Down With Thanksgiving Shopping! Maybe.

Is the retail encroachment into Thanksgiving day worth fighting?

I’ve been known to be a party pooper, a real Debbie downer (sorry Debbie) when it comes to certain kinds of indulgences. Keep this in mind if you keep reading. Black Friday. Fine. After a day of gastronomic excess, we launch into a season of consumer spending that many of us will regret well into 2013. But a Black Friday that begins on Thanksgiving Thursday is just too much, or is it?  The argument was succinctly made by P.C. Richard & Son (on Facebook, of course) that retailers who chose to open their doors on Thanksgiving “show no respect to their employees and families, and are in total disrespect of family values in America.”  I’m inclined to agree, though the invocation of “family values” is questionable now that the phrase has been …

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Thanksgiving Leftovers: What Do You Do With Them?

Share your best recipes for the day after

Dinner’s done and the only thing more stuffed than the bird is you. Now the question becomes: What to do with all those leftovers? While many say simple reheating is all that’s necessary to have a “day after” feast, others have elaborate recipes for turning Thanksgiving leftovers into gourmet delights. From savory turkey soups to sinfully delicious pot pies and mile-high sandwiches, everyone has their own ideas on what to do with what’s leftover. The Food Network even has an entire recipe collection dedicated to the topic. We’d prefer to hear from you! What are your favorite Thanksgiving leftover recipes? Share them in the comments section.

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Hurricane Sandy

N.J. Disaster Recovery Centers Will Be Closed On Thanksgiving

New daily schedule begins Friday

New Jersey Disaster Recovery Centers, opened in the wake of Superstorm Sandy, will be closed Thanksgiving and begin a set of new hours Friday, state officials announced Wednesday. The change also applies to the Small Business Administration's Business Recovery Centers. Starting Friday, Nov. 23, all except the Bay Head center will go to a daily schedule of 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. to assist people who suffered damage during Sandy. The Bay Head center will resume its previous schedule of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. since a curfew is still in effect. Though the centers will be closed, individuals can register for assistance and follow up on previous applications on Thanksgiving Day by registering online at www.DisasterAssistance.gov, or by web-enabled mobile …

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Fantastic Thanksgiving Sides

A cheesy potato casserole and delicious cranberry sauce are sure to light up your Thanksgiving dinner table.

It’s time for Thanksgiving, my favorite time of the year! Not only do you get to see family, but the food is plentiful and delicious. If your family is anything like mine, there are multiple side dishes to choose from to accompany the all-important turkey. Everything from green bean casserole to sweet potato pie has been served at our table and now, I would like to share some fantastic side dish recipes that may become a part of your Thanksgiving tradition. Ingredients Cheesy Potato Casserole 3 lbs red potatoes, sliced 1 lb broccoli, chopped 1 10.75 oz can cream of chicken 1 cup sour cream ½ lb ham, sliced 1 tsp paprika 1 tsp black pepper 1 tbsp kosher salt 1 tsp garlic powder 1 tsp basil ½ cup cheddar cheese, grated ½ cup Asiago, grated ½…

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Community's 'Helping Hands' Come Together to Brighten Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Day baskets made ready for distribution at Manchester Township High School

Manchester Township High School and various members of the community continued a proud tradition Monday morning, as they cooperated in preparing Thanksgiving baskets to be distributed to needy families in the area on Thursday. The initiative, dubbed “Helping Hands for Hunger”, is completed through the school’s Peer Leadership Group, led by adviser and faculty member Sarah Thiffault. The club coordinated the activity by working together with area residents and senior citizens, lending the event a unique inter-generational component. Each of the 211 baskets was made to be identical, containing the exact same items. Foods such as turkey, fresh fruits and vegetables and all the trimmings usually seen on Thanksgiving all went into the baskets, …

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Manchester Lowe's Providing Free Meals for Thanksgiving

Communities affected by recent storms to receive extra help

With the holiday season getting under way Lowe's has announced that it will be providing free meals to local residents affected by Hurricane Sandy. The company announced that 35 of its stores in New York and New Jersey, including the store at 1053 Route 70, Manchester, will be providing more than 22,000 complete Thanksgiving dinners. The dinners include a fresh roasted turkey or ham, mashed potatoes and gravy along with sweet corn and rolls. Table Talk Pies of Worcester, Mass., also donated more than 43 thousand pies for the meals. In addition to the 500 meals each store will distribute the company also said that all employees of the store will also get a free meal, "as a thank you for their dedication before, during and after the storm," …

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What New Jersey's Doing with Leftovers

A turkey sandwich is just so lame. Try these ideas instead!

So the feast is over and everyone has had a good night's sleep fueled by an excess of food and drink. So what to do with the leftovers? We asked our own staffers and their friends and neighbors and of course, being Patch, scoured the Web, to find out what Jersey does the day after the feast. Of course, there's a turkey sandwich. But why not make it a bit more Jersey-specific, with a turkey Sloppy Joe? First, a bit of history: cooking enthusiast Ben Salmon explains the history of how the sandwich was invented in South Orange and rates three local purveyors. But now on to the recipe, complete with homemade Russian dressing. Ben has lots of other good ideas for leftovers, including what sounds to us like a Thanksgiving Dagwood. Want a more …

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