tn20

I've never seen or heard of Tony Chachere's marinade... I wonder if it is available in my area (Pacific Northwest). I want that needle!

OOH, that sounds yummy, Hummin Bird! I have too many wimpy tastebuds in my family for the hot sauce, though. Can you please explain "injecting the bird" to me? Where do you inject it? And with what (meaning what type of instrument)? I can think of a few things I'd like to inject in a turkey! Okay, that sounded kind of creepy...

I think its funny because they had The 25 Days of Christmas with Christmas movies, but now they have The Countdown to The 25 Days of Christmas with (mostly) Christmas movies. But hey, I'm not complaining! They could have a countdown to the countdown to the 25 days of Christmas and I'd watch it! So far I've watched Snow and Snowglobe, and Snow 2 and Santa Jr. are on my DVR waiting for me! I'd never seen Snow before and thought it was pretty cute. DS3 has been running around the house practicing his flying all morning. And although this isn't on ABCFamily, everyone remember to watch Merry Madagascar on NBC this Tuesday the 17th at 8 E/P! Its kind of embarassing how much I'm looking forward to that one!

:) I actually *like* to wrap gifts... I'm just terrible at it! Its kind of like when a 2 year old gets ahold of fingerpaints and spends hours painting a picture. When its done, its technically a mess, but they had a whole lot of fun doing it. That's me, a 2 year old with fingerpaints. Once, I actually tied my own hair into the ribbon and DH had to remove the present from my head...

I bought all the paper I need last year at 90%+ off! I am the world's worst wrapper... everything looks terrible, so I don't bother buying pretty paper. It'll just draw attention to my ugly wrapping! Last year, I found A Christmas Story paper for DH at 90% off, Disney Princesses for the little girls in our family, and my favorite... 10 rolls of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 80 Sq ft for .10 each! I'm not a big TMNT fan, but I have 3 little boys who'll love it!

Yes, most of the cooking is done in the oven and you don't have to smoke it if you don't have a smoker. One year I was being lazy and didn't get out of bed and get the turkey in the smoker, so I just followed the rest of the recipe and it was still REALLY good! A few people noticed that it didn't have the slightly smokey flavor, but everyone still enjoyed it. My quantities tend to be a little of this, a little of that, but I would guess, in addition to the info I typed above... 1/2 cup salt 1/2 cup sugar Then I get 2 or 3 frozen concentrates of apple juice, put enough cold water in the cooler to cover the turkey, then stir the concentrate, sugar, and salt into the water before putting the turkey in. Let it sit for 8-12 hours. Cut up a couple apples and stick them into the cavity with a few cinnamon sticks. You won't want to eat the apples, of course, but it makes the turkey really aeromatic! Use probably 1 stick of butter between the skin and breast meat. Preheat oven to 325. Insert digital meat thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh. When the thermometer hits about 145 degrees, take the turkey out, remove the foil tent, flip the bird so it is breast side up, slather with honey (between 1/2 and 1 cups, depending on how much you like honey and how big your bird is), and put back into the oven. (No foil this time.) You will want to remove your bird when it hits 170 degrees (the temp will continue to rise after removing from the oven) and let it sit for 15-20 minutes before carving. Some thermometer tips- I definately recommend one of the digital ones that stay in the bird while cooking, while the temp unit sticks to your oven! The pop up things are notoriously wrong! Once you insert the thermometer, leave it in the same place the entire time the turkey is cooking. Removing it will cause your turkey to lose juices. Same goes for a pop up timer if your bird comes with one- just leave it alone and don't pay any attention to it. If you have any other questions, just let me know! I don't follow a set recipe so I don't really have any "Step 1, Step 2"s. :) And if anyone wants a receipe for a to-die-for Bourbon-Gingersnap ham, let me know and I'll post that as well!

Thanks for posting the ad! I was really looking forward to Target and do see some good deals, but nothing that we really need or is on anyone's Christmas list. I think I'll be skipping Target this year.

