Instructions: For additional turkey help and ideas call the following hotlines.

Recorded messages 24 hours a day. Home economists and registered dietitians are available to answer questions from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. eastern time.

Special holiday hours from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. eastern time.

You Did Want Leftovers, Right?

Store your leftovers promptly and properly.

Do not leave the remains of the feast out for more than two hours.

Separate all leftovers into shallow containers to allow for quick cooling.

Refrigerate or freeze promptly.

Stuffing should be removed from the turkey during the meal. Place the leftover stuffing in a separate container from the turkey and gravy. Use the stuffing and gravy within two days.

Remove remaining turkey meat from bones and prepare for freezing or plan to use within 2-3 days.

Use frozen turkey within 6 months.

Reheat leftovers to 165 degrees. Boil any soups or sauces.

Ten Steps to a Perfectly Roasted Turkey

If your turkey pan has been stored since you last time the holiday dinner was held at your house, wash it in hot, soapy water. You can use the disposable foil pans but double them up as they are usually too flimsy to hold large, heavy turkeys.

Preheat the oven to 350 F (175 C).

Look for a paper-wrapped lump inside the turkey, usually stuffed in the cavity. These are the giblets. Toss these into a plastic bag and store them in the refrigerator until youre ready to use them to make gravy stock or discard them.

Rinse the bird inside and out with running water in a freshly cleaned and sanitized sink. Lay out a thick layer of paper towels to set the turkey on and let drain briefly. Pat dry with paper towels.

Stuff the turkey loosely with freshly prepared stuffing if you do not want to cook the stuffing in a separate dish.

Place the bird, breast side up, on a rack inside your clean pan and brush or rub the skin with oil, melted butter or whatever your recipe suggests. Now either tie the drumsticks together with string or tuck them under the skin to keep them from flopping around.

Insert a reliable meat thermometer in the thickest part of the turkeys inner thigh. Make sure is not touching bone and is pointed toward the body. Otherwise, you can use an instant-read type thermometer, which does not go in the oven but will be used later.

In a couple of hours, when the turkey is about 2/3 of the way done cooking, the skin has a light golden tan and turkey aroma is in the air, tear off a piece of lightweight aluminum foil and make a tent over the breast to prevent dryness.

About 30 minutes before the scheduled finish time, start checking the turkey with the thermometer. The turkey is done when the thermometer reaches 180-185 F. If the turkey is stuffed, be sure to take the temperature of the stuffing too, which should read 160-165 F. Refer to the table above for approximate cooking times.

When the turkey has passed the temperature test, remove the foil and place it on a serving platter to stand for 20-30 minutes before carving. In the meantime, prepare the gravy in the roasting pan.

How To Bake a Pie

Start with the Pan
Standard pie pans measure nine inches rim-to-rim, though many recipes will work just as well in a ten inch pan. Pie pans can be made of ceramic, glass or metal, but experts differ on which produces the best crust; all agree, though, that any well-made pan is superior to the flimsy aluminum pans found in supermarket baking aisles. You dont need to grease pie pans as you would cake pans; pie dough contains enough fat to release the pan easily when the time comes.

Making Pie Dough
Typical pie dough is made with flour and salt, butter or shortening, and water or milk, with occasional additions such as oatmeal, spices or cheese. Fats

(butter, shortening or oil) should be incorporated quickly until the dough forms pea size granules. The dough should not become too warm or be handled excessively. Many recipes specify cold milk or ice water to help make sure that the fats dont warm up. Once the dough is made, form it into a ball, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate it briefly. Most recipes ask for it, and if they dont, it cant hurt - that way, it wont become too soft to roll out properly.

Rolling Out Pie Dough
You will need a clean work surface and a rolling pin (a full beverage bottle or a heavy, straight-sided glass tumbler will work almost as well). Sprinkle flour lightly and evenly on your work surface and lay dough on it. Start with the heel of your hand, pressing the dough into a thick, flat disk. Lightly sprinkle flour on the dough and roll, from the center out, to the size indicated in the recipe. To get the dough circle into the pan, you can roll it up onto the rolling pin and unroll it into the pan. Or fold the circle in half, then in half again, forming a wedge; place the point of the wedge in the center of the pan and unfold back into a circle.

The Top Crust
Top crusts can be either plain or lattice. A plain top is rolled out the same way as the bottom crust, only a bit smaller. After placing the top over the filling, fold the edge of the bottom crust over the edge of the top crust and crimp with a fork to seal. Pierce a few small holes near the center of the top crust with a fork or toothpick to allow steam to escape during baking.

Lattice Top
Roll out the dough reserved for the top (it doesnt have to be in a circle) and cut diagonally into long strips of even width, 1 to 1 1/2 inches wide. To make decorative edges on the lattice strips, cut them out with a pastry wheel.

Place half the strips in one direction over pie filling, letting the filling show through between them. One at a time, lay the remaining strips at right angles, weaving them through the first batch of strips. Trim edges and pinch them at the edge to seal. (For a less tricky variation, simply lay the second batch of strips over the first and call it done.)

Cookie or Nut Crusts
Many pies have a single crust made of crumbs (cookie or graham cracker) or finely ground nuts, bound together with melted butter. These are pressed evenly into the bottom of the pan and leveled off or fluted just above the rim. The key to these crusts is making sure theyre even; its easy to leave some parts much thinner than others. Use another pan of the same size to press to an even thickness. Its a good idea to refrigerate or even freeze these before filling them (covered snugly to keep them from absorbing tastes) if theyre not going to be pre-baked.

Pre-baking
Many recipes call for the crust to be pre-baked. With crumb or nut crusts, this is simple, but with crusts made from pie dough, youll need to make sure that the bottom crust doesnt puff up. Carefully line the bottom of the unbaked crust with aluminum foil or baking parchment paper, weighing it down with dried beans (or pie weights, if you have them) and bake as directed; this will keep the bottom surface flat and even. Your piecrust is then ready to be filled.

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