Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a time for family and for sharing, but use caution when it comes to your family pet. The American Veterinary Medical Association offers the following tips: 1. Table scraps are never a good idea. Pets' digestive systems can't handle fatty foods. 2. Keep trash containers closed and secure so pets can't get into them. 3. Do not feed pets turkey bones. They can splinter and damage the animal's intestines. 4. Keep animals away from dessert tables as well, since these types of food -- especially chocolate -- can be harmful to animals.

The Ravens won't get their season-opening home game, like reigning Super Bowl champions have for the last decade. But they will play four prime-time games, including a Thanksgiving night showdown at home against the rival Pittsburgh Steelers, and a much-anticipated rematch with the Denver Broncos to kick off their Super Bowl XLVII title defense. The NFL released its regular-season schedule Thursday and it's highlighted by the Ravens' Sept. 5 matchup against the Broncos, a pairing that produced one of the league's most memorable games from the 2012-13 campaign.

Somewhere along the way, Thanksgiving changed. Once a day of simple adoration of a supermarket turkey roasted in the oven, the cuisine and ethic of the holiday have grown complicated. Now there is societal pressure to buy a local bird and to inquire about the turkey's upbringing. There is a cacophony of expert advice on how to prepare the bird with recommendations ranging from bathing the raw bird in salt water, to smoking it in a barbecue cooker, to dropping it into a deep fat fryer.

Archbishop William E. Lori will celebrate a Mass of Thanksgiving next week for the papacy of Benedict XVI, the Archdiocese of Baltimore announced Friday. The Mass is planned for 5 p.m. Feb. 23 at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen, spokesman Sean Caine said. It will be open to the public; tickets will not be required. Benedict, 85, said this week that he would step down at the end of the month after nearly eight years as spiritual leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics. He became the first pope to resign voluntarily since Clementine V in 1294.

We're looking for Marylanders who've made a ritual of eating their turkey and trimmings with friends rather than family - perhaps the same ones every year. Or maybe you're the one who hosts a group of friends or co-workers. We'd like to interview you for a story about how friends create holiday rituals at a traditional "family" time. E-mail kate.shatzkin@baltsun.com with your name, phone number and a brief synopsis of your annual ritual by Friday. Please put "Thanksgiving with friends" in the subject line.

Thanksgiving comes poignantly. The all-American holiday that traditionally brings the gathering together of families will be saddened in many a hearth this year by thoughts of loved ones far away, facing danger in service to their country.How much the world has changed since Thanksgiving, 1989! President Bush was at snow-covered Camp David, reveling in news stories reporting how crowds in Prague were marching for democracy, led by a playwright and former political prisoner, Vaclav Havel, who was destined to become president of Czechoslovakia.

THANKSGIVING 1936.Fifty-five years ago, Nov. 26, 1936, Baltimore was reeling from the Depression. Unemployment was high. Across the Atlantic, Hitler's menace was sensed but not fully realized.Ruxton suits were reduced to $18 at Stewart's.Molly Picon was on stage at the Hippodrome. On the screen at the Hipp -- Irene Dunne, "who makes 'My Man Godfrey' and 'Mr. Deeds' both look like sissies," according to the Hipp ad. Dunne was starring in "Theodora Goes Wild."The Gas & Electric Co. was advertising the "1937" Zenith radio, "the radio a year ahead of its time," for $52.95.

Thanksgiving is a time when we pause to gratefully eat large amounts of food in memory of the Pilgrims, a band of courageous and deeply devout people, unless it turns out that they were dirtbags.You never know anymore. Historians are constantly turning up shocking new evidence proving that everything you ever learned in school was wrong. For example, historians now tell us that the electric light bulb was not, in fact, invented by Alexander Graham Bell. It was invented 3,000 years ago by the Aztecs.

CHICAGO - Millions of Americans are spending the holiday at home, saying the poor economy has made it unaffordable to hit the road or board a plane. Nearly 38 million people are expected to take trips this year, slightly more than last year but 20 million fewer than in 2005 when the economy was better, according to AAA auto club. Air travel is expected to drop 6.7 percent this holiday compared with last year, AAA said. - Associated Press

When John Harbaugh’s Ravens host Jim Harbaugh’s 49ers on Thanksgiving night, it will be the first time in NFL history that two brothers go up against each other as head coaches. The fun family affair is one of the most compelling matchups on the NFL’s 2011 schedule, but their father, Jack, who has been on the Ravens’ sideline in the past, does not plan on showing up at M&T Bank Stadium to take in the historical moment. “No way. And Jackie [Harbaugh] and I have talked about it, and we will not be within two time zones of that venue, I promise you. We’re going to stay as far away from that as we can,” Jack Harbaugh told Jerry Coleman on "Sports with Coleman" on FOX 1370-AM a couple of months ago. “We’ve seen these two guys compete for about 47 years, so … we’ll allow other people to enjoy it with us here in Milwaukee, [where we will be]

If you stayed put this Thanksgiving, you weren't home alone. Despite experts projecting a slight increase in travel, it appears Maryland's busiest highways were a little less crowded. Superstorm Sandy may have had a role in spoiling holiday plans. Total traffic from Tuesday through Sunday at the Fort McHenry Tunnel was down 2.4 percent over the same period last year, the Bay Bridge volume dropped 1.5 percent and Interstate 95 slipped 1.1 percent, according to the Maryland Transportation Authority.

