Thanksgiving How-Tos

Turkey Carving 101: The Simplest Way to Cut Up Your Bird on Thanksgiving

There are many ways to carve a turkey. Some swear by the tried-and-true traditional method with a carving fork and a sharp blade, and others would be lost without their electric knives. Regardless of your preference in utensils, you can't just go hacking away at it if you want to end up with all the right pieces.

How To: Cook a Moist & Delicious Thanksgiving Turkey Without a Baster

A turkey baster is one of those single-use kitchen items that most people only need once or twice a year (although you can use it for a few other things). You never seem to miss having one until the holidays roll around when it's time to cook your Thanksgiving turkey. But do you really need a baster to end up with a moist, delicious bird? The short answer is no.

How To: Cook Your Thanksgiving Turkey in Half the Time

I've never been a huge fan of the traditional roasted turkey at Thanksgiving. Different parts of the bird finish cooking at different times, so by the time the legs are cooked through, the breast meat is totally dry. If you don't want to go the deep-frying route, how can you still end up with a moist and delicious turkey?

How To: Deep Fry Your Whole Freakin’ Thanksgiving Dinner

The debate over whether to deep-fry or roast a Thanksgiving turkey can get pretty heated. Both have their merits, but it's hard to argue with that crispy, golden brown skin and moist texture that the fryer gives. But what's better than a deep-fried turkey?

How To: 10 Edible Thanksgiving Decorations That'll Get Your Family Even Fatter

Autumn is a time of year when everything looks, smells, and tastes good. The scents of cinnamon and spices are everywhere you go, and even the dead leaves that fall off the trees are pretty. In particular, the fruits and vegetables of the season are gorgeous.

How To: All the Best Black Friday Electronics & Gadget Deals of 2013

This year, like every year before it, Black Friday sales are starting earlier than ever. A lot of stores will be opening their doors as early as 5pm on Thanksgiving to get a head start on the madness (and it really is madness). As we've discussed in the past, one of the keys to emerging victorious on Black Friday is to plan, plan, plan. So, we've compiled some of the best deals in tech, gadgets and appliances to help you prepare for battle.

How To: 10 Totally Crazy Black Friday Moments (And How to Protect Yourself from the Insanity)

People take their Black Friday shopping seriously. Some of them are even willing to fight over it. Every year the stories get crazier and crazier, and someone always gets hurt (or even killed).

How To: Breeze Through Black Friday with These Helpful Deal-Finding Apps and Websites

Every year, Black Friday gets a little more insane. People get up at ungodly hours, wait in lines forever, and get into some of the most ridiculous fights you've ever seen. All in the name of saving some cash. Everyone loves saving money, but without a game plan, you could end up missing all the good deals and going home with nothing. Luckily, the Internet is here to take some of the stress out of holiday shopping. With these sites and apps, you can find out about all the best deals before yo...

How To: Make an Easy Turkey-Shaped Cake for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and the belts are already loosening in preparation. Besides the copious amounts of turkey, stuffing, greens, and pies, you may have enough room for some classic cake.

Saving Thanksgiving Dinner: How to Fix a Soggy or Burnt Pie Crust

How often do you make a pie from scratch? If your answer is "only during the holidays," you're not alone. Unless you're an experienced baker, homemade pies can be pretty tough to tackle. And the most common problems are the crusts coming out of the oven soggy or scorched.

Saving Thanksgiving Dinner: How to Fix Lumpy or Too-Thin Gravy

It's bad enough messing up in the kitchen when it's just for you or your family, but when you're cooking for a big event with a lot of guests, it can be mortifying. And on a holiday like Thanksgiving, that's all about the food, the last thing you want is to botch a key component of the meal.

How To: The 11 Most Deliciously Absurd Thanksgiving Day Meals Ever

Thanksgiving is pretty much the only day out of the year when you can be a complete fatass. It's totally expected, if not encouraged. In fact, if you aren't stuffing your face with a bunch of delicious and unhealthy food, people start to look at you funny.

How To: Your Shopping Guide to the Hottest Black Friday Deals on Android Tablets

As the holidays approach, so does that wonderful Autumn day where loads of people happily camp out in freezing weather in front of their favorite stores to save a few bucks on their favorite electronics. And yes, that day is near... Black Friday brings the biggest markdowns of the year, and that includes slashed prices on many of our favorite touchscreen devices, including the Kindle Fire HD, Samsung Galaxy Tab 2, and Nexus 7. Want to get your hands on an Android tablet for cheap? Below are a...

