This year, why not bring a slimmed-down version of an all American classic to your Thanksgiving holiday gathering? This apple pie recipe is sure to please any hungry crowd with its satisfying, warm, cinnamon filling. And the best part is that no one will guess it’s a low fat option with its sweet, crunchy topping.

What You’ll Need

Crust:
*1 box Pillsbury® refrigerated pie crusts, softened as directed on box

Filling:
*6 medium thinly sliced, peeled apples (Granny Smith, Fuji, and Pink Ladies are my favorite)
*¾ cup sugar
*2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
*¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
*¼ teaspoon salt
*1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
*1 tablespoon lemon juice

Topping:
*1/3 cups uncooked old fashioned oats
*5 Tbsp all-purpose flour
*2 Tbsp sugar
*2 Tbsp reduced-calorie margarine, melted

How to Make It:
1. Preheat oven to 425°F
2. Place 1 pie crust in ungreased 9-inch glass pie plate. Press firmly against side and bottom
3. In large bowl, gently mix apple pie filling ingredients together. Toss mixture, ensuring it coats the apples
4. Spoon filling into crust-lined pie plate
5. Mix topping ingredients together until crumbly
6. Sprinkle top of pie with crumb topping
7. Flute the edges of the crust
8. Bake the pie for 40 to 45 minutes or until the apples are tender and the topping is golden brown
9. After first 15 to 20 minutes of baking, you may need to cover the pie crust edge with 2 to 3 inch wide strips of foil to prevent excessive browning
10. Cool baked on cooling rack at least 2 hours before serving
11. Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipping cream

Yield: 8 servings

Here is a list of the few simple place card ideas I am hoping to try out this year, alongside some successful place cards of the past:

Tea Lights and Calligraphy: It gets dark pretty early where I live, and I love the natural light of candles. Take sheets of shiny silver paper, a sheet of white paper, and orange and red markers. Cut out squares of the silver paper about 4 inches in size. Cut out white paper about half the size of the silver. Along the edge of the white paper, write the name of the person in orange marker, and highlight some of the letters in red. Make sure there is room for the tea light on top of the white paper, without covering the name. Place the silver paper directly on the plate, the white paper on top of the silver, and then the tea light. Light the candle right before you expect your guests. The light will reflect off the paper and give a beautiful glow.

Pumpkin Place Holders: This year I went a little crazy with the pumpkin purchasing for Halloween. We had more decorative gourds than I knew what to do with. So I decided to put them to good use. Use a variety of small gourds, in several different colors. They should be small enough to sit nicely in the center of the plate. Take small place card holders, or in a pinch, a toothpick, and insert them into the gourd. On each stick attach a card with each person’s name. These placeholders are colorful and festive.

Pomegranate Simplicity: This is a great fall place card holder if you are a little pressed for time. All you need is a bunch of small pomegranates and a silver marker. Simply write the name of each guest on the side of your pomegranate and place in center of plate. Even better, the guests can then enjoy the pomegranate while waiting for their meal.

I love a beautifully presented table, but I also like to do things easily and inexpensively. These three ideas are pretty straightforward and can be done in just a few minutes, for just a few dollars.

Start out with a harvest color for a table cloth, then decorate the table with homemade Thanksgiving place mats which can be used as conversation starters or for evoking a round of saying what everyone is thankful for.

Scatter around plastic autumn leaves in a ring pattern. Don’t use the real ones, because they will only make a mess. Use the leaves to highlight the dishes brought to the table.

Add a basket of fall fruit in harvest colors, such as apples and oranges. In addition to adding color, they also act as another dish you can present to children. Decorate the basket with a brown or orange ribbon for added detail.

You can also decorate the table with hand turkeys that your children have created. Use them as party favors to give your family something to remember on this special day.

If you like flowers, create a simple centerpiece out of a fall bouquet with matching ribbon colors. Consider using the flowers that are in season to brighten the table.

To find inspiration for other types of centerpieces, go outside and pick things from nature to create something that is uniquely your own piece. Collect things like pine cones, short branches, or interesting types of plants that would work well together. Just make sure to shake everything off of the nature items before bringing them into the house.