I stumbled across a great recipe for cooking turkeys several years ago and through a little trial and error have a turkey that everyone in my family loves. I've been contemplating trying something new this year, although if anyone in my family hears that, they'll probably talk me out of it. This is what I do... The night before, I put the thawed bird in a cooler and cover it with apple juice, white sugar, & salt. Let it soak overnight. Early the next morning, I take the turkey out, pat dry, and place in a little smoker and go through 2-3 pans of applewood chips. Then I take it out, cut up a stick of butter into 1 TBS. pieces, chop up an apple, and grab a couple of sticks of cinnamon . Then I shove the butter pieces between the meat and the skin membrane and put the apples and cinnamon sticks into the cavity of the bird. The most important thing, IMO, I stumbled across on accident... when I mistakenly put the bird breast side down in the pan, inserted a digital thermometer, made a foil tent, and popped the turkey in the oven. Doing most of the cooking upside down keeps the juices in the breast and keeps the white meat from drying out while you're waiting for your dark meat to get done. The biggest compliment I get on my turkey is from people saying that they cannot believe how moist and juicy the white meat is. When the turkey hits about 140 degrees, take it out, remove foil, then flip the bird over. Squirt honey all over the turkey (try to get it under the skin, if possible). Return to oven without foil until done (I'm thinking you take it out at 160-165 degrees and it will rise 5-10 degrees while resting, but I may be off a few degrees). Make your gravy with the drippings in the pan... makes really yummy, slightly sweet (due to the honey) gravy! Does anyone else have a special way to prepare their turkey that they would care to share?

Thanks for taking the time to post, OP; It is much appreciated even though there is nothing that I "need"!

Thanks for the nice words! I'm really glad, too!

So much Steelers talk, I can't help but saying that I'm another Steelers fan from way over on the West Coast... Everyone in my little ole town are, though, because we are Troy Polamalu's home town! (We're so proud of that! ) We went to high school together and it is still crazy to see him on magazines, commercials, etc. I should scan his senior year photo and post it... you probably wouldn't recognize him! Back to the adult gift exchange, with my family, we have a $5 per person limit and have a competition to see who finds the most humorous gift. We each throw $5 into a pot and vote for the best gift. The winner gets the pot. We have a lot of fun with it.

I kind of hate to even bring this up because since this happened, mine and my step-mom's relationship has gone from terrible to really good, but... The year I was 16 I had just moved out of my dad and step-mom's house because, well, to be honest, my step-mom and step-sister were awful to me. The last day of school before Christmas vacation, my step-sister hands me a box and says, "Merry Christmas." I was shocked and opened it right there in the hallway. It was all of the pictures of me that my dad had, ripped to pieces and wrapped up all nice and pretty. I sat on the floor in front of everybody and cried my eyes out. My step-sister's best friend told me that my step-mom had told my step-sister to do this. On Christmas morning, a gift had been sent to my grandparents house for me from my dad and step-mom (she did all the shopping- my dad is clueless about that stuff). My 19 year old sister received about 10 things from them. I had 1. It was a box of 5 little stuffed bears with a $5 sticker on it that was crossed out with a Sharpie. My dad and step-mom are well off. My sister's gifts were probably worth about $500. Then there was me with my bears.

ROFL! I'm sorry, for some reason that just cracked me up!

Thanks for letting me know I'm not missing anything! I was kind of disapointed in the TRU book, too. Well, LOTS that we want, but the prices were higher than I expected. You're not the only one. I can't open it either. I have dial-up, so I'm guessing that's to blame.

I cannot get this darn thing to load. I thought maybe it would just take awhile, so I left it loading while I went into town for 2 hours. Nope. Still didn't load. Am I missing anything great???

Thanks for the ad!!! I, too, am waiting for the Kmart Thanksgiving Day ad, though. The town I will be in does not have a Kmart and I don't really see much that I "need" anyway. There are a couple of things I would probably buy if I were there, but nothing that I'm willing to alter my plans for. *Fingers crossed* for a great Thanksgiving Day ad!

