Holiday Cooking Tips, Alton Brown Turkey Tips Video

A delicious turkey dinner is a Christmas tradition for many families. If you've been cooking awhile, you probably have cooking that turkey down pat. But if you're a newlywed, just out of college, or simply on your own for the first time, you probably could use some help.

Who better to take instruction from than Food TV's Alton Brown. Star of 'Good Eats' and host of 'Iron Chef America' Alton Brown brings expert knowledge and wit to cooking how to demonstrations. In the videos below, Alton will walk you through the whole process and make you feel like an expert also.

Click here to watch Alton's Turkey Tips video.

Latest Examiner column "Thanksgiving is a great day for fun and fitness"

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! Here's an excerpt of my latest Examiner column:

"We usually associate Thanksgiving with food and football. This year, instead of camping out on the couch watching football, get everyone outside for a game of touch football. While the average Thanksgiving feast runs upwards of 1600 calories, a fun hour of touch football burns roughly 595 calories. Not a big football fan? A family game of soccer burns 475 calories an hour. If you use a few of the calorie cutting tips below in conjunction with an hour of activity you can prevent holiday weight gain."

Read more.

While you're there, you might want to check out The Examiner's National Holiday Guide.

What We're Thankful For...A Bardelli Thanksgiving List

This was Bruno's idea. He started making us list what we are thankful for before I had loaded the coffee pot. So we decided to post our list and repost as it grows.

Bruno is thankful for:

My LEGOS.

Myself. (? Kids.)

My computers Samantha and Rita.

My Family.

Thanksgiving holiday.

Christmas.

My cousins.

My teacher Mrs. Mills.

My classmates.

My best friends Freddie, Justin, Junior, and Bret.

My principal who's nice.

My collector cards.

My big box of arts and crafts stuff.

My cars.

My pets.

Chocolate milk.

Pokemon themes.

Puppet shows I put on myself.

Carol is thankful for:

My wonderful husband.

My healthy happy son.

My friend Jesus.

My good health.

No mortgage! No bills besides utilities. (We paid everything off in 1999 before Bruno was born).

Doing things I'm not supposed to be able to do like Power 90X and 55 push ups in one set and 8 sets of 8-12 different exercises in one workout.

Still groping and making out with my husband all the time.

My horse Fury.

My sweet natured cats and dog.

My oldest friends Julie and Jackie. We've known each other since we were five.

My warm and cozy home on a cold morning.

My big brother John.

My aunts and uncles and cousins (88 first cousins on one side!)

Enough exercise equipment to furnish a gym.

A husband who'll drive 75 miles one way to buy me a treadmill. Or a siamese cat. Or pretty much anything I want.

The wisdom of others who I learn from. Like today from Dave Draper who said: "LIFT, EAT, REST AND GROW. I left out the details as they are boring and no one seems to agree upon them. I figure the less said, the fewer the disagreements. It is
the holiday season, after all."

Eating out with my family occasionally. (The less you do it the more special it is).

Music. All kinds including Diana Krall, Tony Bennett, Dean Martin, Montgomery Gentry, Brook & Dun, Trace Atkins, The Eagles, Stevie Nicks, Tom Petty, I could go on and on and list my whole Napster list but I won't.

My husband's seemingly endless handyman and computer skills.

Yeah, football! McNabb is yummy.

TIVO.

Fond memories of my parents who passed in 1980 and 1995.

All the horses I've ridden or owned over the years (Rode borrowed equestrian friends Lucy, Margie, Star, Smoky and Pete (Narzpetar). Owned Candy, Oly, Margo, Margo II, Buckshot, Chantilly, Ginger, Roxanne, and last but not least Fury!)

A warm soft bed draped with satin and fur (fake you PETA loons).

Calcium chews that taste like chocolate and caramel.

Real Belgium chocolates whenever I want.

Champagne! Caviar and Brie! iGourmet.com! Luxuries!

Shopping.

Books. Lots and lots of Books.

Jerry is thankful for:

My hot wife.

My son who got his Mom's brain and looks.

A great job and a great boss.

All the free stuff my boss gives us.

Good health.

Being able to work at a physically demanding job at my age (58).

Yeah, no mortgage and no debt!

Cats to kick.

My wife's extraordinary stuffing.

Turkey AND ham.

All the fixings.

Tums and baking soda.

Football.

Two TV's in the living room to watch two football games at the same time.

Four running vans.

A project truck.

No in-laws.

Oh yeah, my brother-in-law who rarely visits.

Napster blasting on the surround sound.

Craig's List and eBay.

A wife and boss who buy me the best tools. (DeWalt, Craftsman)

Linux.

Money in my wallet and in the bank.

A wife who manages finances so I don't have to.

Buying what I need.

My wife saying what I'm thinking before I say it.

The delete button.

The Season of Thanksgiving and Giving

" I will bless you; and you will be a blessing." Genesis 12:2

Please visit Wellness For Nancy

This is the season of giving thanks and counting our blessings, one of the most precious of which is good health. And it’s also a time of wonderful opportunity to share our good fortune with others who are less fortunate. Our traditional ways of sharing are giving time, money, or food to food banks and soup kitchens, or donating toys or cash to Toys For Tots. All of these are worthy charities.

This year I’d like to suggest another worthy cause we can all support. Many of our friends and neighbors are going through hard times of another kind. They find themselves facing a serious or life threatening illness without adequate resources or health insurance to get the treatment they need. Why not donate a little of your disposable income to these worthy people in need?

Below is the letter I received from my cousin about a friend of hers, a loving woman who is in just such a situation. Please take the time to read Nancy’s story, visit her website, include her in your prayers, and donate what you can to help her get the care she needs to live.

Hey Carol,

I have a friend who is in treatment for a virulent strain of cancer. Follicular Non Hodgkins Lymphoma. She worked for (Big Corporation, Name Deleted By Me) when she was in her 20''s in the "clean room". Her body was polluted by the chemicals that she was told were completely safe. She has had numerous bouts of cancer over the 30 years, but this one is going to take her life if she doesn't get treatment. She doesn't have medical insurance. The only income she has is the residual income from a MLM she sells products for. The treatment is going to take many months and cost her nearly $100,000. Her daughters are trying to raise money for her.

Is there a possibility that you could include her website somewhere in your website so that your audience could read about her and become part of the fundraising effort?

Her website is: www.wellnessfornancy.com There you can see all the information about her.

I met Nancy a year ago in August attending an essential oil boot camp in Salt lake. She was a phenomenal woman and a "healer". I find it horribly ironic that life has taken this turn for her.

If this is way too far off topic for your websites, I understand. No pressure from me at all, I'm just trying to find ways to spread the word about the great financial need she has.

Love,
Linda