I Had A Little Dreidel Cookie

A dreidel is a four sided spinning top that children and adult plays with during the eight day Hanukah celebration. Put a real tasty spin on Hanukkah this year with Clever Cookie's Giant Dreidel Cookie and everyone will be singing "I have a Giant Dreidel and It's made out of cookie dough"

Clever Cookie had the cookie experts turn our favorite Hanukkah toy, the dreidel, into a giant delicious kosher cookie that all who are celebrating will surely enjoy. The giant 10 inch diameter dreidel cookie serves about ten people (depending on their appetite) and is hand decorated by the Clever Cookie staff. There is still plenty of time to get your Giant Dreidel Decorated Cookie fresh for Hanukkah which begins this year December 11th and will continue until sunset on the December 19th. Giant Dreidel Decorated Cookie The perfect gift for Children, grandchildren, neices, nephews, cousins and friends.

5 biggest Thanksgiving food myths debunked

By Andrew Knowlton

Does turkey make you sleepy? Should you use plastic pop-up thermometers? Is fresh pumpkin better than canned? Find out the answer as Bon Appetit dispels the biggest holiday food misconceptions.

1. The bigger the turkey, the better
When I was a kid, my mom took me to the supermarket a week before Thanksgiving and let me pick out the frozen turkey. I went for the one with the biggest breasts. Done laughing? Here's the thing, the ones with big breasts don't have much flavor. According to Rick Rodgers, cooking teacher and author of “Thanksgiving 101,” you should compare the size of the breast to the size of the rest of the bird. “Larger-breasted turkeys are new breeds that were created to produce a larger amount of meat — not a better flavor. The smaller the ratio of breast meat to whole bird, the closer the turkey is to the original model and the more old-fashioned its flavor will be,” he says. My advice, go with a fresh heritage turkey or crossbreed turkey.

2. Fresh pumpkin is better than canned pumpkin
“Canned" isn't a bad word. Canned tuna and canned tomatoes have a place in the pantry of any great cook. The same rule goes for pumpkin. Canned pureed pumpkin from the grocery store often produces a more reliable and consistent result — especially in baking. If you insist on using fresh pumpkin (and, let's be honest, preventing your guests from enjoying the traditional flavors of Thanksgiving) be sure to use sugar pumpkins ; the pumpkins you buy to carve at Halloween are watery, mealy, and not great for recipes. But I say long live canned pumpkin — at least one day a year.
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3. Turkey makes you sleepy
If you find yourself nodding off on the couch after the Thanksgiving feast, don't blame the poor old turkey. While it's true that turkey contains tryptophan — an amino acid that's a precursor to calming, feel-good serotonin--there's not enough tryptophan in roasted turkey to tire you out. In fact, there's more tryptophan in cheese and chicken breast than there is in turkey. The real reason you're sleepy? It's likely the stress of the holiday, the hours spent cooking, the wine and spirits — and all the fat and calories you just consumed.

More from Bon Appetit

* The best pumpkin desserts of all time
* Easy Thanksgiving potato recipes everyone will love
* 6 instant, no-cook Thanksgiving appetizers

4. Stuffing is the same as dressing
Dressing and stuffing are similar, but not the same. The difference lies in how they are prepared. Stuffing is, obviously, stuffed inside the bird, while dressing is usually cooked in a casserole dish. I've always preferred dressing since it has more surface area exposed in the oven, which means you get more crunchy, crusty bits. Stuffing is wet and soggy in my opinion. But there's another reason why you should cease stuffing your bird. Over to my friend Alton Brown for an explanation. “Lot of things could go in there (the cavity of the bird) .... in fact, only one thing shouldn't: stuffing. Stuffing is evil. Stuffing adds mass, so it slows the cooking. That's evil because the longer the bird, the drier it will be. And since the cavity is a perfect haven for salmonella bacteria, you have to be absolutely certain that the cavity is heated through to 165°F, which means overcooking at least part of the bird .... which is evil,” he says. Uhh, looks like stuffing ain't such a good idea.

5. Pop-up plastic thermometers work
This one is easy (and I'll make it quick): Pop-up thermometers are unreliable. Not only do they pierce the skin and let flavorful juices escape, but they can also malfunction, leaving you with an under-or-overcooked bird. What's more, most are made to pop up at 180°F — at that point your bird is toast. Use a probe thermometer instead.

Fun Thanksgiving Facts

* Americans feast on 535 million pounds of turkey on Thanksgiving.


* According the U.S. Department of Agriculture, more than 45 million turkeys are cooked and eaten in the United States at Thanksgiving. That number represents one sixth of all the turkeys sold in the U.S. each year!


* Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey to be our national bird.


