Food Safety Tips for Preparing Your Turkey Dinner

‘Tis the season to be jolly and Christmas is just around the corner. Have you started planning the all-important Turkey dinner?


Whether you've got the whole family coming round or you're just cooking for two, you’ll need to remember a couple of food safety tips to ensure that your cooking is safe and stress free.

Defrosting the Turkey

Put your turkey into a dish, one large enough to catch ALL of the juices as it thaws. Be sure to remove the giblets too, as soon as possible, as this will help speed up the thawing process.

Place your turkey in the refrigerator ensuring it doesn’t touch any other foods. If you don't have enough room in the fridge, you can place the turkey in any cold room, i.e. the garage.

As your turkey thaws, pour away the liquid regularly. This will stop it overflowing in the dish and dripping onto other surfaces. It's a good idea to keep your children and pets away as you do this.

Important Tips

· Ensure you’ve left enough time in your plan for defrosting.
· Make sure your bird is properly defrosted all the way through.
· Check the middle cavity of the bird for ice crystals.

How to Store the Turkey

You must remember to keep your raw turkey away from other foods; this will stop harmful food bacteria from spreading. Ideally, you should keep your raw turkey at the bottom of the fridge so it can't drip down onto any other foods.

How to Prepare the Turkey

· Always wash your hands after touching raw poultry.
· Remember to clean anything the turkey has touched thoroughly.
· Don’t use the same knifes or chopping boards for raw turkey and vegetables

Cook the Turkey

If your turkey isn't cooked properly it will be full of harmful bacteria that will make anybody that eats it ill with food poisoning.

A large turkey can take hours to cook through properly, so make sure you plan well in advance.

Is your turkey cooked?
· Is all the meat white (not pink)?
· Do the juices run clear after piercing with a fork?
· Is the turkey boiling hot all the way through?


Adapted from Highspeedtraining.co.uk.  Highspeedtraining.co.uk compiled this guide to help you cook a safer Christmas dinner. We also award real, accredited food hygiene certificates to people who take part in our online food hygiene and safely courses.

Trees To Dye For

Wrote an article today for the Christmas Examiner on dying bottlebrush trees.  Go check it out.

25 Easy Healthy Tips for Christmas and the Holiday Season

The holidays can represent the best time of year for healthy living, as it is a time when many people can focus on a mind-body-soul connection. However, stress, heavy traffic, sold-out store items, and bad weather can interrupt that healthy and wholesome way of life for many. How can you maintain that holiday season joy and love for both yourself and those around you? The following easy, healthy living tips may help you keep your focus during the upcoming holiday season.

Mind (Stress Management)

1. Spend some time alone. Use this time to meditate, read, or relax. Regain your equilibrium and remember that this time of year is a special time for friends and family.
2. Avoid unnecessary travel. One way to keep your peace of mind is to stay home. If you need to travel, plan your trips to combine errands or — on longer trips — plan to drive at night and to avoid large cities during rush hours. If you’re caught in rush hour, make sure you have some music or a book on tape to help pass time.
3. Watch the anger. Stress can lead to anger which can often lead to more stress (and may be linked to heart problems). Help yourself during bouts of anger by counting to ten and visualizing a relaxing experience.
4. Don’t overspend. Your daughter/son/husband/wife or friends may prefer spending more time with a cheerful you than with whatever you got on sale during Black Friday. Avoid the temptation to overspend and you can avoid stress as well.
5. Allow someone to help you. Why do you want to do everything yourself? Allow a friend to help you with chores, managing kids, or cooking (try a potluck for the holidays, rather than take on all the cooking yourself). You might enjoy the company and you can avoid stress at the same time.
6. Balance work, play, and family life. What better time to learn how to balance your life than during the holidays? Parties, family events, and other social activities basically demand that you stop working for at least a few hours. You can continue this practice long after the holiday season.
7. Be creative. Think outside the box when problems arise. Use humor, rather than anger, to find resolutions. Open your mind to the new and unusual and think about how you might incorporate those new ideas into your life.
8. Smile. Smiling can make you feel relaxed and happy, even when you don’t mean it. You can tilt your neurochemical balance toward calm by smiling, as smiling transmits nerve impulses from the facial muscles to the limbic system, a key emotional center in the brain.