These are just a few ideas for your Thanksgiving table. It doesn’t have to be perfect to be noticed.

As turkeys are a big part of Thanksgiving, this craft is sure to please. The finished turkeys can be used as table centerpieces or for decorations around a room, such as on end tables, bookshelves, and window sills.

You will need:

Pine cones

Red, brown, and orange construction paper

Scissors or safety scissors

Glue

Two empty toilet paper rolls

Piece of cardboard

To assemble:

1. Start by going on a hunt for suitable pine cones. You want the big, fat ones.

2. Brush off all of the loose dirt, and remove any pine needles. You may want to do this step outside.

3. Draw feather shapes on the orange, red, and brown construction paper. The amount of feathers you need depends on the pine cone. Start with five, and add more as needed.

4. Cut out the feathers and arrange them in a fan like pattern. The feathers should overlap each other a little bit so that they can be glued together. Choose whatever color combination you like best.

5. Glue the feathers together, and set aside to dry.

6. Measure a piece of orange construction paper to glue around the toilet paper holders for the legs. Cut to size, and glue the orange paper around it.

7. Draw two turkey feet on the brown construction paper, and glue them to the bottom of the toilet paper holders. Allow to dry.

8. Use the orange construction paper to create two sides of a turkey’s head. Decorate both sides. To get more of a surface area for attaching the head, glue the head to a piece of cardboard. If you do this, make two sides to the turkey head. Allow glue to dry.

9. Now comes the hard part, attaching your turkey pieces to the pine cone. If necessary, pull out a few spikes to make a smooth area to attach to.

10. Glue the widest part of the fan tail to the back of the pine cone. You may need to hold it for a few minutes until the glue dries.

11. Glue the head to the front of the pine cone. You will need to hold this piece as well until the glue dries. If it doesn’t stay put, make a little notch into the pine cone, and then glue it into that notch.

12. Glue the legs into place. They will need to be placed in a row instead of side by side. If your legs don’t stick, cut the insides of the tubes for the pine cone to rest on. Then glue it in place.

Wait for all the glue to completely dry before moving it to a table or shelf.

If you do, well, we all have our guilty pleasures. If you don’t, you may want to think of some of these alternative sources of cranberry flavor for Thanksgiving.

They’re all best if you make them the day before.

• Homemade cranberry sauce.This is one of those things we’ve gotten used to buying ready made that’s really easy to make ourselves, and tastes much better when we do. You just need two parts fresh cranberries to one part water and one part sugar. Boil the water, add the berries and cook till the skins burst. You can purée them at this point, or not as you like, but next, add the sugar and bring it all to a boil. That’s it.
• Cranberry gelatin salad. Just make cranberry gelatin as the package says, then, after you’ve stirred in the cold water, add 1 1/2 cups of dried cranberries.
• Raw cranberry relish. There are lots of good recipes for this online. They all start with fresh cranberries chopped in a food processor, then sweetened. You can add honey, syrup, nuts, other chopped fruit like apples or oranges . . . get creative.
• If cranberry as a solid food is not to your taste, try serving cranberry juice or cocktail – or freezing it in ice cube trays to add flavor to water or soft drinks.

Don’t be afraid to start a new tradition. After all, what kind of tradition is canned cranberry sauce?

1. Placecards

Cindy Tollen suggests making placecards “using construction paper, glitter pens, and glue. You can go online to locate a design that they can print and copy such as a turkey, pumpkins, etc.”  All you need to supply is a list of names to help with spelling.  For younger, non-writers, simply have the children make a design that is special for each guest.

2. Thanksgiving Tree

Create a centerpiece with this simple idea from Lynn Colwell.  “(T)ake a branch, put it in a pot of dirt, stones or whatever and have kids make Thanksgiving ornaments for it. We did this for Halloween and plan to do it again for Thanksgiving.”  Let your child’s creativity run wild.  They can make ornaments out of construction paper, pipe cleaners, felt, and more.

