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Storing Thanksgiving Leftovers-image

Thanksgiving dinner can take a couple weeks of preparation. With everything from picking out the perfect recipes for family and friends, and the hours of work that goes into bringing it all to the table, you deserve to get as much out of any leftovers you can. But sometimes, some of your best dishes might live a shorter shelf life than they otherwise would. For every dish, theres a better way to keep it fresher for longer. Whether tradition or where youre storing it in the fridge limits the longevity of your leftovers, weve outlined a few ways you can keep the life in your leftovers a little longer below. Thanksgiving Leftover Tips Pie Whether you picked up something from the store at the last minute, or blew the dust off a classic family recipe, few things are as sweet as leftover pie on a roomier stomach the next day. Whether youve having a slice with your morning coffee, or after dinner, the best way to keep it from going bad is to cut up whats left into individual slices. You should then either cover each slice in either saran wrap or an air-tight container. This will help the pie retain its moisture better. Slicing it up will also help it to cool faster, which helps prevent bacteria from spoiling the food too soon . If youre storing it for longer than a week, wed recommend freezing it until youre ready to eat. Turkey Thanksgiving leftovers just arent really leftovers without the preservation of your most prized tender turkey. But for them to make it to your sandwiches or soups this week and next, youll want to first cut up the rest of the meat in lieu of storing it on the bonewhich can be an open invitation to bacteria. This is a great tutorial for carving a turkey the right way . Its also a good idea to store the meat in more shallow containers. The more shallow the container, the less room there is for heat to gather. That means the meat will cool quicker, leaving less chance for bacteria to get in and ruin things.

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Whether youre getting there by air or land, traveling over the holidays is usually ripe with traffic and unexpected delays. For those that havent taken a longer road trip to see family or friends in a while, fear can set in early about making the wrong preparations. Even our trusted routes can become busier over time. So what do you do then? Googles navigation app has gleaned some helpful tips from over two years of traffic trends they see in the collective data in twenty-one U.S. cities. Below, well highlight what we learned from those findings that were published in a blog post a year ago. Google Thanksgiving Travel Tips Avoid Wednesdays According to them, hump day tends to have some of the worst trafficand that lines up with most wanting to get to their destination one day earlier. If your work schedule permits, its better to leave two days before the holiday. But if you do have to travel, theyve found that the bigger rush usually lines up with rush hourbetween 3PM and 5PM. Wed recommend leaving well before 2PM or after 7PM to bypass the molasses-slow traffic. Thanksgiving Day Believe it or not, our hallowed day of turkey tends to be the best day to travel. Because traffic happens more the day before, the major highways and roads should be mostly traffic-freeexcept for those making last minute runs to the store. Google just recommends avoiding traveling during the peak hours between 12PM and 2PM. Sunday Departure Last but not least, they recommend heading back home after the long holiday weekend on Sunday instead of Saturday. For those that do travel on Saturday, you can expect up to forty percent more traffic than youd experience if you can wait another day. Using this information, along with traffic updates from your favorite navigation app or your GPS, youll be able to get to your destination a little fasterand a lot less stressed.

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Apple treesin the spring we love to see them blossom, in the summer their green leafy shade provides respite from the summer sun, the little green apples hold a promise, and in the fall the promise is fulfilled with sweet, crisp apples ready to be picked. You can pick some up at a pick-your-own farm , and stop at the farmers market to get a couple of gallons of apple cider as well. But its easy to get a little carried away, so the counters in your kitchen end up overloaded with two gallons of cider and three different varieties of apples! So today, we want to share some great ways to use all those apples. Applesauce because it goes great with pork chops, or on pancakes, or for dessert, sprinkled with a little bit of cinnamon of course. Apple Dumplings Delicious and easy to make. Enjoy! Apple Cobbler Just like grandma used to make. For the longer term, you can dry apples and or make and preserve homemade apple pie filling. Drying Apples Apple Pie Filling Ah, a slice of warm apple pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Sounds heavenly. And what are apples without caramel? Heres a super easy caramel recipe to try. And, to drizzle it over apple pie or to make caramel apples, leave out the last two minutes of cooking and dip the apples (slide a popsicle stick into the bottom of an apple for easy dipping) into the caramel. Then roll them in finely chopped pecans and place them on waxed paper to cool. Jaimies Carmels Ingredients: 1 cup butter 1 cup light corn syrup 1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk 2 1/4 cup brown sugar 2 tsp vanilla 3/4 cup chopped pecans (optional) Butter baking dish (I used a 9x13 glass baking pan). Directions: Put all ingredients, except vanilla, in large microwave safe bowl: 1 - Heat on high five minutes; stir 2- Heat on high five minutes; stir 3- Heat on high five minutes; stir 4- Heat on high TWO minutes; stir Remove from heat and stir in vanilla (and finely chopped pecans if you want them). Pour into buttered pan; let cool two hours. Cut into pieces and wrap in waxed paper. And with all of that apple cider, it becomes a moral imperative to throw an apple-themed party! Wassaila.k.a. hot spiced cider will be the perfect beverage to serve at the party. You can use the clubhouse at Willow Hill to throw your own partyapples are optional. Write a comment and let us know how it turns out.

