An online petition started by a Target employee garnered more than 165,000 signatures by Monday night in a quest to dissuade the company from opening on Thanksgiving to jump start its Black Friday sales.

Target and Toys R US both announced earlier store hours for this year’s holiday. Target will open three hours earlier at 9 p.m., and Toys R US will open its doors an hour earlier at 8 p.m on Thanksgiving.

“Since workers need to show up sometimes hours before the story officially opens, this will take much of Thanksgiving away from retail employees across the country,” said Casey Renee,  the worker who launched “Target: Take the high road and save Thanksgiving.”

“Target can take the high road and save Thanksgiving for employees like me and our families by saying no to ‘Thanksgiving Creep,’” she added.

Target defended its decision to open earlier this year, telling Metro the employees who work on Thanksgiving will receive holiday pay equal to time and a half their hourly rate.

“Across the country, each store asked team members for their preferences and schedules were created to meet the needs of our team and the business,” Molly Snyder, a Target spokesperson, told Metro. “Target appreciates our team’s flexibility throughout the holiday season.”

Snyder said the holiday season is highly competitive, with Thanksgiving weekend being one of the busiest times of the year, but even some consumers insist big box retailers have finally gone too far by beginning the Black Friday madness before Thanksgiving is even over.

“Chasing after the almighty dollar only benefits the Target CEO and shareholders who will be home enjoying Thanksgiving with their loving families,” Michael Benjamin of the Bronx said when he signed the petition. “Target employees deserve the same holiday benefit.”

“Saving money on products seems good for consumers, and earning money for business appears beneficial,” Jenny Jiang from Brooklyn added. “But big companies such as Target earn enough money as it is, and Thanksgiving is one of the biggest holidays in the U.S., a day when employees shouldn’t have to work.”

The post Thousands sign petition against Target opening earlier on Thanksgiving appeared first on Metro.us.

Typically, the Jets will have a light practice or walk-through on Monday, following their game the day before, and then an off day on Tuesday. Full gameday preparation begins in earnest on Wednesday with the installment of the game plan for the week and film study. Thursday and Friday are generally routine practices. But given the fact that the Jets played last Thursday in Denver and then with Thanksgiving following the next week, it was a scheduling snafu in the works, forcing the team to practice Monday through Wednesday, schedule a day off for Thanksgiving and then the normal Friday practice.

“It was weird, not practicing on Thursday and having to practice on Tuesday; just something we’re not really used to,” defensive end Mike DeVito said. “But I have to say, with the time off late last week after the Denver game and then three days of practice to start the week, it was nice to have yesterday off. The legs got rested up a bit; I think we were flying around a bit out there today, a bit more fresh.”

DeVito said that he spent Thanksgiving with his wife and teammate Matt Mulligan and his wife. He took some time in the morning for stretching and doing a little conditioning work and watched game film on Buffalo on his iPad for about 45 minutes before the guests arrived. It is important, he says, “to not take off from football entirely, even on Thanksgiving.”

Last year, the Jets weren’t afforded the luxury of taking off for the holiday. They played, and beat, the Bengals 26-10 on Thanksgiving. The only turkey on that day, for the players, was the performance of Bengals wide receiver Terrell Owens, who spent the week trash talking and was shut down in the game.

And while the holiday presents a problem in terms of game preparation, there’s another issue for players who are away from home during this time. The life of an NFL player is a nomadic one, taking them away from friends and family during the holidays. Young players who are not married are especially prone to the holiday blues.

On Wednesday following practice, former Jets guard and current Director of Player Development Dave Szott was circulating around the locker room, asking young players if they had found a place to spend the holiday.

For Ropati Pitoitua, it has been six Thanksgivings since he last joined his family around the table for the holiday. The Jets defensive end hasn’t spent the day with his family since he left American Samoa for Washington State, and this time was no different.

Pitoitua was in New York City for a Thanksgiving meal with his agent and wife, a meal he said “that was turkey, all the sides and more desserts than I could imagine.” It was a way to circumvent loneliness with his family 7,000 miles away. He gave them a call in the morning to wish them well and have just a bit of familial connection on a day that can conjure up plenty of emotion.

“They understand that it is part of the business, that I need to be here and that was the case when I was in college or the NFL,” Pitoitua said. “It’s hard, definitely not easy, but it is part of this job.”

