Thanksgiving week has finally arrived.
H.U. Westermayer said "The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving."
At this time of year - we often reflect on the things or the people who we are grateful for. If you will submit a post or a photo essay concerning what you are grateful for, I will spotlight them in the Wednesday edition of Today On Gather. You should cross post your post with the Gather Family group and any other group that is relevant. Come back to this post and add the link to your post in the comment area before 6:30 PM ET Tuesday.
Edward Sandford Martin said "Thanksgiving Day comes, by statute, once a year; to the honest man it comes as frequently as the heart of gratitude will allow."
Who could forget this quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson
"For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends."
My thoughts keep going to Thanksgiving dinner. We will be having dinner at my parents home this year. All my brothers and sister will be there with their families. I love spending time with my family. We always have the traditional turkey dinner. Make sure you attend the live chat for a chance to win one of ten $15.00 Butterball turkey checks. You can also have a chance to win $15 Turkey Gifts Checks from Butterball for 15 lucky Gather members who post their favorite holiday side-dish recipes.
Gather is offering you a wonderful opportunity to chat with Butterball® Turkey Talk-Line® Experts. Even if you have prepared turkey for years, I am sure you will learn something that will help make your turkey juicier and more flavorful at this chat.
The live chat will take place on Wednesday, November 26th. The Turkey Talk-Line Experts will be with us from 1 to 2 PM ET to answer your last-minute questions and to share the latest and greatest tips for preparing the perfect Thanksgiving bird. Make sure to pencil this into your plans now before you forget.
Turkey Talk-Line Live Chat Details
Chat with Butterball Turkey Talk-Line experts and gobble up tips for preparing the picture-perfect turkey. Mary Clingman, director of the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line, will lead the live chat along with well-know mommy blogger Susan Wagner, author of "Friday Playdate," Gather member, and first-year Butterball Talk Line blogger!
Join the Turkey Talk-Line Experts live on Wednesday, November 26th at 1pm ET to gobble up tips for preparing the perfect Thanksgiving feast for friends and family. As an added bonus, we will give away 10 additional $15 Butterball Turkey Checks during the live chat to members who post a comment or question for the experts.
Announcing the "Think Outside the Turkey" Contest & Live Chat with Butterball's Turkey Talk-Line Experts
But wait, That is not all! Leading up to the live chat, gather is hosting the "Think Outside the Turkey" side-dish recipe drawing. Butterball will give away $15 Turkey Gifts Checks to 15 Gather members who post their favorite holiday side-dish recipes. To enter the drawing, post your "Think Outside the Turkey" side-dish recipe to the Food Essential group between November 19th and November 25th. Winners will be randomly selected and announced during the live Turkey Talk-Line chat on November 26th. The winning recipes will be featured on Gather and in an upcoming holiday newsletter.
Note: The open submission period for this drawing ends on November 25th, 2008 at 11:59 PM ET. Winners will be announced on November 26th in the Food Essential group during the Turkey Talk live chat.
Win 500 Points
Live Chat Tuesday, 11/25 @ 4PM ET - How Do You Achieve What You Most Want in Life?
Join us here for a live chat, Tuesday 11/25 from 4-4:30PM ET (1-1:30PM PT) with Joyce Schwarz, author of the book, The Vision Board, one of our featured titles this month in Bright Ideas from Bestselling Authors.
Before joining the chat, ask yourself, "How do I ultimately achieve what I most want most in life?"
Joyce will guide you through the process of creating a vision board. The Gather Editorial team will be selecting the member who submits their favorite question during the 30 minute chat to receive 500 Gather Points. Good luck to all.
Winners of the Coffee-and-a-Book Photos
Earlier this month you shared your Coffee-and-a-Book Photos. The Gather Editorial team has selected their top three favorites from hundreds of pictures.
The top two runner ups are Rose H. and Heather W. They will both receive 500 Gather Points TM.
Congratulations to the grand prize winner, Mr. Bill. He will receive three COFFE-MATE coupons, a $25 Borders gift card and his choice of either a $25 Dunkin' Donuts or a $25 Starbucks gift card. Congratulations to all three winners!
Holiday Baking Photo Contest: Bake Up Some Photos to Win Points & Prizes
Tis the season to gobble up goodies! And for a lot of us, baked treats are topping our wish list of want-to-eats. To celebrate the season and our love of all things tasty, we're throwing a holiday baking photo contest! To enter, just share some photos of your best holiday baked goods for a chance to win 500 Gather PointsTM, a copy of Modern Baker, a $100 Williams-Sonoma gift card, and more.