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Looking for a good way to liven up your apartment for Halloween? Decorations aren't hard to come by in Puyallup, but why spend the extra cash when frugality can lead to some unique, hand-made decorations that outstrip anything you could see in the store. These budget-friendly alternatives can help you save some extra cash for the upcoming winter season. Have a Happy Halloween with these spooky, easy to make decorations for your home. Ghostly Outdoor Draperies These lovely draperies only require little more than cheesecloth, a tape measure, and tea. Quick to construct and hard to do wrong, the drapes are an easy addition to windows, doors, and walls, and add an immediate ambience of a decrepit haunted house. The result is surprisingly beautiful for such a simple design. Hallow Tin Can Luminaries Completely customizable, these luminary instructions can be used for more than just the Halloween season. Depending on color and the theme word, these tin cans can be painted and poked to reflect any holiday. All you need is a can, a marker, hammer and nail, and some paint to create these lovely lamps. Hanging Ghosts Simple Styrofoam is used to craft these tiny spirits. More cute than terrifying, these decorations are the perfect way to share the holiday feel without going the macabre route. Use your leftover cheese cloth from the draperies to put together these hanging ghosts. Add some marker-drawn eyes and a bit of string, and these quick creations can be put anywhere in the house. Peekaboo Pumpkins Jack O' Lanterns aren't the only way to utilize pumpkins for Halloween. Don't mess with the muck of a pumpkin's innards this year and instead put together one of these adorable ghouls. The fastest craft on the list, all you need for these peekaboos is some glue and googly eyes. Stick them just about anywhere to peak away and you have a fantastic little craft for your Halloween display. Have any other suggestions or go-to creations you rely on for your homemade Halloween display? Feel free to comment and share those below.

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October is usually a month of transition from your favorite summer dishes to your favorite fall and early winter meals. So it makes sense that it doesnt get the credit it deserves for dishes that stand on their own before Novembers Thanksgiving. But it doesnt have to be seen as a second child in-between month. You can make that all change by dinner time tonight. With our recipes below, weve gathered three creative takes on some of falls best tastes. Whether you take them at face value, remix them with your own spin, or use them as inspiration for other ideas more in line with your palette, this month is ripe with potential for dishes that might become a staple every year. Butternut Squash Skillet Lasagna Squash is usually at its peak in this month in particular. So it just makes sense to take advantage of those seasonal flavors in a delicious skillet lasagna. With a healthy dose of mascarpone cheese, tender chicken breast, lasagna, finely chopped sage, and a hint of nutmeg, this easy-to-make dish is the perfect collage of coziness at the end of a long day. You can find what youll need for the recipe over here . Sweet Potato Gnocchi Good gnocchi is one of the highlights in the best or bleakest of fall days. And with a picture-perfect balsamic sage brown butter to top it all off, theres not much of an argument against this sweet potato based work of art. From the finely grated parmesan cheese on top to the trusty potatoes to round the dish out, you wont want to let the month get by without trying this recipe . Roasted Cauliflower Risotto Cauliflower must have a good PR teambecause its had a real comeback over the last few years. And nothing goes better with overcast days than roasted vegetables over a bed of piping hot risotto. With the sweet taste of chopped almond, and the smooth hint of dry sherry added in for good measure, this one is sure to hit the spot. You can find the recipe for this one over here .

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Scary movies and horror flicks take center stage this time of year. But for those that still want a taste of holiday spirit in their moviesand without all the gore or shocking momentsanimated features are often the best way to go. Because parents usually take their children to see these movies in theaters, more and more stories and writers are working to make these movies enjoyable and relatable for any age. Below, weve listed a few of our favorite animated movies that you can watch as you ring in your Halloween. Hallow-Themed Animation Paranorman Released just a few years ago, this movie follows the adventures of a boynamed Normanwho quickly discovers he has the power to commune with the dead. But things change quickly when he starts having visions about his past life role in rituals that protect the town. Time is of the essence as zombies threaten certain destruction. Dont be put off by its modest box office success. This one is a treat for critics and viewers alike. The Nightmare Before Christmas A popular cult-hit that occasionally makes its way back to theaters, this one is a seasonal must-see. As the main characterJack Skellingtonfinds a portal from his native Halloween Town to Christmas Town. Trying to bring the little he learns about the holiday back to his home, his failure to understand it leads to their attempt to take over the holiday. For those that roll their eyes at how quickly stores move between holidays, this one is right up your alley. Monsters Inc Billy Crystal and John Goodman bring this animated movie about the monsters under our beds to life. And what better way to take the fear out of imaginary monsters than to picture them as blue collar workers with everyday monster jobs. When they leave a portal to a little girls room open by mistake, she sets off a chain of events that could lead to big changes in both of their worlds. Though released more than a decade ago, Pixar always holds up well.

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