Wide receiver Patrick Turner was in North Jersey last Thanksgiving without a place to go. He remembers eating Chinese and spending the day “pretty much alone.” This year, he was invited by teammate Dustin Keller and wife to their house. Calling it a “blessing to give thanks with others,” Turner arrived at 8 a.m. at the Keller household and spent the whole day with the family.

There was a big meal, of course, and Turner gave thumbs up to Mrs. Keller’s “chicken casserole with broccoli and a whole bunch of other stuff in there.” They watched some football of course, but he kept a distance from mixing too much work with pleasure.

“It was nice to have a day off from it all, to be honest. A little unusual that it was a Thursday off but it was nice, a chance to refresh yourself because we’ve put in a lot of work this week,” Turner said. “I’m just thankful for Dustin and his wife bringing me in for that day. It was nice and made me appreciate coming into work today.”

Follow Jets beat writer Kristian Dyer on Twitter @KristianRDyer.

The post Thanksgiving shuffles schedule for Jets appeared first on Metro.us.

Before you consider swapping out your oven for the fryer, check out these five deep-frying disasters. Then take a look at how it supposed to be done. Good luck!  

Perhaps the fact that the fryer already looked like a boiling cauldron of flames should have tipped theses guys off to the fact that it wasn’t quite turkey-ready?

If you can’t use water to put out an oil fire, and you can’t use a fire extinguisher, what can you use?!

This luau-inspired Thanksgiving had much more than just tiki torches!

Mom is ready with the fire extinguisher, but this guy’s going for it!

And this is what could happen to you if your turkey hasn’t fully thawed before you drop it in the oil.

Finally, the proper way to deep-fry your turkey. Please watch this — your family, pets, plants and neighbors will thank you.

The post Five deep-fried turkey disasters (VIDEO) appeared first on Metro.us.

2. Momofuku Milk Bar has a “Thanksgiving croissant that is out of this world,” says chef Christina Tosi. “We make this butter that is seasoned the way stuffing is seasoned so the bread taste sort of like stuffing and the inside of it we braise turkey, gravy and cranberry sauce.” Thanksgiving brunch will be at your place this year. $6, www.momofuku.com
 
3.If you’ve had your fill of pumpkin pies, cookies galore and all things cinnamon spicy pick up a creamy delicious Dolce Vizio’s Tiramisu Cake, $39 (serves 9), www.dolceviziotiramisu.com. 

The post 3 crowd pleasers to pick up on your way to the party appeared first on Metro.us.

This year, the two-mile extravaganza will begin at 77th Street and Central Park West and make its way south via Seventh and Sixth avenues, finally ending at 34th Street and Seventh Avenue in Herald Square.

The parade will feature staples like Buzz Lightyear and the Pillsbury Doughboy, but you’ll also spot a few newcomers — like Paul Frank’s Julius (the sock monkey).

This year marks the 85th anniversary of the Seventh Avenue spectacle that began in 1924. The parade begins at 9 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day and lasts three hours. Mary J. Blige, Neil Diamond, Avril Lavigne and the cast and muppets from Sesame Street will march this year.

Spectators hoping for a sneak peek of the inflatables can watch them get blown up beginning at 3 p.m. Wednesday in the Upper West Side by the American Museum of Natural History. The helium insertion process lasts approximately seven hours.

Where to watch
   
Central Park West between 77th and 59th
Central Park South between Eighth and Seventh avenues
Seventh Avenue between 59th and 48th streets
Sixth Avenue between 42nd and 34th streets

The post How to give thanks for Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade appeared first on Metro.us.

Jets wide receiver Plaxico Burress was scrutinized by the New York media on Tuesday afternoon after missing two days of practice with a prior obligation. On Monday, head coach Rex Ryan announced that Burress was excused for personal reasons, an absence that he said was approved “months ago.”

Later on Monday afternoon, a Jets media relations spokesman confirmed to Metro that Burress was in Virginia Beach, Va. handing out turkeys to families in need as an extension of his charitable foundation.

Because this is his first Thanksgiving since completing a two-year prison sentence, it was especially moving for Burress.

“To do it for the first time in two years, it’s always been a special day for me. I grew up in the area, grew up in the community and know what it’s like not to have a real Thanksgiving,” Burress said.

