Now that the excitement of Halloween and the elections are over, the rest of the winter holidays looms ahead of us. Thanksgiving comes first, and that's where we should put our frugal thinking to work first.

To begin with, turkeys usually go on sale just before Thanksgiving. If you like turkey, why not buy one or two (or more) more? There's more about turkeys here: Best Time of Year to Buy Turkeys. I'm just hoping they have sales this year like they've had in the past.

Food is always first, isn't it??? :) Then comes decorating:
Natural and Free Thanksgiving Decorations, and then another look at food, this time with history - and savings - in mind. The First Thanksgiving Menu - It Wasn't Your Grandma's Thanksgiving Menu!

What else about Thanksgiving? The leftovers... coming right up.

Thanksgiving wouldn't be Thanksgiving at my house without a lot of leftover turkey. I always buy one much bigger than we need for the meal, because I want to send some home with everyone and I want plenty for myself, too!

Maybe it's because I'm a lazy cook, but I figure that after all that cooking and preparing, I need a break and I'm happy to eat turkey sandwiches, turkey soup, turkey casserole and plain old turkey for days afterwards. Then I boil the carcass, take off any remaining meat and freeze the broth and meat, part of it together, part of it separately, for those times when the snow flies and I need a little comfort. One of my favorite recipes is turkey and homemade noodles.

The noodles:

3 1/2 cups sifted flour
1 TBS oil
5 medium eggs
1 tsp salt.

Beat eggs and salt together and pour into flour, mixing a little at a time. Work and knead until smooth, then cover with a damp cloth and let it rest 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat a cup or so of leftover turkey meat in a couple of cups of salted broth. Add enough water to make at least two quarts.

Roll out the noodle dough on floured board, dust lightly with flour (it will be stiff) and cute into 1/2 inch wide noodles. I cut the noodles into about 4 inch pieces but you can leave them long if you want to.

Bring the turkey and broth to a boil and drop in the noodles, separating them as you go. Boil until tender, about 20 to 30 minutes.

I serve this with peas and a spoon! The broth is so good.

Oh, almost forgot. There's a new forum at Dollar Stretcher Community, called "Holidays and Birthdays." Kind of a catch all for gifts, decorating and entertaining. Come and share and pick up some pointers for your own holidays.