My FAVORITE is the M&Ms "He does exist." I LOVE it! I also love the Kisses' Jingle and the Flintstone's Fruity Pebbles. OH, and the Campbell's soup one where the snowman comes inside, eats some soup, and melts into a kid. Its SO corny! I can't load the Dr. Pepper one... stupid dial-up! If anyone wants to tell me what happens, I'd appreciate it! :)

Yup. We usually get a couple of kids off the local Angel Tree and a couple of elderly folks from a nursing home who don't have any family (my mom is the patient coordinator/advocate at a nursing home). BF really helps stretch our dollars so we can afford to help more people. We are foster parents and each of our foster kids receive a couple of gifts each year that have been donated. We get to see their excitement when they open their gifts, so THANK YOU to everyone who donates gifts! We are Christmas nuts and tend to go a little crazy on our own, but it is SO nice to see a kiddo that got nothing the previous year get everything they asked for that year.

Either last year or the year before, DH dropped me off at TRU and went to WM. It was crazy and I was trying to get a Transformer toy for my son. Well, I stupidly had grabbed a cart (I thought I was going to be getting a train table, but they ended up being sold out). I was walking down the aisle where the Transformer was on the end cap, there were only a couple left and I was a few feet away. Suddenly, this woman knocks me over and I fell into the shelf. A man was taking one of the 2 Transformers left and saw what happened. He reached back, right past the woman, and grabbed the last one. Which he then handed to me, right over the woman's shoulder. The look on her face was hilarious. I wouldn't have been suprised if she had attacked him right then and there. He really seemed to enjoy it!

Thanks for posting this! DS3 SOOO does not need anything else, but he's dying for the Batcave and his bday is coming up in November, plus Gma has been asking what he wants! ETA: Thanks again! GMa is already on her way to KMart to pick one up!

I went once or twice back in the mid-ninties with my mom, when I was a kid. I started going regularly in 2001, I think, so this would be year 8.

I don't think it would really relay the message. If you limit presents because that's all you can afford or because you want your children to learn that Christmas isn't all about gifts, then that is perfectly understandable. But, I think that if they just end up with a couple of gifts when they are used to lots, they aren't going to think, "This is because I don't take care of what I have. If I want more gifts next year, I better start picking up after myself." Most likely they won't connect the two, then be very disapointed. And the last thing that you want to do on Christmas morning is to be having a family talk ("The reason you only got X number of gifts is because....."), that is just asking to spoil the day. Maybe you should buy gifts that won't be scattered around everywhere (DVDs, video games, books, clothes) and if they ask for something expensive or with lots of pieces, explain to them that, unless they start picking up after themselves, then they won't be getting anything messy for Christmas, BDays, etc. Christmas can be just as special with a few gifts as it is with many gifts, but I just don't think that your message will get across. And if your kids usually get several, then, without warning, they only have a few, more than likely there will be harsh feelings over it. If you decide to limit gifts or avoid gifts that will make a big mess, I would definately make sure that its not a suprise. Make sure that everyone is well aware of what is happening.

Nope. DH and I buy for each other and stuff each other's stockings (although stocking are basically the same traditional items each year). DH might be ok with him buying his own gifts, but I'm pretty sure he wouldn't want me to buy my own. This year, he already had my big gift figured out a couple of months ago (coincidentally, I'm pretty sure it is a digital camera, that is currently #1 on my list, but he's denying it). We will tell each other several things we would like that year, but try not to have it all figured out (like this year, I'm pretty sure I'm going to get a new camera and DH is pretty sure he is getting a reloading kit, but everything else will be a suprise). I like knowing that DH put some thought into what he got me and we both love suprises. We have been known to shake our presents with our kids and try to guess what's in there. DH picked out a new perfume for me a couple of years ago and its been my favorite ever since, so he does a good job. Although there have definately been a few, um, not so great ones... but I always try to remember that its the thought that counts... which is why I still occasionally wear the freaky monkey socks, even though my first instinct was the burn them.

That's EXACTLY what I thought! I didn't relate it to their Blue Light Specials, I just started singing, "I'll have a blue Christmas, without you..." in my head.

My DS3 wants Spike Jr. and Kota's friends, also, but seeing as we have Spike and the BIG Kota and neither of them are ever played with, I'm putting my foot down about the little guys. My kids always beg for the big, expensive toys, then don't ever play with them. But when I let them buy a $1 Hot Wheels car or a $5 ATV toy, then they play with them all the time! I really should learn a lesson here...