How To: Deep Fry Your Thanksgiving Bird

Looking for something a little more exhilarating this Thanksgiving? Something with a bit more kick? Forget traditional roasted turkey. If you've got the stomach for it, try turducken, a wonderful triplex of turkey, duck and chicken with sausage stuffing and Cajun seasoning. Or go for good ol' American fried food, the deep fried Thanksgiving bird.

How To: Find the Best Black Friday Weekend Sales Online

Yesterday was the biggest shopping event of the year— Black Friday— the day after Thanksgiving. Most waiting in huge lines, getting swallowed up by commercialism on its biggest profit-turning day, and there's still tons of shopping to be had on Saturday and Sunday, with many stores continuing their sales across the weekend. But if you're not interested in bouncing heads with a rush of angry holiday shoppers, you can still get the same deals online, from the comfort and safety of your own home.

How To: Prepare a Desi style masala cornish hen for Thanksgiving

If your family isn't quite the size of the Duggars yet and you're planning what to put on the menu for Thanksgiving, a 30 pound bird is probably not the best choice. Yeah, we know that having a big fat bird in the center of your table is tradition and whatnot, but we seriously doubt a family of five or six could finish all that PLUS side dishes and desserts.

How To: Make pumpkin pie & pumpkin whoopie pies for Thanksgiving

In this video, you'll learn how to make some tasty and delicious desserts for your Thanksgiving meal. You'll be shown how to make a classic pumpkin pie, and then something a little more special. If you're a fan of whoopie pies, try out this pumpkin whoopie pie!

How To: Deep-fry a Butterball turkey and make fried cabbage for Thanksgiving

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, leaving holiday cookers scrambling for turkey recipes the whole family will love, without taking up the whole holiday in the kitchen. One thing's for sure though— a nice Butterball turkey is sure to be the main dish on everyone's table this feast-ive holiday season.

How To: Shop for great deals and discounts on Black Friday

Black Friday is the most active shopping day in America, and many people scour the malls and shopping centers for great ideas. Here is how you can consistently get the best deal for all the people on your gift list.

How To: Stay ahead of the crowd this Black Friday with smartphone apps

If you wait for the newspaper to come out with all the Black Friday deals, you'll have lost out on several hours of valuable shopping time! The best way to stay updated this Black Friday and Cyber Monday is by using smartphone apps!

How To: Shop on Black Friday with ease and within your budget

Black Friday is undeniably the biggest shopping day of the year. Black Friday, which occurs annually the day after Thanksgiving, is also the kickstart of the holiday shopping season, the big bang that leads swiftly to Christmas.

How To: Make a Thanksgiving Bread Basket That Looks Like a Turkey

Serve your rolls and bread sticks in style! Take a basket and turn it into a Thanksgiving-themed breadbasket. You will need a basket, a glue gun, googly eyes, food safe skewers, a wooden spoon, scissors, colored construction paper and a block of florist foam.

How To: Make Thanksgiving turkey cookies out of Oreos, candy corn and malt balls

Turn an Oreo cookie into a delicious turkey cookie! Aside from the Oreos, you will need some thick chocolate frosting, candy corn for the feathers, a malt ball (like a Whopper) for the body and a cinnamon candy for the wattle.

How To: Bake a spiced pumpkin cheesecake for Thanksgiving dessert

Dress up the traditional pumpkin pie by turning it into a delicious spiced pumpkin cheesecake! You'll need your favorite cookie crust, a springform pan, cream cheese, sugar, eggs, butter, canned pumpkin and your favorite pumpkin spices - like cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice.

HowTo: Carve a Turkey the Infographic Way

So the cooking of the bird doesn't lie on your shoulders this Thanksgiving. Lucky. But before you relax too much, there is a wild card- you never know who will be handed the carving knife. Below, five handy infographics for carving a turkey like a pro.

