Turkey Tips for Thanksgiving

The centerpiece of most Thanksgiving dinners is a roasted turkey. From purchasing to carving, here are some hints that could make this your finest turkey ever...(More)

Organize Your Closets to Increase Storage Space

No matter how large your closets, odds are you still want more closet space. Sometimes the best and easiest way to get the space you need is to simply reorganize what you have...(More)

Reduce Holiday Shopping Stress - Now and When the Bills Arrive

Holiday shopping can put a strain on your nerves, your feet, and your budget. Try to simplify your shopping for a more joyful holiday...(More)

Get Your Kids to Help with the Cleaning

A brain scan study by the National Institute of Mental Health showed that the frontal lobe – which is the region responsible for organizing, planning and paying attention – is still under development in kids and adolescents. That might be why their rooms and play areas are so often a mess. But there are still things you can do to encourage your children to keep things neat and clean...(More)

Turkey Tips for Thanksgiving

Strangely enough, a plump turkey probably didn’t form the centerpiece of the original Thanksgiving feast. While it may have played a part, along with venison and other wild fowl, the real dishes were probably lobster, goose, seal and even eel – all of which are plentiful in the fall.

Shop right to start right.

If you want the convenience and cost savings of a frozen turkey, be sure to buy far enough in advance to allow it to thaw in the refrigerator. Never let it thaw on the counter, as bacteria begin to grow immediately. Plan on three days or more (depending on the size of the bird), for it to thaw.

Fresh turkeys usually have much tastier meat. Check your grocer or butcher to see if you should order one in advance. If you prefer an organic or free-range turkey, you probably will have to place your order early.

Whichever type of turkey you select, plan on 1 to 1.5 pounds of turkey per person. If you expect a lot of white meat lovers, you might want to order an additional boneless turkey breast.

Cook carefully.

There are hundreds of ways to cook turkey and many websites with recipes for everything from roast to fried turkeys. Look around for a recipe that’s right for you and your family well in advance.

When preparing your turkey to cook, be sure to thoroughly wash and pat dry your turkey. Also, thoroughly clean anything the turkey or its juices touch, including your hands, before handling any other food items.

Cooking dressing or stuffing in a separate container shortens cooking time and can reduce problems that come from warm stuffing placed in a cold turkey.

Even if your turkey comes with a pop-up thermometer, invest in a regular meat thermometer. Often those pop-up thermometers indicate a turkey is done when the dark meat still isn’t safely cooked. Insert your meat thermometer into the thickest part of the turkey – usually the thigh – and be sure it isn’t touching the bone. The internal temperature should read 165ºF or higher.

Of course, you can always let the professionals do all the cooking. Most groceries offer precooked and even pre-sliced turkeys during the holiday season.

Carve with confidence.

Turkeys carve more easily if you let them rest for 20 minutes or longer first. Simply cover with foil to keep them warm. A sharp carving knife and a good fork are must-haves. A slender carving blade makes finding joints easier.

Since dark meat stays juicier longer, start by carving the legs. Run you knife along the bottom of the turkey until you find where the thighbone joins the carcass. Cut through the joint to remove the leg quarter, and then cut through the joint between the thigh and the drumstick. If you have trouble finding the joint, simply wiggle the leg. Now you can slice the meat from the bone, if desired.

Next, find the point where the wings join the carcass and cut them away at that joint. Now you are ready to carve the breast. Cut parallel to the breast, against the grain, making thin slices.

Enjoy your leftovers.

Leftover turkey and stuffing should be refrigerated within two hours of the meal. Refrigerate uncovered until cool, and then cover or wrap securely. Turkey should only be kept refrigerated for three or four days at the most. In fact, it starts losing its taste after just two days. If you have more turkey or gravy than you care to eat in a few days, wrap well and freeze to enjoy later. You can put it into soups, casseroles, or simply enjoy turkey sandwiches.

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Start with clothing closets.

Look at the general organizations of shelves and hanging rods. Do they match the types of things you need stored? Could adding extra shelves at the top of your closet turn leaning piles into more organized spaces? Could you benefit from replacing a long hanging area into two shorter areas? Is there room for extra shelves or storage containers on the floor?

Take everything out of your closet and make the modifications you need for better storage; that’s the easy part. The hard part is not putting things back into the closet you don’t really need or use.

Try on every bit of clothing. If you haven’t worn it in two years, you probably never will. Instead of saving things in case you lose extra weight, save just one special item for inspiration. You’ll want a new wardrobe when you achieve your goal! Be strict with yourself, and remember the less you stuff back in your closet, the more room your clothes will have to “breathe.”

Be just as ruthless with shoes and other accessories.

Once you’ve decided what to keep, be sure to keep it organized. You may want to sort clothing by type – pants, skirts, shirts; or, you may want to sort by function – office, evening wear, or active clothes. Pick a system that works for your lifestyle, and stick to it.

Next, move to the kitchen pantry.

After you’ve conquered the clothing closets, work on your kitchen pantry. Once again, see if you could better utilize the space with extra shelves, door-hung racks or stackable baskets. Then, take everything out and make your changes.

Now it’s time to put things back in an organized manner. First, make sure no pantry items are outdated. Put the types of items you use most frequently at eye level and store by type (canned soups, canned vegetables, grains, etc.). Put bulky, seldom used items on the top shelf. Again, any kitchen item you haven’t used in two years probably won’t be used again, so give it away and take advantage of the extra space.

Finally, organize your linen closets.

This time, take everything out and sort by type (sheets, table cloths, towels, etc.). Within these types, sort further – sheets meant for each bed; towels by type and bathroom. Get rid of any worn or unused items. Neatly fold everything else to see just how much space each group requires.