Body

9. Watch your weight. Those candies are tempting and you don’t want to hurt Aunt Cookie's feelings by passing them up. Eat before you attend parties so you’re not so hungry when you arrive.
10. Drop caffeine and soda. Get a jump start on a possible New Year’s resolution by weaning yourself off caffeine and sodas. Wean yourself away from caffeine slowly, otherwise you might end up with a caffeine-withdrawal headache that could last for a few days. Substitute herbal teas for hot and cold drinks. After a few days without sodas, you might wonder why you thought they tasted so good.
11. Use locally-grown ingredients. While you may stick with traditional recipes, try to use locally-grown ingredients. Using local ingredients is environmentally sound as well as healthy.
12. Drink plenty of water. Water can help to keep hunger at bay as well as to help hydrate you when you are subjected to dry air in heated environments. Water also helps your body eliminate toxins, such as those martinis you had the night before.
13. Keep your body moving. It’s a given that most people eat more during the holidays. If you move more as well, you can keep your metabolism running and help burn those extra calories. Take stairs when possible, stand rather than sit, and offer to clean the table after dinner — not really exercise, but it all counts.
14. Wash your hands often. Washing your hands often is one of the most important steps you can take to avoid getting sick and spreading germs to others. Carry a small bottle of hand sanitizer if you can’t get to a sink and soap.
15. Stay warm. If it’s cold, then dress warmly in layers of loose-fitting tightly-woven clothing. This way you can shed some layers if the day warms up or if you spend some time visiting indoors.
16. Travel safely. Don’t drink and drive (and don’t allow others to drink and drive), wear a seat belt, and don’t speed. You also can put a kit in the trunk for emergencies that includes blankets, band-aids, aspirin, and other first-aid items.
17. Treat yourself to a massage. Not only can a massage help release toxins physically, it can help you release negative and stressful energy. Think of the massage as a gift to yourself for the holiday season (but you might think about doing this several times per year. You, after all, deserve it.)

Soul

18. Volunteer. You might gain a grasp on your own fortune when you offer to help others. Work in a soup kitchen, take a meal to an elderly neighbor, or look for local events that need volunteers.
19. Count your blessings. What better time to be grateful than when you’re stuck in a traffic jam? You can begin by understanding that you’re not alone in that traffic jam and then work up from there. You can end by understanding that you are the only person in this universe who is exactly like you – a unique and amazing creation.
20. Forget comparisons. One way to spoil your holiday is to compare yourself to who you see as the most beautiful/talented/charming, etc. person in the room. Stop those comparisons and you may begin to feel the love — from yourself and from others.
21. Let go of expectations. The holidays often provide a time for expectations, especially in the gift-giving department. If you can let go of the material and remember the spirit of the season (better to give than receive), then you might enjoy whatever you do receive with a bigger heart.
22. Make your heart bigger. This is an exercise in appreciating beauty in all forms and the elimination of a need to nit pick and point out flaws. Everyone is a unique soul, different than you. This does not make them better than you, nor does it make them less than you. Insults and judgments, even if they are not voiced, might only serve to increase your own insecurities. This process may begin with self acceptance.
23. Let go of the need to control. While you can continue to make that dinner for friends and family, you can stop worrying about whether the gravy is just right or if the meat is overcooked. Relax, enjoy, and understand that the world will go on despite small flaws and even despite the huge mistakes. Go with the flow.
24. Think of others first. This does not mean that you need to neglect your own needs; however, when you think about others and their needs you might be able to crowd out all those negative thoughts that might creep in over the holidays. Think altruism.
25. Forgive and forget. Why not start out a new year with a clean slate? If you can forgive someone and forget the slight (real or imagined), perhaps you can enter 2010 with a real smile on your face.

12 Days of Kid's Christmas Crafts #11

Puzzle Wreath

Old puzzle pieces
green paint
Glue gun or Elmer's glue
ribbon
Red and green sequins, optional
Picture, optional

Using a paper plate or plastic container lid as the work surface to give yourself a guideline. Make a rectangle on the "bottom layer." Pieces will just be placed there. It is the next layer that holds everything in place. Add a drop of glue on one side of two neighboring puzzle pieces, then place a new puzzle piece on top to cement the bond. This is what holds the wreath together.

Glue top layer of puzzle pieces to bottom layer so that they form a wreath that can be picked up.

