Family traditions can be odd. Bill and I enjoyed a traditional Thanksgiving turkey dinner with his brother Nelson's family in Maryland. They also invited some friends, who were told to bring their own "traditional dishes." So they brought pork and sauerkraut! An old Baltimore custom, they said. It reminded me of Thanksgivings with Bill's Pennsylvania family, which always included sauerkraut as a traditional side dish. I've read a lot of Thanksgiving food articles but have never run into either dish elsewhere.

     I didn't mention the pork and sauerkraut to Bill until we were on the way home. He got quite upset. "You mean it was right there on the table and I never even knew about it?"

     Yep. And now I have a guilty conscience, because Bill loves pork and sauerkraut and I do not. So we never have it. I tried fixing it when we were first married, but I could never get the sauerkraut to taste like my grandmother's, and I gave up on the dish.

     Grandma made her own. She had a giant wooden bowl just for slicing the cabbage. (I ruined the bowl by giving my little brother "sleigh rides" across her upstairs carpet, with him in the bowl.) The sauerkraut crock fermented odiferously on Grandma's back porch each fall, and, when it was done, she drained and sauteed the sauerkraut in a little beef fat and served it lightly browned. It tasted heavenly.

     I tried doing that with store sauerkraut, but it was always too sour. Anyway, I may have to clear my conscience by fixing pork and sour sauerkraut for Bill - though I don't plan to serve it for Christmas dinner.

     And now, IN THIS ISSUE OF TOUR THE SITES, we continue listing sites that help you find good buys and bargains. And then, just for fun, we step sideways into the animal kingdom.

     Janette

1. KNOWLEDGE IS POWER

     The slogan at CONSUMER AFFAIRS: "Knowledge Is Power!" This site is easy to use, easy to enjoy. "Enjoy," you ask? Yep. You'll actually enjoy poking around this one, learning juicy tidbits all the way. They say, "Our site includes more than 25,000 pages of information about companies great and not so great, as well as consumer news, resources and recall information. Use the search page to find a specific company or peruse the Rogues Gallery, where you'll find some of the more notorious examples." They also have lists of government agencies to which you can complain.

http://consumeraffairs.com/

2. THE ART OF TURBO COMPLAINING

     The higher you go in an organization, the nicer the people. That's been my experience. If you have a complaint about a product and the low-level people are not helping you, maybe even being snotty, TAKE IT HIGHER! You'll be surprised at how nice and helpful people are up at the top.

     And of course the Internet is prepared to show you how you do this. Find out all about it by clicking below:

http://www.macwhiz.com/articles/art-of-turboing.html

3. SERIOUS BARGAINS AND COUPONS ONLINE

     Are you a serious bargain hunter? Try this newsletter, which tells you about online sales and deals, with coupons CUSTOMIZED TO YOUR PREFERENCES. In other words, there's so much good stuff online that it has to be divided into categories!

     Furthermore, this website has a green light from my McAfee Site Advisor, which means you won't be inundated by spammy emails if you sign up with them.

http://www.shopping-bargains.com/newsletter.cfm

     The following online coupon site also explains why this kind of coupon is easy to use. The owner of COUPON FINDERS says:

     "Are you skeptical of coupons and think they are more work than they are worth in savings? Some people would agree when dealing with the notion of coupon clipping. My site is all about online coupons, you will never have to clip and organize in the virtual world. What I have are digital codes that you enter during checkout at online retailers. Once you enter your coupon code your discount will be taken off your order total and you are done. It is as simple as that!"

http://www.couponfinders.com/

     MOMS' VIEW: I've mentioned this site before as a good one for moms. It also specializes in baby and mom-related coupons.

http://www.momsview.com/

4. NEIGHBORHOOD GROCERY COUPONS

     Come to this site for coupons you can print out and take to your neighborhood grocery store. My McAfee Site Advisor gives it a green light too.

http://www.smartsource.com/

     And now let us turn to the animal kingdom. They are so relaxing after all these momentous financial decisions:

5. BAD PETS.NET

     This site takes a look at "the lighter side of being owned by pets." It's been around since Ancient Times (1995) and has enjoyed lasting popularity. Poke around in it a bit, and you'll see why its humor has been translated into so many languages. When I was last there, a section had just been translated into Norwegian. And deserved to be, of course.

http://www.badpets.net/

6. BASIL THE AMAZING CAT

     I thought this children's book, BASIL THE BIONIC CAT, was one of the cutest things I'd ever seen for children six to eight - so I bought a whole bunch of copies, and a lot of those copies are still in our back bedroom, politely waiting for someone to buy them. They are still one of the cutest things I've ever seen, and I'm now offering them at 2/3 off. As I've mentioned before, I'm going out of the book business in January and want to move those books.