How To: Make healthy, gluten-free stuffing for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is almost near and everyone's scrambling around for turkey and stuffing recipes. But if you're expecting guests with coeliac disease, then you're going to have to play it safe. Use this stuffing recipe that abides to a gluten-free diet, but just because it's gluten-free, doesn't mean it won't taste great! Trust us, you won't even tell the difference!

How To: Grill an eccentric beer can turkey for Thanksgiving dinner

Beer can turkey? Sounds like a joke, right? Well, it may have started off as one, but now shoving a beer can up the butt of a turkey is a much favored cooking technique in lieu of the traditional Thanksgiving turkey. With the beer can up its butt, it helps steam the turkey to keep it moist and tender, all while giving it that perfect aroma and taste.

How to Friday Fresh: Your Thanksgiving Turkey Guide

Thanksgiving is less than a week away! We know - Thanksgiving can be a mess - too many relatives, too many dishes to cook, and too many things to do. At least no one can complain there's too much food to eat. This week, we'll show you how you can make your life easier with some innovative ideas.

How To: Make turkey and stuffing kabobs for Thanksgiving

If your family veers on the smaller side (so we're talking more the Gilmores than than the Duggars) then a 20 pound Thanksgiving turkey is probably a bit too much food for you to handle. Luckily, there are alternative ways to serve turkey without needing to pull out a big bird.

How To: Make tipsy turkey (beer brined turkey) for Thanksgiving

Let's face it, people: Many of us power through the holidays with the aid of an extra glass of wine or beer here and there. Whether it's your perverted uncle or your overbearing grandmother that you have to put up with, a little buzz makes everything more jolly.

How To: Bake traditional apple pie for Thanksgiving

What better way to finish off your Thanksgiving meal than with a nice hot slice of apple pie? As Thanksgiving as Thanksgiving desserts come, apple pie has mesmerized our collective taste buds since it was invented because of its perfect balance between tartness and sweetness.

How To: Carve a turkey easily for Thanksgiving

Once your Thanksgiving dinner table is set with beautiful gourds, autumnal leaves, and candles and your turkey, green bean casserole, and pies are out of the oven, it's time to mess everything up. While a beautiful dinner presentation is great and all, unless you plan on having your guests rip off drumsticks from the turkey caveman-style you'll probably want to carve the bird.

How To: Play the "Thanksgiving Song" by Adam Sandler on the Acoustic Guitar

Comedian and actor Adam Sandler may be famous for his irreverant Jewish holiday hymn "The Chanukah Song," but he's also written several other holiday tunes that are of festive interest.

How To: Decorate simple and festive turkey cupcakes for Thanksgiving

Serve your friends and family an alternative turkey this year with these cute as a button turkey cupcakes. We know you're probably already up to your hairline in planning for the big Turkey Day celebration, so lighten up your baking load by baking simple vanilla cupcakes and then decorating them into these easy turkey shapes.

How To: Roast a turkey step by step for Thanksgiving

More likely than not, you'll be roasting a big fat turkey this Thanksgiving. Yup, that means a few days of defrosting (if your bird is frozen), seasoning, and sticking it in the oven to roast for a couple of hours.

How To: Craft a pine cone turkey decoration for Thanksgiving

The edible turkey doesn't have to be the only turkey on your Thanksgiving table this holiday season. We know that when it comes to turkey day, food is probably the most important attraction.

How To: Craft a turkey greeting card for Thanksgiving

We know that Thanksgiving isn't the likeliest of holidays on which to send greeting cards. With Christmas in such close promixity, Thanksgiving usually gets relagated to being solely a food holiday where the turkey is the main attraction.

How To: Craft a turkey-shaped breadbasket for Thanksgiving

We understand that bread and biscuits aren't exactly the A-list stars of your Thanksgiving table. Most families serve the bread before the meal begins as a sort of appetizer and then the bread is disregarded as other savory dishes pile in.

How To: Season a turkey with herbs for Thanksgiving

The turkey is the A-list star of your Thanksgiving table, so it only makes sense to make sure it's as savory and enjoyable as possible, right?

How To: Prepare Deep Fried Whole Buffalo Turkey for Thanksgiving

Turkey is the focal point and A-list star of your Thanksgiving table, so it only makes sense to make the bird as delicious as possible, right? Eschew the tired method of roasting and basting your turkey in the oven for hours on end and try out a new method of cooking it this year: deep frying.