Paint all the puzzle pieces green.

Add green and red sequins.

Add a picture to the back of the frame.

A nice finishing touch is a little ribbon. If you want to hang it from your tree, use a longer ribbon.

12 Days of Kid's Christmas Crafts #10

Chenille stems make the easiest candy canes.

White chenille stems
Red chenille stems
Scissors

Hold one white and one red chenille stem side by side (they should be of equal length). Twist one end together and then twist together working your way down to the bottom.

Twist the bottom ends together to secure. Then bend into candy cane shape.

Other ideas:

• Try different sizes by cutting chenille in half.
• Try different styles of chenille, including bumpy or glittery chenille, for a different look.
• Add pony beads or tri beads.

12 Days of Kid's Christmas Crafts #9

Pine Cone Christmas Tree

Use it as a Christmas decoration or as a tree ornament. This is a simple craft that even young children can help make.

Large, open pine cone (pick one that is tree-shaped and stands upright easily)
Glitter
Cotton balls
Elmer's glue
Dental floss and a needle
Small beads
A small bow or star (to top off your little tree)

Glue a few cotton balls to the bottom of the pine cone. These look like snow and help the "tree" stand upright.

Put a little dab of glue at the tips of the pine cone and then sprinkle on glitter.

String some small beads onto dental floss (about 1 to 1 1/2 ft or more, depending on the size of the pine cone). To string the beads easily, tie one bead securely to the string. When the stringing is done, tie off the last bead with a knot. Wrap the beads around the pine cone and glue them to the tree.

Top off your tree with a small bow or other decoration.

12 Days of Kid's Christmas Crafts #8

White art paper, kraft paper, or solid wrapping paper
Scissors
Dry sponge
Craft paint

Cut dry sponge (sponges with tiny holes work the best) into irregular shapes. Dip sponges in paint, squeeze excess paint out and blot onto paper. You can stamp each sponge several times before re-dipping in the paint.

This even dresses up plain newspaper wrapping!

12 Days of Kid's Christmas Crafts #7

Santa Face

Small paper plate
Flesh-tone craft paint
Red craft foam
Cotton balls
2 googly eyes
1 pink pom-pom
Scissors
Glue
Paintbrush
Red marker

Turn the paper plate upside down and paint it with a flesh tone of your choice. Set the plate aside to dry.

Cut a hat shape out of red craft foam and glue a cotton ball to the tip of the hat and then glue a line of cotton balls along the bottom of the hat. Once the paper plate is dry, glue the bottom of the hat to the top of the paper plate.

Glue a "beard" of cotton balls -- for a more realistic look pull cotton balls apart before gluing -- along the outside edge of the paper plate.

Glue two googly eyes onto the plate near the hat and glue a pink pom-pom under the eyes as a nose.

Cut a cotton ball in half and glue above the eyes as eyebrows.

Cut a cotton ball in half and pull it slightly to form a mustache. Glue under the nose.

Use the red marker to draw a smile under the mustache.

Optional Use craft wire to bend into shape to make glasses.

12 Days of Kid's Christmas Crafts #6

What a great way to keep your favorite Christmas cards.

Recycled Christmas cards
Clear contact paper
Scissors

Cut or tear the fronts of old Christmas cards from the back. Discard backs. Lay a 12" x 18" piece of clear contact paper sticky side up on your work surface. Arrange card fronts to completely cover the contact paper, overlapping and pressing them right side up on the sticky surface of the paper. Cover the front with another piece of contact paper. Trim.

12 Days of Kid's Christmas Crafts #5

Based on hand prints and foot prints this treasured Christmas craft is easy to do with pleasing results.

Brown construction paper, for the reindeer's face
Yellow or gold construction paper, for the antlers
Red pom-pom or small wad of red tissue paper
Googly eyes
Glue

Trace around child's foot brown construction paper and cut out the shape.

Trace around child's hands onto yellow or gold construction paper. Cut these shapes out. Glue the hands on as antlers.

Glue on a red pom pom or a ball of red tissue paper as the reindeer's nose and glue on googly eyes.

12 Days of Kid's Christmas Crafts #4

Here's a new twist on an old favorite - microwave salt dough Christmas ornaments. Just follow the simple recipe, cut out your favorite cookie cutter shapes, and microwave a plate of ornaments at a time.

