By KAREN BINDER
Illinois Correspondent

URBANA, Ill. — It’s time for University of Illinois extension specialists to talk some turkey.

That is, they are behind a seasonal website with a virtual cornucopia of everything turkey served up in one place. And if that’s not enough, another serving of information is available through the website’s handy Holiday Hotline link, which lists toll-free telephone numbers to such turkey cooking experts as Butterball, Honeysuckle and more.

The website is called “Turkey for the Holidays” and can be found at http://urbanext.illinois.edu/turkey

Here, UoI extension specialist Jane Scherer said anyone can find “hopefully more information than they’d ever need” about selecting, preparing, serving and storing a Thanksgiving turkey. The site also includes location of turkey farms, cooking the bird, great side dishes and what to do with the leftovers.

Users may even access the information in Spanish, settle any fussing about how to slice the turkey and – if one truly must – count calories.

“This is one of our most popular seasonal websites,” said Scherer, urban programs specialist and director of websites. “The average American ate 16 pounds of turkey in 2009 and 88 percent of Americans surveyed by the National Turkey Federation eat turkey to celebrate Thanksgiving.”

One of the popular features, noted Scherer, geared toward the day after Thanksgiving is a listing of recipes for leftovers along with information on proper storage temperatures and refrigerator shelf life.

There are also tips for carving the turkey prior to serving, including this secret to serving a successful turkey dinner from Scherer: Let the turkey rest for 20 minutes after cooking. Then, start slicing.
“This lets juices saturate the bird evenly for better slicing. And you must cut the bird apart at the joint. Hacking though the bone is not an option,” she said.