* Domesticated turkeys cannot fly, however wild turkeys can fly up to 55 miles per hour over short distances.


* Only male (tom) turkeys gobble. Females make a clicking noise. The famous gobble is actually a seasonal mating call.


* The heaviest turkey ever raised weighed in at 86 pounds – about the size of a German Shepherd! (But turkeys are normally not used as police animals.)


* A turkey under 16 weeks of age is called a fryer. A five to seven month old turkey is called a roaster.


* The Turkey Trot, a ballroom dance in the 1900s, was named for the short, jerky steps of the turkey. It became popular mainly because it was denounced by the Vatican as "suggestive."


* Turkeys are known to spend the night in trees! (Maybe to escape the Thanksgiving table?)


* Turkeys can drown if they look up when it's raining!


* A turkey's field of vision is 270 degrees--one of the main reasons they're able to elude some hunters.


* The average age of the Mayflower passenger was 32. The oldest Mayflower passenger was 64.


* There was no milk, cheese, bread, butter or pumpkin pie at the original Thanksgiving Day feast.


* Contrary to popular belief, the Pilgrims did not have big buckles on their clothing, shoes, or hats.


* Buckles did not come into fashion until the late 1600s – more appropriate for the Salem Witchcraft trial time period.


* The cranberry got its name because the pale pink blossoms on the plant resembled a crane’s head and neck. The name craneberry stuck, eventually becoming cranberry.


* Fresh cranberries are ideal for cranberry sauce. Cranberries of the highest quality will always bounce! (If you try this at home, please wash the cranberries before eating.)


* President Abraham Lincoln established the original date for our National Thanksgiving Day celebration in 1863.


* President Thomas Jefferson scoffed at the idea of establishing a national “Thanksgiving Day.”


* Congress did not declare Thanksgiving a national holiday until 1941.


* The average person consumes 4,500 calories on Thanksgiving Day. (Now that's a lot of turkey!)





*This article was originally posted by 1800flowers.com

The Simpsons Cookie Favors

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, and the holidays quickly approaching, one of the best things that comes out of this time of year is getting to see and spend time with family and friends. The joy and pleasure of family and friends adds something special to the holiday season, gathering together to eat and enjoy one an others company.

Families come in all shapes and sizes, and this week at Clever Cookie, our cookie experts thought it would be a great idea to create one of our favorite cartoon families, into a wonderful cookie treat. Can anybody guess who that cartoon family might be? The Simpsons of course! Just like all of us, the Simpsons too celebrate the wonderful holiday season.

Our Simpsons Cookie Favors are available in all our favorite characters, Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa as well as others. These wonderful cookie treats are great for a variety of events, not only limited to the holiday season. You can enjoy these great cookies at a birthday party, where they can be personalized for your guests, or even for one of your children’s school functions, because let’s face it… who doesn’t like the Simpsons? What’s also great about these Simpson Cookie Favors is that you don’t have to worry about ordering them so far in advance, we at Clever Cookie will get them to you in enough time for your special event!

New Thanksgiving Cookies

As the days in November keep ticking away, Thanksgiving is getting closer and will be here before we know it. This week at Clever Cookie, we had our cookie experts to come up with a unique, playful Thanksgiving cookie treat. After hours of work, Clever Cookies cookie experts gave birth to three new Thanksgiving cookies perfect for a snack, dessert, or an edible centerpiece for the table during your Thanksgiving feast.

Our Happy Thanksgiving Cookie Arrangement contains delicious cornucopias, Indians, and pilgrims as well as our traditional Thanksgiving turkeys and leaf cookies. Looking to make this unique centerpiece even more eye catching? Personalize each and every cookie to each of your guests.

Although it is right around the corner, don't worry! You still have plenty of time to get our Happy Thanksgiving Cookie Arrangement on time!

Dreaming about Thanksgiving

First comes Halloween, then Day Light Savings (which some of us are still not used to). Before we knew it we were having a great time cheering on all of the incredible athletes who did an amazing job in the New York City Marathon. Now fall comes to a close with the meal to end all meals: Thanksgiving. And we couldn’t be more excited for the 26th.

While turkey, mashed potatoes, and stuffing are all must haves they also take tons of time and effort in the kitchen. Not to worry, Clever Cookie's cookie experts have been hard at work creating new cookie arrangements such as the Thanksgiving Gourmet Cookie Basket to alleviate that dessert work load.

Orders can be created as displayed, or with each cookie personalized featuring the names of everyone attending! (Personalized cookies are always a hit with everyone young and old). You can order the Thanksgiving Gourmet Cookie Basket or any other cookie arrangement for your Thanksgiving Dessert today and have it delivered Thanksgiving eve. You order is guaranteed to be fresh and on time!