Are Turkeys Scary??

We had a wonderful thanksgiving dinner on Thursday with a 15 pound turkey and all the trimmings.  However, I have a question.  It is kind of a funny question, kind of an embarrassing question, but still a question.

You see, we started on Thursday morning, getting the turkey out of the refrigerator and preparing it to be put in the oven.  The moment my 4 year old food allergic child saw the raw naked bird he ran over to me in a fear filled screaming flail.  Confused, I asked him what was wrong.  He pointed at the turkey sitting in the pan on the counter, and quietly told me he wanted me to get rid of it.  Still confused, I asked "why", since if we got rid of the turkey there would be much less to eat at dinner.  He was finally able to calm down enough to explain that he was deathly afraid of our turkey.

That's right, my 4 year old is afraid of a turkey.  He was afraid of it raw, he was afraid of it cooked.  He refused to sit at the table if the turkey was placed on the table at the same time.  He would not go near 10 feet of it, and refused to have any part of it on his plate or near anything he ate.  Yes, my son is not afraid of the boggy man, the dark, or a monster under his bed, he is afraid of a turkey.

So, I have a question to ask.   Are turkeys scary?

So, we have said our thanks, and now it is time to start shopping.  Although the Christmas season started officially the week before Halloween in stores around here (yes, they had all the Christmas stuff out the second week in October.  I thought of being Ms. Clause for Halloween.), I have only now started to think about my holiday shopping.

Just to get you off to a head start, here are a few of my great finds for holiday gifts.

1)Educate everyone on your list about food allergies and how to cook for the food allergic.

Linda Coss, one of my food allergy idols, is running a holiday special: Order by December 31, 2008 and get FREE Priority Mail shipping. There's no minimum order or coupons required, but you can also save up to 26% when you order the books in sets. 

Just go to www.FoodAllergyBooks.com to place your order.

2)Make a Flip Book from your own video.

Check out the website here.

I was looking for a new and exciting personalized gift, and came across this totally cool idea.  You can take 10, 15 or 30 seconds of your own video, and make it into one of those books that when you flip the pages makes your images move.  I thought this was the greatest idea, especially for those grandparents who are a bit technologically challenged, and never even figured out how to use a VCR.  I ordered two test ones for myself to check out, and will let you know how they turn out.

Happy Shopping!!

 

Super Epi Pen Goes to Paris

I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving.  Our meal was very yummy, and we have tons of leftovers for the rest of the week.  I had a little free time to play with the computer, so I made this picture at the request of fellow blogger Jennifer at the Food Allergy Buzz, who I am also very thankful for.

Yes, Super Epi Pen traveled to Paris over the holiday to save the day yet again.  

I hope he is back to go shopping tomorrow.

The Undressed Dressed Turkey

Are you stressed out because your family does not understand the dangers of food allergies, and insists on bringing over that nut laden dessert, even though you have told them millions of times that nuts are not allowed in your home???  Here is a way to take your mind of your stresses, and shock, scare amuse and amaze your guests all at the same time.  Try the undressed, dressed turkey.

1. Cut out aluminum foil in desired shapes.

2. Arrange the turkey in the roasting pan, position the foil carefully.

3. Roast according to your own recipe and serve.

http://wholeenchilada.wordpress.com/2007/11/15/amusements-creative-turkey-recipe/

I guess that you could cut out the tin foil into any shapes, and make any sort of designs you wanted on your turkey.  If the undressed, dressed turkey does not work for you, you could design your own work of turkey art to be shared at the dinner table.  And even better, when everyone is staring at the turkey in shock, you can get rid of all those nut ridden dishes the annoying relatives insisted on bringing over.

A Thankful Thanksgiving

I have been stressed these past few weeks (yes, I know, nothing unusual) so now that we are finally back from our road trip of fun, I started thinking about Thanksgiving.  In addition to all the thinking I have been doing about what to cook, I have also been thinking about all the things I am thankful for.  So here goes....

I am thankful for:

My three wonderful children

My wonderful husband

Chocolate

DVR - this is truly one of the greatest inventions ever.  I remember the days of trying to program that stupid video tape player..... (yes, I am that old)

That despite having heart failure, and not doing so well at the moment my Mother has been able to be around to get to know her grandchildren and thus necessitate that we all stuff ourselves into the car and drive long periods of time, so we can visit.  It is a bit scary not knowing how much longer she will be with us, but I am very thankful for the time there is.

That my husband cooks the turkey on Thanksgiving

That we are again friends with the egg, and have eggs back in our diet. I can now hopefully make a somewhat decent corn bread, and brownies.  This is of course hopefully - if I have too many "helpers" I have been known to make mistakes.

Coffee

Everyone is healthy.  Beyond our obvious health issues (Grandma, peanut allergy, asthma), everyone is doing well and is healthy and happy.  

Super Epi Pen

The Internet.  What did people do before the Internet???????  And of course broadband Internet connections.  Remember dial up?????

Buster the pug is doing well after his cancer scare.

All you totally cool and awesome people who visit my blog.  Yes, I know there are only like 5 of you, but you guys are great!!!!!

Is Your Olive Oil Like a Virgin - From Other Allergens That Is

We just got back from a marathon weekend of driving to visit the Grandparents in a pre-thanksgiving road trip.  It was thankfully quite uneventful, despite stuffing 7 people into two rooms the size of a closet.

Anyways, I found this very disturbing article about olive oil.  Apparently there is a disturbing olive oil conspiracy, where olive oil is cut with other oils including peanut, and soy, to lower its cost.  Some states are just enacting legislation now to protect consumers, and especially the food allergic from harm.  Just in case you did not have enough to worry about, check out the stories below.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/11/21/ap/national/main4626089.shtml

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2008422210_oliveoil22.html

http://www.greenwichtime.com/ci_11048114?source=most_emailed

I just also discovered that I am completely behind the boat on this issue.  The totally awesome food allergy blogger Jennifer at Food Allergy Buzz wrote about this here.  Also Kids With Food Allergies has this really great thread about it here.