Thanksgiving Tips

It's Thanksgiving week, and even though Thanksgiving is still four days away, it may not be too early to start preparing for your big feast, especially if you have a frozen turkey.  We've gathered a couple helpful websites and phone numbers to take some of the guesswork out of your Thanksgiving meal preparation, including how to defrost a turkey and how long to defrost a turkey.  If you're cooking on Thursday, you may want to take a look at these today!

• Defrosting, roasting, and storing turkey
• Butterball's Plan Perfect Portions Calculator can help you determine just how big of a turkey you're going to need.
• Butterball's Turkey Talk-Line: To talk to a representative, call 1-800-BUTTERBALL (1-800-288-8372) weekdays from 10 am to 7 pm CST or anytime for an automated response.  You can also ask a question via email.
• Crisco's Pie Hot Line: Representatives are available at 1-800-FORPIETIPS (1-877-367-7438) to answer questions weekdays (except Thanksgiving) from 9 am to 7 pm to EST, or you can receive an automated response anytime.
• USDA meat and poultry line: 1-888-674-6854
• Miscellaneous Thanksgiving tips
• And just for fun - how not to gain weight (yeah right!)

Check back for some of our favorite Thanksgiving side dishes starting tomorrow!