     I also have some very funny cat books for grownups, WHY CATS PAINT and WHY PAINT CATS. Fortunately I didn't get quite as carried away buying them, but still there are quite a few stacked in the back bedroom, sort of casually gazing at the treadmill. They are now 2/3 off as well. Great gifts, you'll love them, the kids will love them, your family and friends will love them, and the treadmill will feel better without all those cats staring at it.

     And, just so you'll know, the cookbooks will remain at half price and the cat books at two-thirds off for the duration. You won't get a better deal by waiting. I think you'll agree that this is an extremely good deal as it is. Plus, if you have difficulty working the shopping cart, you can e-mail me and I'll arrange for you to pay by check.

     Find these gift items here:

http://hundred-acre-woods.biz/

7. COWS ANONYMOUS

     I grew up on a Montana dairy farm, and most of my early friends were cows. Still, I cannot match the devotion of those who have websites on the Cows Anonymous webring. Such as the definitely defensive creator of: "The Cow Page - It's Not Stupid. Cows were first on the moon." Find much more at:

http://n.webring.com/hub?ring=cowanon

     And then there is the COW DEPOT, which offers, among many other things, bath cows and a Christmasy "carolin' cow" ornament that might make a nice hostess gift.

http://www.cowdepot.com/

     And you naturally will not want to miss COWTOPIA, which allows equal opportunity shopping: cow boxer shorts for the guys, cow handbags for the ladies, and cow puppets for the kids, among much else. Though, frankly, guys, not every woman would appreciate the symbolism of being given a cow handbag. Maybe you should limit them to the little heifers.

http://cowtopia.com/

8. MCGRUFF'S FREEBIE

     McGruff, the dog who teaches kids safety lessons, has free trading cards your child can order, with your permission of course. And there are other great things on the McGruff site: stories, games, and "cool stuff" for kids.

http://www.mcgruff.org/order.php

     And now that you've enjoyed all the bargains and freebies, why not

9. KICK BACK AND RELAX

     ROBIN'S FYI serves up fun brain food, fun food-food, fun kid stuff, and more for every member of the family . . . all to a toe-tappy musical background.

http://www.robinsfyi.com/

10. JOY OF BAKING

     In my special Christmas issue, I gave some special Christmas cookie recipes. But now do take a look at the food at this FABULOUS site, the Joy of Baking:

http://www.joyofbaking.com/cookies.html

     Leaves me feeling weak in the knees. What else can I say?

11. RECIPE: MARYLAND STUFFED HAM

     Pork and sauerkraut isn't the only unusual Maryland holiday tradition. Southern Maryland has an old-time holiday dish of "stuffed ham": country ham stuffed with kale. I've had it exactly once, in the Senate cafeteria. I didn't like it, but the cafeteria probably didn't do that good a job on it either. If ham stuffed with kale sounds good to you - and some people love it - click below:

http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1627,156172-232205,00.html

=====================

MISSED SOME ISSUES?

     Have I got a solution for you! Now that we are using a frame for each issue, you can just look over to your left and find all the back issues nicely set out. Simply click on the ones you missed. That means too that if your e-mail service provider gets sticky and decides that Tour the Sites is spam (it is NOT spam), you can foil it and find the newsletter at this address.

=====================

WARNING!

     If your e-mail box sometimes gets full, you are in danger of falling off the subscription list of Tour the Sites. Not because I want to lose you, but because, if your box is full when I send out a newsletter, you are automatically kicked off the list. I don't like that policy, but I don't have any say. If you change your e-mail address or get a new kind of spam filter, you may also fall off. So do keep an eye on your newsletters, which should arrive around the first and fifteenth of each month. If you haven't gotten one for a month, let me know and I'll be happy to put you back on the mailing list. Because I'd really hate to lose you.

Janette
Newsletter@tourthesites.com

=====================

© Copyright 2006 Janette G. Blackwell. All rights reserved. You may copy and use portions of this newsletter for noncommercial, personal use only. You may forward a copy to someone else as long as the copyright notice is included. Any other use of the materials in this newsletter without prior written permission is prohibited.