The Jets have a different practice schedule this week than usual. Typically, Tuesday is their off day, but because of the Thanksgiving holiday and the fact that they played mid-week in Denver, the Jets practiced on Tuesday and will be off this Thursday. Ryan confirmed that he changed the practice schedule this week, meaning that Burress would miss two days of practice and not just one as in a typical week.

Ryan said that having played the Bills a month ago, the Jets are “familiar with this opponent and “this is not going to hurt him; it’s not going to set him back.”

“When you sign up for these events, you usually try to make it happen on a Monday, Tuesday and it was a strange thing that we played on a Thursday and the event fell on a Monday, a Tuesday — and Tuesday is usually a day off in the league,” Burress said. “It just happened that our schedule wasn’t according. I just thank him, Rex, [general manager] Mike Tannenbaum, for letting me fulfill my obligations, my commitments.”

Burress came back up to New Jersey on Monday after giving out the turkeys then had an event Tuesday morning in Harlem to honor Central Park East Middle School students. He was at the team’s facility in the afternoon — after the team came off the field — even though he wasn’t expected to rejoin his teammates until Wednesday. He said he watched film and got the game plan for the week.

“I came back in last night. I wasn’t supposed to come back until today,” Burress said. “I wasn’t able to make it, got here as fast as I could and catch up as much as I can for the rest of the week.”

The Jets wide receiver said he thinks that, especially given the two years he spent in prison unable to do charitable events through his foundation, his teammates understand him missing two days of practice for an outreach such as this. Burress doesn’t anticipate his two days away from the team hurting his preparation against the Bills.

“We just played the Buffalo Bills a few weeks ago,” Burress said. “I don’t think they’ve changed that much the past couple weeks.”

Follow Jets beat writer Kristian Dyer on Twitter @KristianRDyer.

The post Burress celebrating a special Thanksgiving appeared first on Metro.us.

1. Bring your hosts treats to enjoy after everyone goes home. Iron Chef Jose Garces’ artisan chocolate bars feature unexpected combos such as porcini and thyme. His Garces Trading Co. coffee will make a messy kitchen easier to wake up to. Chocolate: $8, coffee: $14, www.grg-mgmt.com

2. Bringing blooms? These ceramic stone vases from the Museum of Modern Art’s design store are an artful little extra and won’t send your busy host scrambling for water. $75, www.momastore.org

3. Everyone brings a bottle of wine. Mix it up with this festive bar set from Olivia & Cocoa. $78, www.oliveandcocoa.com

4. Restoration Hardware’s rustic brass ornaments have a subtle holiday feel that will fit in with any tree’s decor. $20-$32, www.restorationhardware.com

5. Moet’s Imperial Gift Box keeps bubbly chilled and is ready to go with a festive bow. Just add orange juice for the perfect morning-after gift. $40, www.moet.com

The post Black Friday gifts for hosts: Don’t show up with empty hands appeared first on Metro.us.

For pre-bird hors d’oeuvres

Hillshire Farms Applewood Smoked Chicken Lit’l Smokies
Perfect for pigs in a blanket, or simply on their own with a toothpick down the middle, these mini-sausages are made with chicken, so they’re leaner than traditional ’dogs. Each serving is 100 calories and has 7 grams of protein.

Blue Diamond Nut.Thins
Pair these crackers with your favorite dip and don’t worry about feeling guilty: Made with whole grain rice and almonds, they’re trans-fat and cholesterol-free, and each serving packs three grams of protein. They’re available in tasty flavors like Pepper Jack and Sour Cream & Chive.

Your best bird: free-range
Why buy a free-range, naturally raised turkey? According to Andrew Dorsey, a butcher at Brooklyn’s Marlow & Daughters, naturally-raised birds have a better diet than their contained peers, which is good news for you: “If a turkey is well-fed, you’re gonna end up with a healthier product,” he says.
Which leads to another consumer benefit for choosing free-range turkeys over battery-raised: Peace of mind from knowing the birds are not caged in overcrowded sheds.

“We provide a happy environment for the birds,” says Frank McClelland, who owns Boston restaurants L’Espalier and Sel de la Terre and raises free-range, certified organic turkeys on his farm in Essex, Mass. 

And better-fed, less-stressed birds pay off in better flavor, vouch both Dorsey and McClelland. “We raise heritage breeds, which were developed over a hundred years for flavor,” says McClelland. “They’re nothing like a ‘supermarket’ turkey, which [is] less flavorful.”

