Thanksgiving is the most food-centered holiday of the year, which means food writers all want to weigh in on it. Every year newspapers, food magazines, food sites, and food blogs all offer tips, suggestions, and menu ideas for the big day. For a few weeks now I've been watching for Thanksgiving advice to show up on my favorite food blogs and food sites.

Last year, Sandy from the food blog "Eat Real" noticed that November was the invisible month tucked between October's Halloween and December's Christmas. She resolved to change that.

'Kayso, I got a little snarky yesterday with my 5 Dishes I Wouldn't Feed a Dog (but Do Eat to Be Polite on Thanksgiving). Today, the flip side: Thanksgiving foods I dream about as soon as the air turns crisp ... 5. Oysters.

When I was a kid, my mom was famous for her homemade bread, rolls, and cinnamon rolls. This was in the days before breadmakers, no-knead bread, or rolls that pop out of those cylinder-shaped containers. Mom had a lot of good tricks for homemade bread, and today I'm sharing one she used every Thanksgiving.

Fake plastic wishbones? Around Thanksgiving time last year, I read a post by blogger Rejin from Urban Botany blasting People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) for promoting plastic Lucky Break Wishbones. She wrote: Hasn't PETA ever heard of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch? They claim these wishbones and their packages are recyclable, but let's face it: 99.99% of them are going to end up in a landfill, or in the ocean, where they will probably be swallowed by sea turtles [And I would add baby albatross chicks] who will choke and die.... Animals, PETA, animals! Do you hear me? Apparently PETA did not because the organization promoted the wishbones again this year. Products like these are what blogger Linda Anderson from Citizen Green would call "stupid plastic crap."

Harry & Sally. Rhett & Scarlett. Lancelot & Guinevere. Lucy & Ricky. Johnny & Baby. Name famous romantic couples and since 2007, Marlboro Man and The Pioneer Woman deserve a spot in the Top Ten.

Somewhere, this holiday season, a face will light up because of a cookie. But not just any cookie—it will be the 10,000th cookie decorated and donated as part of the Drop In & Decorate effort.

Wouldn't it be fun to play the game "Family Feud" with the topic of Thanksgiving side dishes? If you haven't seen this American TV game show, two sets of extended family members square off against each other to try to predict what the most common responses are for a particular topic. I'm guessing the number one response for Thanksgiving side dishes would be mashed potatoes or stuffing, but after that, who knows?

Forgive the coarse language but there's no other way to put this: The State of American Pie? It sucks. I'm four months into The Great Hunt for Homemade Pie, ordering pie at every restaurant that claims to make 'homemade' pie. From truck stops famous for mile-high pies to white tablecloth glitzy restaurants, I've dipped my fork into slice after slice. Here's what I've learned.

I suppose there are a few people who love brussels sprouts right from the start, but there are many more of us who've needed a bit more convincing to embrace these mini-cabbage shaped vegetables. I was a bit of a slow adapter myself when it came to brussels sprouts, but these days I love them. Apparently a lot of other food bloggers do too, because right now brussels sprouts are hot, hot, hot on the food blogs, with drool-worthy brussels sprouts recipes popping up every day.

Thanksgiving will be here before we know it, and dare I say that only in America could a day meant to celebrate bounty and thankfulness much more commonly devolve into stress and overspending. True, it may be the norm, but it doesn't have to be -- why not try a few simple modifications this year to stay on budget? You'll be glad you did, and chances are you'll enjoy the holiday a lot more, too.

Is it possible to find a cultural truth? Will a day come when we accept the good and bad things about our cultural influences? Can we accept our various ancestors without hurt and rancor? Judging from the past year or so probably not. Perhaps learning about our past is much like the Telephone game many of us experienced in a school classroom.