I have a few things to discuss before we all fill up on turkey on this wonderful Thanksgiving! Here it goes.

I wanted to start off with a few “thanks”.

• I would like to thank you for reading this post. You decided to spend some of your quality family time on Turkey Day to read it. I would do the same thing.
• I would like to thank the SteepleMedia community for staying with the website for soo long.
• I would like to thank TH for all his hard work. This week has really shown me how much he really does. But I can still tell that he does more work than I can imagine.
• I would like to thank the SteepleMedia trivia-ers aka the hard core trivia fans. I wouldn’t keep the trivia bot running if it was not here for you.
• I would like to thank all the SteepleMedia bloggers for keeping their blogs running.
• I would like to thank all the stores in the area for starting to play Christmas (or as I am supposed to call it “Holiday”) music 8 days before Thanksgiving.
• I would like to thank my family and anyone else who I have not mentioned for everything you do for this world.

The second topic on my mind was the new product out called “Tofurky”. Turtle Island Foods, Inc. is the creator of the popular Tofurky Vegetarian Roast, commonly sold at natural foods stores during the Thanksgiving and Christmas season. Also included in the company's product line is the soy-based, 100% vegan Tofurky Vegetarian Feast.

I am not trying to be mean to those who are vegetarians (my best friend is one) but this one is directed to all the turkey lovers. How gross does that sound? I first heard about it on Night Line. They showed how its made and I gagged. During the commercial break after seeing that, I kissed my turkey.

This third topic is for my trivia buddy’s! I have some “Turkey Trivia” (courtesy of infoplease.com):

• At one time, the turkey and the bald eagle were each considered as the national symbol of America. Benjamin Franklin was one of those who argued passionately on behalf of the turkey. Franklin felt the turkey, although "vain and silly", was a better choice than the bald eagle, whom he felt was "a coward".
• According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, more than 45 million turkeys are cooked and eaten in the U.S. at Thanksgiving—that's one sixth of all turkeys sold in the U.S. each year. American per capita consumption of turkeys has soared from 8.3 pounds in 1975 to 18.5 pounds last year.
• Last year, 2.7 billion pounds of turkey was processed in the United States.
• In 1995, retail sales of turkey reached approximately $4.4 billion. They are expected to reach $4.7 billion in 2000.
• Age is a determining factor in taste. Old, large males are preferable to young toms (males) as tom meat is stringy. The opposite is true for females: old hens are tougher birds.
• A turkey under sixteen weeks of age is called a fryer, while a young roaster is five to seven months old.
• Turkeys are the only breed of poultry native to the Western Hemisphere.
• Turkeys have great hearing, but no external ears. They can also see in color, and have excellent visual acuity and a wide field of vision (about 270 degrees), which makes sneaking up on them difficult. However, turkeys have a poor sense of smell (what's cooking?), but an excellent sense of taste.
• Domesticated turkeys cannot fly. Wild turkeys, however, can fly for short distances at speeds up to 55 miles per hour. They can also reach speeds of 25 miles per hour on the ground.
• Turkeys sometimes spend the night in trees.
• Turkeys can have heart attacks: turkeys in fields near the Air Force test areas over which the sound barrier was broken were known to drop dead from the shock of passing jets
• The ballroom dance known as the Turkey Trot was named for the short, jerky steps a turkey makes.

For those who are on a diet, or anyone else who wants to test this theory, here is how to avoid overeating at Thanksgiving. (courtesy of ehow.com)

The methods used to avoid overeating at Thanksgiving will keep you healthy throughout the year.

Instructions

• STEP 1: Eat a decent breakfast and lunch. Don't starve yourself until the big meal arrives.
• STEP 2: Exercise before the meal; this will suppress your appetite and boost your metabolism.
• STEP 3: Drink two or three glasses of water before the feast begins.
• STEP 4: Avoid conflict or dysfunctional family dynamics that can stress you out to the point where you take solace in food.
• STEP 5: Eat 3/4 of the food on your plate and don't overload it.
• STEP 6: Reduce your intake by refusing seconds.
• STEP 7: Remember that you can always enjoy leftovers the next day.
• STEP 8: Forgive yourself if you do overeat. One large meal is not a problem; many large meals in a row are.
• STEP 9: Keep a journal of what you eat. Remember that one pound is equal to 3,500 calories.

Tips & Warnings

• A 3.5 oz. serving of roasted turkey *** has 115 calories; a 3.5 oz. piece of roasted dark meat with skin has 221 calories; a 3.5 oz. piece of roasted dark meat without skin has 187 calories.
• A piece of apple pie (an 1/8 of the pie) has 347 calories; a piece of blueberry pie (an 1/8 of the pie) has 387 calories; a piece of cherry pie (an 1/8 of the pie) has 418 calories.
• A 1/2 cup of mashed potatoes has 111 calories.
• A 1/2 cup of bread stuffing has 198 calories; a 1/2 cup of cornbread stuffing has 175 calories.
• A 3-oz. serving of meat, poultry or fish is about the size of a deck of playing cards. A single ounce of meat, poultry or fish is about the size of a matchbox. One cup of fruit or yogurt is about the size of a baseball. Half a cup vegetables, pasta, rice or fruit is about the size of half a baseball or tennis ball. One medium potato is about the size of a computer mouse. One cup chopped fresh leafy greens is about the size of four lettuce leaves.

The fifth topic is this:

gdesignr said: Steeps - speaking of voting... while I wasn't a finalist in the Gold Rush, I am a finalist in the Jeep "Free Your Thoughts" contest!  This is really exciting for me, and I am hoping you can help out.  Please take a minute to vote for my video entry on their website:  
http://www.freeyourthoughts.com/gallery.aspx?id=14

My video is "Directions - Michael Schlecht - GA", and is a play on the word "Compass", spinning through images of the country, city, beach, and mountains, while asking North? South? East? West?...   I'm really proud of how it turned out. The finalist with the most votes wins a Jeep Compass, so please vote every day if you can.  Thanks!

Finally, if you have any concerns or questions about SteepleMedia, (until TreasureHunter returns) you can address anything to my email: ztocchi@aim.com

Here is a link to my blog as well as all the other SteepleMedia blogs.

·  A Counting School

·  Cyb3r Crim3

·  Reader Supported

·  At Home

·  BJ Not BK

·  A Son of Liberty

·  10 Gadgets

·  XBOX Novice

· SteepleMedia Recipes

Once again, thank you for stopping by and thinking about SteepleMedia on Thanksgiving. Have a nice Turkey Day!!