Prizes
- Four runners-up will receive a copy of Modern Baker and 500 Gather Points
- Grand Prize winner will receive a copy of Modern Baker, 500 Gather Points, a collection from the DK Cookbook Library & a $100 Williams-Sonoma® gift card
The start date for the contest is Monday, November 24th, and the contest ends at midnight on Friday, December 5th. Multiple entries are allowed - and encouraged!
Note: Winners will be announced Friday, December 12 by 5pm ET. Good luck!
Click here for rules and regulations.
Check out all the mouth-watering photos here!
Thanksgiving Activities for Kids 
Need ideas to get kids involved and occupied during Thanksgiving? Gather's own Chef Jill offers some great tips to keep the kids busy while you entertain or just spend time with family.
Join the Incredible Group and Get Some Incredible Gather Points!
Do you know about the Incredible Group? It's the group where you can show off your incredible kids and the incredible people who are helping them! It doesn't matter if you're a parent or not, we all know someone who is incredible for one reason or another and this is the time to tell us about them!
Join the Incredible Group today and tell us who's incredible in your life! Each week, Gather will award three Incredible members of the group with 500 Gather PointsTM. All past members are eligible as well! So join today!
Note: Promotion will run until December 20th.
Win A Free Book - Easy Dinner Recipe for the Family: Turkey Meatballs with Tomato Sauce
This is a great meal for the whole family: it's turkey meatballs with spaghetti and tomato sauce. Without the sauce, the meatballs are a great finger food for your child. This recipe uses ingredients that you probably already have in your store cupboard: View the video now.
What are some of your favorite Italian recipes? Discuss by Wednesday, November 26th. Gather will draw one member to receive a free copy of my book First Meals (New Expanded Edition).
Share your posts and photos of cooking with your kids in Parenting.gather.com.
Win SpongeBob SquarePants Prizes!
Do your kids love SpongeBob SquarePants?
Have them play the SpongeBob SquarePants' Lost & Found My Prizes Game! It's a fun online prize hunt for children and SpongeBob fans of all ages! It's a great gift for the holidays! Share your comment by Friday, December 5th for a chance to win from Gather.
Discuss your favorite cartoons in Entertainment.gather.com!
The Gather Book Club - Next Meeting Announcement
The second meeting for the Gather Book Club to discuss The Secret Life of Bees , will take place on Tuesday, November 25 th @ 9PM ET in Books.gather.com . All Gather members are invited.
Holiday Eating: Learn How to Stay Healthy These Holidays. Live Chat with Dr. Suzanne Koven on Tuesday, 25th at 8PM ET
Staying healthy around the holidays can be very difficult with all that yummy food that everyone prepares. The term "healthy holidays" seems more like an oxymoron than anything else! Would you like to keep your holidays healthy this year and maintain your personal health goals? Don't wait for New Year's resolutions to kick in to help your health - learn exactly what you can do to keep your holidays healthy! Join Dr. Suzanne Koven of Harvard Medical School for a discussion on Tuesday, November 25th at 8pm ET about healthy holiday eating and weight management. Before you carve that turkey, learn what you need to know!
HOW ABOUT THOSE GATHER GAMES
Gather Games is a group where you can play and earn points. The game for the day is not announced until that day. It is for this reason that I have not been posting them. I do my post the night before so I do not have the updated information at that time. However, if you will go to the group home at Gather Games you can find the latest game and the rules.
WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT HANUKKAH
Hanukkah Harry will be chatting about the foods used in Hanukkah. I must admit, I do not know much about Hanukkah. Could you share what you know with me? I am very interested to see what kinds of questions he will answer in this post: Your Hanukkah Questions Answered. Have you posted any questions for him yet??
Santa has already arrived in the Gather community. He has set up shop and started his group. He just sent me a message and wanted to be sure you all received it. This is what his note said:
"Ho, ho, ho! Christmas is coming, folks. So share those wish lists right here, along with pictures of your kiddies on my lap! I'll be chatting live with good little boys and girls throughout December - and spreading holiday cheer all season long. Merry Christmas to all the good little girls and boys" His latest post is: The North Poll: Have You Started Your Holiday Shopping Yet?