If you are looking for some fun and inexpensive crafts to do this Christmas, making ornaments with salt dough is a good choice. Basically, with salt, flour, water and some decorations you can make beautiful ornaments to give as gifts to family and friends.

4 cups of flour
1 cup of salt
1-1/2 cups of hot water
holiday cookie cutters
decorations - glitter, paint, beads, etc.

Mix all the ingredients together.

Use Christmas cookie cutters to cut a variety of Christmas themed icons.

Use a toothpick to make a hole for hanging, being sure to make the hole a little larger than you will want as the dough tends to shrink when baking.

Using a microwave-safe plate (not paper or cardboard), microwave a plate of your ornaments for 1 to 4 minutes, increasing the time by 1 minute increments and keeping a close eye on the microwave as the ornaments bake. Microwave power levels differ greatly, so use high power in a less-powerful oven, but the lower power setting it if your oven tends to heat things very quickly. Let the ornaments cool completely before decorating.

Properly dried the ornaments should last for years.

12 Days of Kid's Christmas Crafts #3

Silver &/or blue tinsel pipe cleaners, 2 per snowflake
Blue, white, and silver plastic pony beads
Scissors

Cut the pipe cleaners in half so that you have 4 pieces.Make a cross with two pieces, twist and secure. then add the other two pieces, twist and secure.

Add a few beads to each piece of pipe cleaner. Bend the ends of each piece just enough to prevent the beads from falling off. Add an ornament hanger or make a loop with the pipe cleaner for hanging.

12 Days of Kid's Christmas Crafts #2

These are so easy to make you will be amazed. Grab some glass ball ornaments and some paint and decorate these pretty and festive tree accents.

Glass ball ornaments
Red and green acrylic paint
Paint brush
ribbon

Turn an empty egg carton upside down. This will serve as your stand as you decorate.

Place ornament upside down on egg carton, resting it between egg cups.

Using the handle end of a paint brush, dip the end of the handle into paint then dot onto the ornament. You will need to re-dip after each dot. Change the size of the polka dots by using different sized paint brushes. Dot all around the ornament and let dry completely.

Once dry, tie a piece of ribbon through the hanger hook on the ornament.

Adapted from craft found at Kaboose.com.

12 Days of Kid's Christmas Crafts

Make your very own Christmas tree to display on your holiday table.

Styrofoam cone
Green felt
Goldenrod or yellow felt
Assorted small craft items in assorted colors
3 stems of red glittery chenille
1 stem red skinny chenille
1 stem white skinny chenille
Scissors
Hot glue gun with adult supervision or Elmer's glue

Lay Styrofoam cone on top of felt. Roll up to cover, trim excess, leaving ½” overlap at the bottom of the cone. Glue felt all around the cone. Cut slits in the felt overlap at the bottom, every couple of inches. Glue overlapping flaps to the bottom of the cone.

Add garland by gluing red glittery chenille stems around the cone.

Glue craft jewels, buttons, sequins, etc., to the tree as ornaments.

Twist together red and white skinny chenille stems. Cut in to 1” lengths. Bend top of each length to form a candy cane, glue candy canes to the garland on the tree.

Cut out a star from felt and glue to the top of the tree.

Tips:

• Styrofoam cones are available in various sizes at your local craft supply store or discount stores.
• Change the color of the felt to a lighter green or even white for a different twist, or pick a different color of chenille for the garland.

Adapted by craft found at Kaboose.com.

12 Ways to Make Christmas Cards

Everyone loves to get cards on Christmas, be it a child or a teenager or even an aged person. Christmas cards have a certain emotional aspect attached to them which makes us feel special. The attractiveness of Christmas cards goes much further the moment we come to know that the sender of the card had made it himself/herself. Handmade Christmas cards add a much more personal touch to the wishes written within.

1. How to Make Christmas Tree Pop-up Card
2. Homemade Christmas Cards
3. How to Make Christmas Cards
4. Card Making Tips
5. Make Your Own Paper Christmas Cards
6. How to Make a Christmas Photo Card
7. How to Make Your Own Greeting Cards Using a Computer
8. Homemade Christmas Tree Card (video)
9. Greeting Cards for All Occasions (scroll half way down page for how-to's)
10. Christmas Card Gallery from About.com
11. Christmas Card Ideas
12. How to Make Christmas Greeting Cards

More fun things to make with the cards you receive each Christmas:

• How to Make a Christmas Card Basket from Recycled Christmas Cards
• How to Make Christmas Cards into Christmas Ornaments

If you start now, you can have your handmade Christmas cards finished early. Do a few a week or on the 25th of each month.

