Thursday, November 22, 2012
Popular turkey line helps talk Thanksgiving cooks through holiday food prep drama.
They work faster then Santa's elves on Christmas Eve and prevent more disasters than Superman on his best day. They are the 50 turkey aficionados working the Butterball Turkey Talk line, located in a top secret location in a discreet office building on Diehl Road in Naperville. On Thanksgiving day alone, this highly trained team of home economists and nutritionists, all graduates of "Butterball University," will answer the call, or gobble, of more than 10,000 consumers facing severe turkey trauma. Over the course of 12 hours, that's about 200 callers per expert. Jan Allen, a home economist from Elk Grove Village, has been smoothing the ruffled feathers of stressed out Thanksgiving chefs for 29 years. She estimates she has logged in about 8…
The DuPage County Health Department and a Meijer dietician offer tips to leave Thanksgiving diners in a happy food coma.
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
If you've got wit, add your caption to Patch's weekly comic challenge and win a personalized print.
Are you blessed with insight and good humor? Or just bored today? Share your wit with your neighbors by entering Patch's comic caption challenge. Just add your dialogue for today's comic in the comment section of this post. Our only requirement is that you keep it clean! At week's end, we'll pick the winning punchline based on how many of us here at Patch giggle and smile at your contribution. The user who produces the winning punchline will get a personalized proof of the comic, with the winning words and a credit line, from cartoonist Chuck Ingwersen and Patch. Congratulations to LW Sagan, who provided the winning punchline to last week's Thirsty Horse cartoon: I don't think going dancing later is such a good idea. I really do have 2 …
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Is your group, church, club or school holding a fundraiser or giving back to a community group this holiday? Share the information with Local Editor Mary Ann Lopez and we will add it to our list.
Donors are being sought to adopt a family for the holidays. For more than 60 years the Glen Ellyn Junior Woman's Club has provided holiday cheer through their Christmas Baskets program, which benefits local community members in need. Donors adopt a family and buy gifts for each person in the family. Participating families range from small to large. Food from the Salvation Army and gifts through local school toy drives are added to the family basket. The drop-off date for wrapped gifts is Dec. 6, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., at Parkview Community Church, 764 St. Charles Road, Glen Ellyn. Baskets are delivered to families on December 8. If you would like to adopt a family or help with deliveries, please contact Mary Sheehy before December 1 …
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Canadian Turkeys, carving the lobster and a turkey the size of a dog.
No need to worry about conversation topics around the Thanksgiving dinner table. Let your guests fill up on these Thanksgiving fun facts.
Saturday, November 3, 2012
A Loyola Hospital trauma and burn surgeon gives tips to keep the cook out of the harm's way.
- THE NEIGHBORHOOD FILES
-
Saturday, November 3, 2012
Deep-fry is the only way to cook a turkey that is flavorable and moist, some aficionados say. But accidents can happen, and doctors at Loyola Hospital in Maywood who specialize in trauma and burns warn that caution should be taken when cooking the holiday bird. In the United States, more than 141 serious fires and hot-oil burns have been reported from the use of turkey fryers over the last decade, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Serafino Alfe of suburban Chicago knows. He was deep-frying turkeys for an annual fundraiser dinner recently and ended up at the Loyola Burn Center with third-degree burns—the worst—on his leg. “I tripped and fell right into the deep fryer,” he said in a prepared statement. “Thirty quarts …
Monday, November 28, 2011
This year, Black Friday was marred by violence and crime. Is it time for retailers to dial back the hype and promotion?
- OPINION
-
Monday, November 28, 2011
Should Black Friday be renamed Bloody Friday? Insane Friday? What-Has-This-Country-Come-To Friday? For some shoppers, Black Friday is all about the hunt for a good deal, and even a fun night, or early morning, out. However, in addition to a good deal on the latest electronics, Black Friday brought incidents involving pepper spray, shootings, looting and beatings. “Instead of a nice sweater, you need a bulletproof vest and goggles," Betty Thomas, 52, told the Associated Press Saturday while shopping with her family at a mall in Raleigh, N.C. Has this sales strategy gone too far? Should retailers be encouraged to dial back Black Friday hype and promotion? In addition to Black Friday, football is part of the Thanksgiving tradition, according …
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Did you ever host a dinner that was more foul than fowl? Read on and your holiday will be better than ever.
For Thanksgiving I always go to Casey's for my turkey. I feel like they have the freshest birds. So, it was really disappointing when one year my turkey, despite it's potential, didn’t turn out as planned. I was so upset my caruncle nearly burst. If you don’t know what that is, then it’s time to talk turkey about Thanksgiving. Here are a few steps: 1. Preparing your bird. Find a good counselor to help him cope. Farmed turkeys are flightless and have little chance for escape—especially since each year the average American eats about 10% of his own body weight in turkey. It may make you feel better to know that Big Bird’s costume was made from thousands of yellow-dyed turkey feathers. Life goes on? 2. Turkey safety. I think it’s pretty …
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Food pantries feel the pinch as more people need their help.
Families’ economic struggles continue, and nowhere are their woes more evident than at local food pantries. More and more families are relying on food pantries to stretch their budgets because there is little left for food after paying housing and utility bills. And, as Thanksgiving nears, families’ needs and pantries’ attempts to help are more poignant. “Last Thanksgiving, we thought that the economy was starting to improve a little bit. We had hit a record number but the rapid growth had slowed,” said Melissa Travis, senior director of programs—basic services for People’s Resource Center (PRC) in Wheaton. “Unfortunately, this year we are seeing another uptick in growth. There are a lot of people who are really struggling right now.” The …
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Family traditions in Glen Ellyn on Thanksgiving.
- THE NEIGHBORHOOD FILES
- Pam Kelleher
-
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Thanksgiving is a holiday for everyone, no matter what your beliefs may be. It is a time to think about what you can give someone else as well as for what you can be thankful. Giving has nothing to do with money or gifts. Giving means calling someone and asking, "how are you?" It means helping someone do something, giving someone a note of encouragement, babysitting someone's kids or just giving love to someone who needs it. I myself have been the receiver of these ways of giving this year and there is nothing more generous in the world. There are many ways in which people in Glen Ellyn celebrate Thanksgiving. For my family it means getting together with a very large family and enjoying each other's company as well as a wonderful …
Jennifer Moore
11:48 am on Thursday, November 22, 2012
I've met several of these ladies. They come into the store I work at to get their Butterball turkeys. They test cook the birds themselves waaay before Thanksgiving, so when you call them, they've already done it! You can easily spot them, they're the ones buying the turkeys in the summer time. :) Happy Thanksgiving! more ›