Cooking SOS - Holiday Help is Here

Have a quick question about cooking a turkey or ham? Need ideas for what to do with the leftovers? When it comes to meals from Thanksgiving to Christmas, I say get all the resources you can! Here's a great list of websites, articles and toll free consumer help lines that can be especially valuable for the Holiday Season:

• Butterball Turkey Talk-Line: (800) BUTTERBALL  or website
• Foster Farms Help Line: (800) 255-7227 or website
• Crisco Pie Hotline (877) 367-7438 or website
• Fleischmann’s Yeast Baker’s Help Line: (800) 777-4959 or website
• Nestle's Toll House Baking Information Line: (800) 637-8537 or website
• U.S. Department of Agriculture Meat and Poultry Hotline: (888) 674-6854 or website

Packing Made Easier with Colored Tape

Labeling boxes is always recommended, but adding an extra "visual clue" as to a box's content can save you even more time. Whether you are packing up the house for a cross-country move or organizing the garage, colored packing tape can be a big help for identifying boxes. Here's just a few of the ways to use colored tape to make your packing and organizing easier:

1.  If you have kid rooms to pack, use a different color tape for each child. Even the littlest family members will be able to spot their belongings easily.

2.  Use a bright red or yellow tape to box up your fragile items so that they are easily distinguishable to everyone that is handling them.

3.  Organize your holiday decorations at-a-glance in the garage or attic by packing them up in boxes sealed with a different color.

Colored packing or masking tape is available at a variety of places. I found a fair selection at the local Wal-Mart, but at Amazon.com (and other retailers) I was able to find at least eight different colors.  If you are using the tape to actually seal a box, be sure you purchase tape that will stay adhered to the cardboard surface, and is wide enough to provide a strong seal.

From Fussy Babies to Stressed Out Adults - Tips for Restoring Calm

The Holidays bring excitement, fun, parties...and for many, stress or depression. Here are a few articles that can help you restore the calm during the Holiday Season (and the rest of the year too!)

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photo credit: sxc.hu/claudmey

Recycle and Reuse This Holiday Season

Make it a point to recycle and reuse this Holiday Season. It's good for the environment, easy on the wallet, and encourages lots of participation from the family. Need a few ideas to get started? Check out some of these:

Save this year's Holiday greeting cards to reuse next year. An easy and frugal way to reuse: Cut off the front cover and use next year as a Holiday postcard. Simple draw a line down the middle of the back of the card to separate the areas for address and message. You'll save on postage too!

With Holiday cooking comes lots of opportunity to recycle and reuse food containers. Glass jars can be recycled and reused to make your own herb infused oils ( a great gift idea), and plastic milk containers can be used for crafts, storage and gardening, among other things.

Here's a tip for recycling/reusing wrapping paper:
Save the cardboard tubes from your wrapping paper this season, and use it to store the paper that is salvageable after the family has opened their gifts. Trim off torn areas, then roll the used paper onto the cardboard tubes to reduce wrinkles. It's easy to store, and saves you money on next year's Holiday Season.

There's Centerpieces...and Then There's CENTERPIECES

I recently wrote an article to share some of the inexpensive Holiday centerpiece ideas I've used over the years. Having budget-friendly options seems more important this year, when so many are scaling back on seasonal entertaining.  

Creating an inexpensive holiday centerpiece for your Thanksgiving or Christmas table can be easily achieved with a few items from your garden or pantry.  With a little creativity, you can create works of art for your holiday table, with little or no money spent. 


Now, having said that...I also want to showcase a cake designer on the East Coast that makes incredibly creative cakes for all types of gatherings, from birthdays to ... yep, you guessed it -- cakes that create a spectacular centerpiece for your Thanksgiving or Christmas table. Check out the Thanksgiving Cornucopia centerpiece cake from PinkCakeBox.com.

Whatever your Holiday budget - I hope you are inspired to create a beautiful centerpiece to share with family and friends.  It's all about the options isn't it? As a side note: I am REALLY thankful that PinkCakeBox doesn't offer shipping to the West Coast! ;)

Being A Good American Citizen

Being an American Citizen for some is a birthright, for others it is attained through naturalization. Recently, I was at a rally where a woman stated that she came to America to become a citizen because this was a country that expected each of us to DREAM. If that doesn't re-energize your patriotic batteries, I don't know what will.

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Check out July 4th Trivia here:

National Mom's Nite Out

Thursday, May 7th is National Mom's Nite Out - designed to bring together moms across the U.S. virtually and in "real life" and give them a well deserved night out. [ADDITIONAL CONTENT / ARTICLE LINKS REMOVED]