?
(All images from the Butterball website)
___________________
The article above was reprinted with permission from The Best of the Best of Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader.
Since 1988, the Bathroom Reader Institute had published a series of popular books containing irresistible bits of trivia and obscure yet fascinating facts.
If you like Neatorama, you’ll love the Bathroom Reader Institute’s books – go ahead and check ‘em out!
Someone had to do it sooner or later. It’s a new way to add delicious bacon to your holidays -bacon Pumpkin Pie!
In the spirit of fall here in the Pacific Northwest, here is a recipe of my friend Joe’s own design! He sought to bring bacon to the dessert menu, and hunted for a pie media capable of sustaining a bacon infusion while retaining deliciousness. Pumpkin (perhaps rhubarb) is the only one he could think of. I offer this recipe to all you bacon lovers out there.
Complete directions are at Allrecipes. Link -Thanks, Peter!
(Image credit: Sunny Byrd)
This isn’t a cake in the traditional sense of the term because it’s cooked with ground turkey breast, yams, and mashed potatoes. But Amy Wisniewski’s concoction is shaped like a cake, so you might as well serve it for dessert. You can find the recipe at the link.
Link via Geekologie | Photo: Amy Wisniewski