3. Thankfulness Tree

Candace Lindemann offers this decorative and entertaining idea, “Cut out the shape of a tree and tape to a wall.  Trace each child’s hand on construction paper in autumn colors and cut out the shape.  Have each child either draw a picture or write down what he or she is thankful for and have the child sign his or her name.  Tape the ‘leaves’ to the branches of the tree.  You could also make this a centerpiece by collecting branches from outside, sticking them in decorative bowl using floral foam (or just play dough), and gluing or taping smaller leaf shapes to the branches.”

Here’s a list of games to keep the party going and burning all the calories consumed from the humongous feast.

Turkey Waddle Race

Depending on the number of inflatable turkeys you have, divide all the participants into teams. Place a chair, pole or any object as a marker a few feet from the starting point. Have the participants place the inflated turkey in between their legs and “waddle” from the starting point to the marker and back to the starting point. Once they reach the starting line again, they must give the turkey to the next player. The first team with all players completing the “waddle” wins. It will definitely provide exercise for the participants and non-stop laughs for the audience.

Bird, Beast Or Fish

Bird, Beast or Fish is definitely an individual’s game. The host or leader points to someone in the group and says either bird, beast or fish. And the person has to name a bird, beast or fish. It gets harder because as the game progresses, previously mentioned animals cannot be mentioned anymore or face elimination from the game. Failing to name an animal after a couple of seconds also automatically eliminates the player from the game. Last player standing wins!

Pin The Tail On The Turkey

It’s a spin on the classic Pin The Tail On the Donkey. Blindfold the participants and pin the tail on the turkey!

Put your own spin on these games and have fun playing them!

Anything with a screen may seem like an optimal choice, but why not amuse your children with an easy craft?  Just purchase the needed items, and you will have amusement and decorations in one package!  (Please note, younger children may need some guidance or direction with these crafts.)

Turkey Place Card Holders- Courtesy of Mary Lyon, author of The Frazzled Working Woman’s Practical Guide to Motherhood

• 1 throwaway CD
• 1 sheet of “fun foam” from a craft store
• 1 small pinecone
• 1 almond
• 1 long brown nut or brazil nut
• 2 small white beans
• 2 pipe cleaners, one red and one yellow
• 1 black marker
• 1 small bag of unsalted, shelled pumpkin seeds
• 2 or 3 tablespoons of unpopped popcorn
• 1 pair of scissors
• 1 medium-heat glue gun
• 1 bottle of regular white glue

Step One: Place, and glue the CD, SHINY SIDE UP, on the “fun foam.” Then trim around it to cut off the extra.

Step Two: Fold the yellow pipe cleaner in half. Then, fold each half in three smaller folds, to make two bird feet. Make the middle fold of each set of three – slightly bigger than the folds on either side of it, for a longer middle toe. Then glue it to the base of the pinecone, so the feet stick out from underneath.

Step Three: Determine where the larger brown nut should be – to make the body of the little turkey. With your thumb, push in several of the “petals” of the pine cone in the front, centered above where the feet stick out, to accommodate that large nut. This is where the body should be. Then glue the nut in place. Let the glue “set.”

Step Four: Cut a piece about 1-½ inches long from the red pipe cleaner. Bend it in half. That’s the wattle. Glue it on, on the top of the large brown nut, so the loop hangs down in the front a little bit. Let the glue “set.”

Step Five: Figure out the best side of the almond, and where you want the eyes to go. Then glue each small white bean in place for the eyes. Let the glue “set.” Then, carefully mark in dark pupils onto the white beans, completing the eyes.

Step Six: Glue the almond turkey head in place, on top o the ends of the red pipe cleaner wattle. Let the glue “set.”

Step Seven: Drizzle a line of white glue around the outer edge of the CD. Arrange the shelled pumpkin seeds on it, so they’re glued into place there. Let the glue dry.

