The Virtual Woman: A Woman's
Weekly Guide To Cyberspace
Web Stuffed With Thanksgiving Ideas
I understand grumpiness around The Holidays. I get it. I get it that people get depressed with all the forced merriness and cheer. But come on, folks. What's not to love about Thanksgiving? A little time off from work. A lot of fabulous food. And zero gift giving pressure. The calm before the real holiday storm. Personally, I love the relaxing boredom that I enter into when I begin talking to distant relatives I've got nothing in common with anymore. As I zone off and as my brain goes on autopilot I'm feeling, well, thankful. So on this last Thursday of the month spend a moment in a zone being thankful. At least be thankful for the Web (I am on a daily basis) and find out what it can offer you and the family for this year's Turkey Day.
-
Shelly L., Portland, OR
Dear Shelly:
First, the basics: the most important part of the meal is the bird. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You
got your yams and rolls and green beans but if that bird isn't perfection you're the one
who's going to be dead meat. Luckily, there are several websites out there for novice
turkey cookers. For info on how to select, thaw, prepare, cook and baste that bird, go to
the
official Butterball Turkey site at
http://www.butterball.com, then click on the Preparation pic at the top. By following the
ten easy steps listed you should have it nailed. Also, if you run into any last minute
problems, don't hesitate to call their 1-800 number and talk live to an emergency turkey
operator (now there's a job to be thankful you don't have).
If you are looking for something a little less traditional, try grilling your turkey using
Honeysuckle White's website
(http://www.honeysucklewhite.com). The Grilling Section (clickable from the homepage) is
the one to focus on-it includes Fun Facts and a Grilling Time Table.
Once you have your turkey troubles under control, make your way to the
Home Arts recipe section at
http://homearts.com/depts/toc/thanksc2.htm for recipes to accompany the bird. Among the
recipes listed here are wild mushroom gravy and cranberry pear relish (my fingers are
drooling as I type). Let's not even talk about the spice cake with brown butter frosting,
okay?
Ahhh...and who could forget one of the best features of Thanksgiving. Leftovers. Leftovers,
in my opinion, should become a verb - at least for this one long weekend a year. "Honey,
how 'bout leftovering tonight?" Or, "No turkey tacos tonight, dear. I think I've
leftovered enough for the day." Anyway, check out
Norbest's site for some
interesting leftover ideas (http://www.norbest.com/norbest/recipes.htm). Also,
interestingly enough, the
Canadian Turkey Marketing Agency site
(http://www.canturkey.ca/indexe.htm) offer hundreds of tantalizing turkey recipes to tempt
you for days (or weeks).
-
Acting Out in Atlanta
Dear Acting Out:
What a cool idea! First step to impressing the in-laws, IMHO (in my humble opinion) is to
immediately get yourself to the
Aussie Slang
Directory (http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Plains/9740/slang.html). Bone up on some
"ripper" slang like "bunch of fives" (fist), "coldie" (ice cold beer) and "sunnies"
(sunglasses) so that you'll not throw a "tanti" (tantrum) if your in-laws start having a
convo and you've no idea what they're saying! Warning: This site is addictive - I've been
on for 20 minutes and have emailed five friends about it already.
Okay, let's now move forward and start answering your question. To make sure everything
goes "cool bananas" for your guests get a baseline of your knowledge by taking a
Thanksgiving quiz at
(http://wilstar.com/holidays/thanksgv.htm). Then read the story of Thanksgiving to see how
well you did. Another site that can help you act like real-life Pilgrims is the
library section of
Plimoth.Org found at
http://www.plimoth.org/Library/Thanksgiving/firstT.htm. Although this site is a little dry
(hey, it's a library - they can't help it) it is does offer excellent Thanksgiving
information. It even lists names and ages of people who attended the first Thanksgiving,
what they really had to eat, and how to recreate what the real day may have been like,
which should be particularly helpful to you.
Happy Surfing!
Dear Virtual Woman:
Although I've managed to escape
it in the past, this year my biggest fear has come true: I am in charge of preparing
Thanksgiving dinner. I am a so-so cook and could definitely use some help. Any web ideas?
Dear Virtual Woman:
My husband's family is from
Australia and they will be visiting the United States for the first time over
Thanksgiving. For fun, the American side of the family is planning to re-enact the
original Thanksgiving, and I have been appointed as the Play Director. Trouble is, it's
been a long time since I took a history class, and I'm not too good when it comes to the
details of the actual holiday. Where can I go online for some help?
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