Yum! Healthy, pumpkin-flavored icy treats

Arctic Zero Pumpkin dessert
It’s not quite ice cream, but its taste is sure to get you through a Christmas movie marathon on TV. This flavorful dessert is less than 150 calories per pint, fat-free and lactose-intolerant friendly. $3.50-$5, Whole Foods

Lifeway Pumpkin Spice Lowfat Kefir
Kefir is kind of like a drinkable yogurt; and, like many yogurts, it’s loaded with probiotics, which bump up the good bacteria in your digestive system. This low-fat, low-cal beverage is a good source of protein, calcium and fiber, and you can enjoy it straight out of the bottle or frozen! $3.89, Whole Foods

The Soft Serve Fruit Co. in Pumpkin flavor
Just real pumpkin, filtered water and a bit of organic cane sugar go into this frozen treat, which is sweet while still retaining a yummy autumnal taste. Buy some quarts online and have them shipped anywhere across the country. $11, www.softservefruitco.com

The next day

Sandwich your leftover turkey between two pieces of Arnold Health-Full Flax & Fiber bread: It’s a good source of Omega-3s, fiber and protein — and it’s only 80 calories a slice.

Recipe: Joy’s Whipped Cinnamon Sweet Potatoes

Top with toasted, chopped pecans for heart-healthy fats and fabulous crunch!

Makes 4 servings

4 medium sweet potatoes
2 tablespoons soft tub, trans fat–free, reduced-fat spread (or whipped butter)
2 tablespoons skim milk or soymilk
1/2 to 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Kosher salt

Microwave the sweet potatoes on high for 15 minutes, or until fully cooked. Let the potatoes cool, then peel and place the flesh in a large mixing bowl. Add the soft tub spread, soy milk, and cinnamon and mash thoroughly. Season with kosher salt to taste.

Per serving: 198 calories, 3 g protein, 40 g carbohydrate, 3 g fat (0.5 g saturated), 0 mg cholesterol, 150 mg sodium, 6 g fiber

The post Healthier options for Thanksgiving appeared first on Metro.us.

Lighten up the classics.
Sometimes you have to have the real thing (there’s no messing with mom’s stuffing). When it comes to less hallowed “supporting dishes,” browse the Web for slimmed-down versions that make smart substitutions to trim excess calories and fat. For a healthy alternative to sugary sweet potato casserole, visit www.metro.us for my recipe.
                                                                                                                   
Say bye-bye to leftovers.
If you’re the host, pack up anything that might tempt you in subsequent days. Both your guests and your waistline will give thanks.
 
Get back on track.
The day after Thanksgiving, hit the gym and go right back to your regular, healthy eating routine.

— For more tips on healthy eating, follow Joy Bauer on Facebook and Twitter (@joybauer) and visit www.joybauer.com.
Metro does not endorse the opinions of the author, or any opinions expressed on its pages. Opposing viewpoints are welcome. Send 100-word submissions to letters@metro.us.

The post Turkey Day sans food coma appeared first on Metro.us.

“Most all of the foods that we associate with Thanksgiving are Native American foods,” says Beverly Cox, the co-author of the recently reissued “Spirit of the Harvest: North American Indian Cooking.”
“Sweet potatoes, corn (like cornbread stuffing), the turkey (a native animal to the Americas), cranberries, green beans, pumpkin pie — pumpkins originated in the Americas as well — virtually our whole dinner came from the Indians.”

And while we celebrate Thanksgiving just once a year, in earlier times, giving thanks was a regular occurrence.

“Thanksgiving ceremonies, for most Native American tribes, were very much a part of their lives,” she continues. “There were Thanksgiving ceremonies periodically throughout the year to punctuate the different harvests. There would be a Thanksgiving ceremony for the first buffalo, or the first salmon that were caught — they’d treat it with a great ceremony to thank the salmon for giving themselves to feed the people.”

So before you stuff your face this year, we recommend giving thanks to the Native Americans for helping your mom come up with that awesome pie.

Weekend Recipe

Hidatsa stuffed sugar pumpkin

Serves 6

Many of the Plains tribes originated near the Great Lakes and in the northern woodlands, and thus were familiar with wild rice. It became and important trade item, finding its way from Woodland to Prairie tribes. It was then traded for buffalo hides and dried meat from the hunting peoples on the plains, who were long removed from their ancestral rice marshes.