Decide if your closet has the right type of shelving to handle your linens. You may want to add shelves to better suit your needs. Remember, keeping groups separate in small, neat stacks is preferable to tall stacks. If you can, fold tablecloths over hangers to reduce wrinkling. Put bulky items like extra pillows and quilts on the top shelf.

If your linen closet simply isn’t large enough to hold everything, you may want to store some linen where they will be used. Table napkins could go in a drawer in your china cabinet or towels could be stored in bathrooms.

Once you’ve organized all your closets, you should never have to do it again. Best of all, every time you open your closet door, you’ll know exactly where everything is!

Your list is long, stores are busy, and time is slowly ticking away. However, there’s still plenty of time to actually make holiday shopping an enjoyable experience this year.

Start with your list.

Get a pad and pencil, put on some restful music, sit down, and prop your feet up. By putting together a good shopping list in advance, you can cut your shopping time down enormously.

Create a table with five columns. In the first column, list everyone you plan to give a gift. In the second column, write down the amount of money you intend to spend on that gift. Before you go a step further, add up that second column and see if it fits into your budget. Remember, there will also be the cost of sales tax, gift wrap, and possible shipping to consider. Make adjustments until the total cost is manageable.

Are you in a financial bind? Consider gifts such as homemade cookies, holiday ornaments, a tub of popcorn, or similar items. Homemade gifts, as well as gifts from your heart, are often even more appreciated.

Once you have the first two columns finished, it’s time to brainstorm gift ideas for the third column. If you don’t have any ideas at all, gather up those catalogs that flood your home this time of year for inspiration (it’s a lot easier on your feet to browse through them at home than through busy shopping centers). If you can complete this column, you’ve accomplished the hardest part of holiday shopping without leaving your home.

The last two columns will be used to record what you actually purchase (because sometimes you do change your mind), and what it cost. Keep this list with you while shopping and then save it for next year; it will give you a great starting point.

Don’t shop till you drop.

Consider shopping online as much as possible. Not only does this save gas, the vendor will usually wrap and ship your purchases to the recipient, saving time wrapping and standing in line at the post office. Plus, you can compare prices easily.

You can start with shopping search engines like froogle.com or shopzila.com. Remember to check the reputation of your online store, return policies, delivery dates, prices, and other fine print, before placing any orders. Sites like epinions.com can tell you what other people think of any shopping sites you are considering.

According to the National Consumer’s League, online shopping is best done with credit cards. Not only do they limit liability from a fraudulent charge, they also give you additional recourse if you are dissatisfied.

When going to stores in person:

• Try to avoid weekend crowds.
• Wear comfortable shoes.
• Ask for complimentary gift boxes and tissue with every purchase.
• Purchase your heaviest items last.
• Make sure you keep any parcels in your vehicle safely hidden from view.

Be mindful of details that could cost you.

Do you realize that while popping a gift into a colorful gift bag is easy, it could be costing you three or four times the price of simple wrapping paper and a homemade bow?

Also, be sure you know the final shipping date for a timely delivery. Parcel post requires approximately 12 days. Allow at least a week for first-class mail. Plan on four or five days for priority mail and two days for express shipping. Missing a shipping date either means disappointed loved ones or significantly higher shipping costs.

Finally, if you shop with your credit card, make sure the money you plan to spend is already in hand. That way, as soon as the bills arrive, you can pay them off in full, avoiding costly interest payments.

Happy shopping!

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Get Your Kids to Help with the Cleaning

Every kid is different, but many kids will do anything to avoid cleaning their rooms. Here are ideas that might help motivate your children and teens to at least keep room disorder under control.

Design for order. Sometimes parents make storage choices that actually encourage disorder, such as toy boxes. When toys are all piled together, nothing has a particular place. Kids will simply keep removing toys from the box until they locate the one they want. Then the other toys stay on the floor. Instead, place toys on shelves where they are easily seen and grabbed. If a plaything has many smaller pieces, put them in a clear box together, labeled with a picture of the toy on the outside. The easier you make it for a child to find what he or she wants, the less disorder should occur.

Dump the clutter. Take a hint from those television clutter buster shows – take everything out of every closet, drawer, nook and cranny and dump it all in one pile. Then, working with your children, divide it into three piles: one to keep, one to donate to charity, and one to throw away. By going through this process with the kids, you’ll find out more about their interests and passions. Once everything is in the proper pile, work together to organize the “keepers” in a way that makes them easy to access yet neatly stored.

Make it fun. Telling a child to clean up a room makes for a lonely task. Instead, involve yourself in a way that makes it fun. One mother turned room-cleaning time into reading time, as well. She read aloud to her kids while they cleaned up their room. This transformed a boring, lonely task into family time, and even helped to instill a love of books. Playing music, if your kids prefer, during cleaning time is another way to add pleasure to work.

Keep it current. Kids grow up fast and their interests and needs change quickly. You might redecorate your room once a decade, but a child’s room can need major changes every two or three years. Be sure kids’ rooms have the essentials they need to promote neatness: wastebaskets, clothes hampers, desks, project areas, etc. Involve your child in making choices about colors and other changes, and you’ll also encourage more pride in a room’s appearance.

Know your child. Watch how your child performs other tasks. If he or she tends to spread papers everywhere when doing homework, you might just have to live with more clutter – it’s how that child performs tasks. Establish rules for health and safety (like banning dirty dishes) and realize those frontal lobes just aren’t quite developed to meet the standards of neatness you would prefer.

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