Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is traditionally a day of family and friends gathering for food and celebration. It's also one of the busiest travel seasons as people fly [...]

Food tends to be the focus on Thanksgiving, but preparing that food is often trickier than many people expect. Dr. Sanj Kakar, a Mayo Clinic [...]

Raw turkey products have been linked to an outbreak of salmonella infection affecting 164 people in 35 states, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The outbreak does [...]

Food tends to be the focus on Thanksgiving, but preparing that food is often trickier than many people expect. Dr. Sanj Kakar, a Mayo Clinic [...]

Are you serving potatoes for a Thanksgiving side dish? Try upgrading your classic potato dishes with cauliflower. Cauliflower is a cruciferous vegetable that's rich in [...]

Stay healthy this Thanksgiving by ensuring your food is safe.  Mayo Clinic infectious diseases specialist Dr. Pritish Tosh says the No. 1 thing you can do to prevent [...]

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• It's a story that's told around many a Thanksgiving table, but it's not really true. In this Mayo [...]

LA CROSSE, Wis. -  Many people look forward to eating turkey and stuffing, potatoes and gravy, buttered beans, fruitcake, cookies, nuts, and pie throughout the holiday season. But excessive culinary celebrating creates the perfect recipe for dietary disaster and it can be very tempting to disregard healthy eating habits. According to MayoClinic.org the average American gains 5 pounds of weight between Thanksgiving and New Year's Eve. It is no wonder losing weight is the most popular New Year’s resolution. Registered dietitian Paula Przywojski at Mayo Clinic Health System Franciscan Healthcare says that by making simple changes, holiday meals can be less costly on the waist, while staying healthy. "Most holiday meals are not bad for you if they are prepared properly," says Przywojski. "The trouble arises when fat and sugar are added. For example, including large amounts of sugar, butter and gravy in recipes negates many of the benefits of healthy foods like squash, potatoes, and meat. It also makes it more difficult to enjoy these foods' natural flavors." Przywojski recommends these tips for holiday eating:

• Cut away all visible fat from meat before cooking
• Roast poultry on a rack so fat can drip away, remove skin before eating
• Remove fat from homemade soup: cool soups in the refrigerator; skim off the fat that rises to the surface
• Make sauce with fat free broth, tomato juice or skim milk, thickened with flour
• Use whole grain bread for stuffing
• Substitute skim milk for whole milk or cream in desert recipes
• Decrease sugar in recipes by 1/4 cup

Preparing a Thanksgiving turkey can prove tricky for even the most experienced cooks. How big of a bird to select, how to thaw it in time and how to avoid undercooking, overcooking or  — even worse — food poisoning, are among the challenges faced by holiday chefs. Here are some tips from Mayo Clinic to help avoid turkey-related mishaps:

• Turkey selection: At least 1 pound per person is the rough rule of thumb. That might sound like a lot, but much of that weight comes from bone and fat that you will trim away. If you enjoy leftovers, do the math for the number of people you will serve, then choose a turkey at least a few pounds heavier.  
• Defrosting: Keep your turkey frozen until it is ready to thaw. To thaw it in the refrigerator, leave it in its original wrapper, place it on a tray and allow at least a full day for every 4 pounds. For example, a 12-pound turkey, enough for about eight people plus leftovers, will take three or four days to thaw. You can also thaw the turkey in its wrapper submerged in cold water in a clean sink; allow a half-hour per pound and change the water every 30 minutes.