Turkey Tabletop Decorations- Courtesy of Fave Crafts

Materials:

• 1 Cocoa EZ Felt Sheet, 12 x 18
• 1 Red Soft Felt Sheet, 9 x 12
• 1 Tangerine Soft Felt Sheet, 9 x 12
• 4  3/8-inch Diameter Google Eyes
• Fabric Glue
• Scissors

Step One: Trace around your child’s hand onto a piece of Cocoa EZ Felt twice.

Step Two: Cut out hands from EZ Felt Sheet.

Step Three: Cut corresponding slits on each felt hand. One hand will have a slit going from the middle finger to the center of the palm. On the other hand, the slit goes from the bottom of the palm to the center point of the hand.

Step Four: Glue google eyes onto the thumbs of the hands. This will be your turkey’s head.

Step Five: Cut 8 Feather Shapes each from the Red and Orange Soft Felt Sheets. Also cut an oval shape from the Red Felt.

Step Six: Glue feathers and oval to the turkey like shown above. Repeat for the other side. You will have to recut the slit from Step 3 on one of the hands.

Step Seven: Slip together.

If you’re looking for more Thanksgiving craft ideas, check out this article at Your Parenting Info.

The very first Thanksgiving celebration was held in the year 1621 by the Pilgrims and the Indians. Life for the early settlers to the country was fraught with many problems, but the fall harvest was a time for celebration, so celebrate they did. This huge feast was made up of a variety of foods and the celebration itself took place over a period of three days. It was also a time for prayer and to thank God for the good crop He had blessed them with. Today many of us still eat some of the same foods that the settlers included in their big feast.

After the first Thanksgiving in recorded history, the celebration was held in a sporadic manner but largely was pushed aside until the early 1800s. Back in the early days it was celebrated in late September or October to correspond with the fall harvest. Congress declared it a national holiday in 1941 and decided that the date for Thanksgiving would be the fourth Thursday in the month of November. This year it is November 26th.

Happy Thanksgiving, folks! And then …

It’s off to the malls for Black Friday, which is an important day in the world of the retail industry. Also sometimes referred to as Retail Black Friday, this day is the day after Thanksgiving, and it is one of the two busiest shopping days of the year (the other is December 26, the day after Christmas).

The origins of Black Friday are not known, but here is a little background on where the name comes from-

For accountants and all those who work in the money trade, black is a sign for profit while red means loss. In the retail trade the Christmas holiday season brings in ½ to ¾ of their sales for the entire year. The unofficial start to holiday shopping commences the day after Thanksgiving, which means that retailers are smiling because consumers have their wallets open and are buying. Black Friday helps retailers turn losses into wins.

Enjoy Black Friday!

Thanksgiving is about so much more than turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie. It is about family, friends and the heartfelt love and appreciation for the precious life you have. To make it as meaningful as possible this year and every year to come, make sure you take the time to teach your children what the holiday is all about. Discuss the history of it and if you can find a book on the holiday, then read it to them in preparation for the special day.

Encourage your children’s enthusiasm and appreciation for the holiday by letting them help you in small ways. Let them draw and color pictures and put them up for everyone to see. Let them help with decorations and setting the table for the holiday feast.

Let your children fold napkins and make place setting cards for everyone who will be in attendance. Let them know that their contribution is important and that they are doing an excellent job. Seeing the beaming look of pride in their eyes helps make the day even more thankful.

Create a Thanksgiving poem to read before the Thanksgiving meal. Ask everyone to give thanks for the many blessings they have been given. We are all thankful for our family and friends, our health, and our jobs but what about all of the other things? Dig deep and you will come up with an abundance of blessings that are sometimes not acknowledged on a regular basis.

-What about being thankful for the seasons, and the weather and the predictability of the passage of time?

-What about being thankful that you have made it to the point in your life where you are now? (You have earned every moment you have spent on the Earth after all. Celebrate it!)

-What about being thankful for your talents, your skills and the fact that every new day is a flower just waiting to blossom?

-How about being thankful for the lessons you have learned and the miles you have trod in this life?

Remember your many Thanksgiving blessings, and keep them with you every day. End your holiday with a relaxing walk and a smile of acknowledgement to the universe. This is how to keep the thanks in such a special holiday!