No, you're not crazy. This week is the "Glee" Thanksgiving episode...because actually showing it on Thanksgiving would make too much sense, right, Ryan Murphy? Anywho, this week is more of a homecoming as well for the New Directions alums. The old crew sings "Home" by Phillips Phillips. Confession: I did not know who Phillips Phillips was until I had to google that song. Does anyone even watch "American Idol" anymore, really? I'm all for sentimental homecomings, especially of the high school variety.

When we're all done stuffing ourselves today, many of us will be looking to get back on the healthy track. We can do it while making use of our tasty Thanksgiving leftovers. Here are some recipes from Sparkpeople.com, Shape Magazine and Cooking Light Magazine. Look for more on the blog tomorrow. Turkey Tacos with Cranberry Salsa This recipe comes from Shape Magazine. The mgazine says it provides nearly 50 percent of daily protein needs. SERVES: 4 PREP TIME: 10 MINUTES (PLUS 30 MINUTES RESTING)

As the Navy football team returned to the practice field Monday in preparation for its Dec. 8 game against rival Army, Coach Ken Niumatalolo and his players were thinking about one of their own fighting for his life in a Miami hospital after being seriously injured in a Thanksgiving night car accident. Ralph Montalvo, a freshman who recently had made it from the scout team to the travel roster as the third-string quarterback, is listed in critical condition after being placed in a medically-induced coma at the Kendall Regional Medical Center, according to a spokesman for the hospital.

It was so quiet at BWI Marshall Airport Saturday morning, you could hear a little girl in pink singing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" as she and her family awaited their luggage at Carousel 3. Unlike the two days leading up to Thanksgiving, when the way out of town was clogged and people were so uptight you could have driven nails with their bodies, Saturday was as relaxed as a pair of jammies with feet. Returning passengers congratulated themselves on their scheduling choice.

An argument at an Annapolis Thanksgiving dinner ended with a 27-year-old woman stabbing her half brother in the neck with a serving fork, police said. Police said the stabbing took place in the 1100 block of Madison St. Shenika Allsup, 27, and Deonte Antionio Wallace, 23, had been arguing. When the spat escalated, she used the fork as a weapon, according to a police report. An officer who responded found Wallace in the parking lot of an apartment building, clutching his neck and wearing a bloodied white T-shirt, the report shows.

Buddy's bounty best Kevin Van Valkenburg Baltimore Sun Thanksgiving is supposed to be a time for reflection and generosity, which is why I still laugh when I think about the Bounty Bowl between the Cowboys and Eagles in 1989, when Eagles coach Buddy Ryan allegedly put out a bounty on Cowboys kicker Luis Zendejas. I love rivalries in which teams genuinely dislike one another, where the animus is real, not manufactured. Who puts out a bounty on a kicker?

They met on a cold, somber Thanksgiving 50 years ago, two invincible football teams slugging it out for the Baltimore public schools championship before an announced 25,000 at Memorial Stadium. City and Poly had played many times before, but never in the 58-year history of their rivalry had both entered the final game undefeated. On Nov. 26, 1959, it was the Engineers who prevailed, 12-0, capping a storybook season. Tonight, 15 of those Poly players are to reunite at Martin's West to relive the victory - and the perfect record - that won them city bragging rights.

The Harford County Sheriff's Office says it has arrested one man and has a warrant out for another in connection with a stabbing in Edgewood on Thanksgiving night. The man who was arrested is facing assault and sexual assault charges, according to police. Harford County sheriff's deputies were called around 7:20 p.m. Thursday to the 1700 block of Fountain Rock Way in Edgewood for a report of a stabbing. The victim, 41, had been stabbed in the facial area with an unknown weapon, according to an initial news release from the sheriff's office, which also stated the stabbing appeared to be domestic related.

Baltimore police have identified a man shot and killed in the Franklintown neighborhood Thursday as 23-year-old Antoine Ellis. Officers responded to the 2000 block of Forest Park Ave. for reports of gunfire shortly after 2 p.m. and found Ellis suffering from gunshot wounds to the head, police said. He was taken to an area hospital, where he died of his wounds at 2:40 p.m. Police believe Ellis was shot while he was standing near a bench on a baseball field and are continuing to investigate.