The Mandan and Hidatsa villages along the Missouri River in what is now central North Dakota were major trading centers for both indigenous and non-Indian foods. These tribes raised pumpkins and squash and also traded with tribes to the east and the north, and thus had a more varied diet than their nomadic neighbors.

Ingredients
1 4- to 5-pound sugar pumpkin
2 teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon dry mustard
1-2 tablespoons vegetable oil or rendered fat
1 pound ground venison, buffalo or beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup wild rice, cooked
3 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon crushed dried sage
¼ teaspoon pepper

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Cut the top from the pumpkin and remove seeds and strings. Prick cavity with a fork and rub with 1 teaspoon of salt and the mustard. Heat oil in a large skillet. Add meat and onion and saute over medium-high heat until browned. Off the heat, stir in wild rice, eggs, remaining salt, sage and pepper. Stuff pumpkin with this mixture.  Place ½ inch of water in the bottom of a shallow baking pan.

2. Put pumpkin in the pan and bake for 1 ½ hours, or until tender. Add more water to the pan as necessary to avoid sticking. Cut pumpkin into wedges, giving each person both pumpkin and stuffing.

The post The original Thanksgiving meal appeared first on Metro.us.

“Beer is essentially liquid bread,” he says. “So when you think of Thanksgiving, the base of stuffing is almost always bread, and then it’s flavored with additional things. Its mirror image is beer.”
We got Schaffner’s top picks for what to serve alongside your turkey.

Must-have

1. Orval: “[It’s] produced by one of the six remaining Trappist breweries of the world — it’s actually made by monks. The beer has a little bit of a wild and funky element to it — they add a type of wild yeast to the bottling in order to achieve a secondary fermentation and the resulting carbonation. Any bottle conditioned beer will have a more effervescent mouthfeel with finer carbonation; but because of the addition of the wild yeast, Orval also has a wonderfully unique flavor accenting the carbonation.”

Big beers

2. Southampton Cuvee des Fleurs:
“Just for the presentation factor, it’s easier if there’s a couple of bigger bottles at the center of the table to pass around, as opposed to everybody having a little bottle next to them. The Southampton Cuvee des Fleurs is made in Long Island, and it is named as such because it uses a selection of different edible flowers as flavoring adjuncts. It’s also one of the drier beers.”

3. Brooklyn Brewery Local 1:
“It’s kind of Brooklyn’s homage to Belgian strong golden ales. It’s very versatile and there’s nothing that it’s really gonna conflict with that would appear on a Thanksgiving table.”


4. Brooklyn Brewery Brooklyn Sorachi Ace:

“If you enjoy a more spiced meal, I feel that [this] beer will stand up to that reasonably well.”

Safe bet

5. Any pumpkin beer:
“Some are sweeter, some are spicier, some are more robust. A lot of people think that would be a better beer to serve with the desserts, but I think it’s even better to have before the meal starts.”

The post Give thanks for these craft beers appeared first on Metro.us.

Think like a business traveler and avoid checking bags altogether. But be sure to adhere to carry-on limits, as they’re especially enforced during holiday travel periods.  If you must check bags, don’t over-pack; some overweight bags cost $100 if they’re more than 50 pounds — or $400 if they’re more than 70 pounds on international flights.

2. Be transparent

The plastic baggie is your friend, so know the TSA’s 3-1-1 Rule: limit liquids and gels to 3-ounce containers in 1 quart-sized zip-top baggie, and 1 bag per flyer. Also, do not wrap Christmas gifts, as anything that looks suspicious could be unwrapped at security.

3. Use technology to your advantage

Download apps to help keep track of things like schedule and gate changes, weather and alternate flights; Travelzoo’s iPhone app (and others on the market) allow travelers to browse, book and redeem geo-targeted travel and entertainment deals from their phone, without having to print from a computer.  Also, check in from your computer as close to 24 hours before your flight as possible — and program as many details of your itinerary as possible into your smartphone.

4. Package as much as you can up front

Bundling as many aspects of your vacation as possible will save you money. Include things like hotels, show tickets, tours, transportation, etc. to make your overall travel simpler and easier.

5. Consider alternate modes of transportation

Want to avoid airport lines, fees and delays?  Map out a highway route and make it a family road trip; just be sure to keep tabs on the weather. And look at travel by train or even bus to both cut travel costs and to create a unique, memorable travel experience. 

The post Tips for (nearly) painless travel this Thanksgiving appeared first on Metro.us.