It's a YouTube Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving dinner. It's the one time of year we can sit around with our stretchy pants on, nibbling all day and no one is going to judge us. That being said, I have been to Thanksgiving dinner where no one did much more than push their dinner around on their plate to make it look like they were eating. We've all experienced the horrors of dried out turkey, canned cranberry sauce and gravy that tastes like flour paste. 

Thanks to the miracle of the Internet, and YouTube, I am sharing a few video's that will not only help make your Thanksgiving more successful, but will also prevent you from spending more money on antacids than necessary. One of the basics to having a great Thanksgiving dinner - and holiday for that matter - is cooking the turkey. It's a staple of the traditional Thanksgiving. This video from Howdini shows a great way to prepare a moist, succulent bird:


Another essential: How to Carve a Turkey. This video from Cooking.com is a good demonstration of what to do when you have to carve a bird. Folks of a certain age should just *know* how to do this. If you're old enough to be living on your own and you can host a Thanksgiving dinner at your place, carving a turkey is simply a requirement to being a good host(ess):


Thanksgiving gravy seems to scare people. So, I felt the doyenne of domestic, Martha Stewart, would be the best to show us how to get our gravy on. It doesn't hurt that the lovely Jennifer Garner is in this video.Make sure you watch her face when she eats the raw cranberry. Priceless!





Cranberry sauce, how we love it. It comes in a can, complete with little ridges and plops out onto a plate in one big sucking sound. For my grandmothers, it was the be all, end all of Thanksgiving ease. While some cherish the memories of that gelatinous mess, tempt their taste buds with homemade cranberry sauce. I am including two videos, one from Alton Brown and the other by Good Housekeeping. Both unique in recipe and flavors and they meet my seal of approval.


If you can't use honey, remember you can always substitute with an equal amount of sugar.


Finally, my Achilles heel, the pie crust. I tend to overwork mine and there are plenty of us out there doing it as well. This helpful video from Chow.com associate editor Roxanne Weber shows us how to make the perfect flaky pie crust, not a glutenous mess that would make better play-doh than pie crust.


So here are some of your Thanksgiving conundrums solved by the miracle of modern technology and YouTube.  -- Written by Lisa Frame

What are your favorite Thanksgiving fixes? Leave a comment so I don't relive some of your holiday horror stories.


See more from Clever Girls Collective:
Where to Find the Best Halloween Costumes Online
Forget Happy Halloween, Happy Geek-o-Ween!
Top 6 Most Embarrassing Sports Rap Videos
Track Fantasy Football Teams With Mobile Apps

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Clever Girls Collective is a social media marketing agency founded by women who wanted to use their deep marketing experience and broad social network relationships for good. We know that women who engage in social media are some of the most authentic, connected, trusted, and vocal influencers -- not only online, but "in real life." That's why we've developed The Clever 1000: an ever-growing, beautifully diverse network of professional, thoughtful social media-connected, natural networkers and influencers who want to engage with and enhance their favorite brands. Lisa Frame lives on the outskirts of Charlotte, North Carolina with her husband and 10-yr. old son. She is an aspiring picture book writer, cupcake connoisseur, lip gloss wearing, retro-loving, wine enthusiast. An avid reader, photographer and coffee addict, Lisa also has a knack for coming up with fun ideas for moms and kids, cooking memorable meals (some for the wrong reasons), lives as green as possible, and blogging about whatever comes to mind. You can find more about Lisa over at A Daily Pinch and Mommyality, wrangling city editor duties at Savvy Source or follow her on Twitter @Daily_Pinch and @Mommyality.