12 Ways to Make a Wreath

Check out the various links on how to create unique wreaths for Christmas and year-round.

1. How to Make a Wreath
2. How to Make Wreaths for All Occasions
3. How to Make an Evergreen Wreath
4. How to Make Natural Green Wreaths
5. Christmas Wreaths
6. Wreath Making
7. Christmas Wreath Ideas
8. How to Make Wreath Centerpieces (video)
9. How to Make a Christmas Wreath
10. Making Wreaths (pdf document)
11. Make Your Own Holiday Wreath
12. Wreaths 101

Garlands

Tinsel, bead, or novelty garlands add so much to the charm and appearance of your Christmas tree. It looks great and it's easy to do.

Spiral
Wire 4 to 6 strands of garland together at one end and attach this end to the top of the tree. Separate the strands and spiral each strand down the tree. Space the strands evenly down the tree.

Double Spiral
Use twice as many strands and spiral half clockwise and the balance counter-clockwise. Colors may be alternated.

Swag
Begin at the back of the tree on the bottom. Tie the garland to a tip, then swag the garland gracefully from tip to tip using 12 inch to 20 inch swags depending upon the width of your tree. Let the swag fall freely. Continue around the tree. Either cut and secure the garland or swag up to the next layer on the back of the tree so that each row appears level. On the next row the high point of your swag should be centered directly and uniformly over the low point of the previous row. The swags should become small as you go up the tree. The more uniform the swag the more formal the look.

Streamers
Start at the top of the tree with 3 to 5 strands of garland or ribbon and let each streamer fall freely to give a vertical symmetry to the tree. To soften the look, streamers may be twisted and tucked lightly into the tree as they fall down the branches.

Handprint Snowman Ornament

Paint child's palm and fingers white. Carefully have them hold the blue ball to create the five snowmen. Use a paint marker to make hats, faces, and scarves.

Attach a tag with this poem:
These aren't just five snowmen
As anyone can see.
I made them with my hand
Which is a part of me.
Now each year when you trim the tree
You'll look back and recall
Christmas of 2004
When my hand was just this small!

Make a Fresh Pine Wreath

The best things about holidays is the smells that waft through the house and evoke memories of family gatherings past. Easily one of my favorite smells is the smell of pine boughs - from the Christmas tree, garlands, and wreaths. Wreaths were a favorite project - they are easy to make, fit in your budget decorating, and can be easily embellished with other items that enhance the aroma (like clove pomanders and cinnamon sticks). If you want to make your own wreath this Christmas, here's how.

How To Make a Microwaveable Heating Pad

Supplies needed:
Approximately 2.5 lbs of rice (No instant rice.)
26in. X 7in. heavy cotton or linen fabric
1 package of blanket binding or another piece of fabric
Funnel (If you don't have a funnel, cut top off a soda bottle)
Velcro with a sticky back

Instructions:

Cut fabric 26in x 7in. Fold in half sew bottom, side, and leave the top open for filling. Turn right side out so you don't see your stitching.

Fill with rice 2/3 of the way full. After filling, tuck top in half an inch and sew top.

Unfold blanket binding, cut at a length 54 inches and iron out crease. Fold in half front to front and sew each side leave top open. Fold hem in half an inch and attach Velcro (with sticky back).

Turn right side out and slide the rice filled fabric into the cover. Shut with Velcro.

Instructions for use:

Microwave for 90 seconds and place around any body part that needs heat.

Extra tips:

Cover can be taken off and washed on gentle cycle.

This pad makes a wonderful gift. Attach a note on how to use and launder.

My notes:

I have seen many of these on the Internet with various different instructions. Adding tea to the rice has a nice fragrance but you cannot keep the heating pad indefinitely like you can if you use only rice. I wish I could sew so I can make two of these for myself. These work great as a cool pad too. Keep one in the freezer for those bumps & bruises and hot days.

If you do make one of these, please send me a photo of your heating pad, and I'll post it here at 365 Days of Christmas.