5 Tech Things for a Better Thanksgiving
Ah, Thanksgiving. That day where you watch football, yell at the TV, yell at the family, and stuff your face. Unless IF your making that turkey, inviting family and friends over, getting everything ready for that inevitable day of fights and heartbreak…
.. you know, just like the pilgrims planned it.
And Thanksgiving does get celebrated in other countries. It might be on a different day. You know when Canada’s thanksgiving is. Right? (October 14)
China celebrates the 15th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar. Japan, Vietnam, and South Korea celebrate the day of harvest.
And Germany has “Erntedankfest” in the first Sunday of October. So it’s Octoberfest, AND Erntedankfest.
So before you get that tofurky – you know, because nobody eats turkey nowadays – before you download that Yule log app to your Roku- and before you make your strategic plan to hit all the Black Friday sales after kicking everyone out of the house, let’s look at 5 tech things you should know about planning for that awesome Thanksgiving day.
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Planning the perfect sports zone
OK, I watch football. #GoPackers. But my sports cave is really just the TV in my living room, and the iPad. For some of you, it might be a decked out basement with 5 big screens, 3 beers on tap, full bar, and comfy recliner that nobody else can sit in.
Now if you only have a bland living room, and want those sports-driven family members to be happy, you can do a couple things to make it more sports-like.
It’s a great way to justify getting a new TV!
If you don’t have a 4K monitor, I recommend either the VIZIO M-Series or the more cost effective TCL Roku TV . Both have a great picture, come with apps for TV and movies, and have HDMI ARC, so you can attach a soundbar for a better sound experience.
Second and third screen experiences are a lot easier nowadays. Back in Marty McFly’s day, if you wanted more than one screen, you had to put two TV’s together.
Getting Madden NFL 20 for PS4 or XBox will keep those fans interested until the next game is ready. You can also “pre-play” the matchups of the day to see if you’re a better arm chair coach than your team can be.
Additionally, a laptop directed to a scoresheet, printed roster sheets – so people know what number “HahaClintonDix” is, and some inflatable chairs for extra guests can really make this event memorable.
Cool tech to help you cook.
You don’t have to put the oven to task for all your cooking needs. Some foods can be pre-made and Stored up to a week before.
A good suvide, for example, allows you to cook food, then put them in the freezer up until a couple hours before dinner. I talked about one on Geekazine a while back.
Air fryers are more popular nowadays. They can replace other items like toasters, and microwaves. Things that air fryers excel at are fries, onion rings, chicken wings, and some even dehydrate for healthier snack choices.
I have talked about the Hestan cue earlier this year. The pans use induction cooking, and this cookware system can be used outside the kitchen. I used it in my garage to make a nice steak.
The app also serves as a step by step cooking guide to making the perfect green bean Cassirole, cranberry delight, or other great dishes. It works for all your cooking needs, whether oven, air fryer, or Hestan Cue.
Keep the stress down
As I eluded to earlier, this holiday can be fun, but stressful. Kids running around, gossip coming to a head, Someone breaks Mom’s favorite Vase…
She always says “Don’t play ball in the house…”
A good stress relieving app can help. According to Statistica, there are 2 million apps you can choose from. You might just get stress trying to find the right stress app.
Want to get everyone out of the house for a little bit while you set the table? Why not make a walking tour of your area?
GPSMYCITY is an app where you can create the tour, send via email to other phones, and they can go out for a walk while you tilt back a couple “Pumpkin Spice” coctails (BBT “It’s just rum”)
Charge up some old phones, tablets, and maybe even get a “Vintage” HP Sprocket camera and printer bundle so you have photos for scrapbooks, ornament making, and just to have fun with the photo walk.
Encouraging photos can also allow you to make a memory of the night you can put up on Facebook, or send in digital or VHS formats.
Keep pets calm with things like the Petsafe Ultrasonic indoor bark control some pheromone sprays, or even a calming collar.
Finally, there are great holiday stress relieving songs and videos you can get on your favorite media service.
Keep the Wi-Fi on
To start, I would make sure your WiFi is up to handling the traffic of all the guests. If you have a primary WiFi, or don’t want to give out your password, why not get another WIFI router to handle them? With a guest router, you can turn it on and off, set speeds, distance it from your main router to add signal strength, and the majority of devices can be connected without overloading the main router.
This GL.INet Slate router I reviewed a few months back can be set up as it’s own Wi-Fi signal, can be tethered to your home network or a cell phone, and is under $70. You can also take this with you on travel, so you browsing experience is safer when connecting to hotel wireless. Get the Slate Here.
Keep in mind, you can easily plug a router into another router. It won’t speed up your upload/download speeds, but it also won’t bring down your primary router because of too many connections.
One more thing
A good video conferencing device is a great way to bring in friends and family that cannot make the trip to your house. Portal by Facebook is one way to do that Then you have Echo Show and Google Hub
Heck, it’s also a great way to talk with people in the other room. A great way to connect…
Tech to make the turkey turn out oh so good.
I’ve used this oven thermometer for years. Since then, Weber has acquired the product. iGrill was meant for keeping an eye on food on the grill, or, if your deep frying that bird.
I’ve used it in the oven, in the slow cooker, and on the stove top so I know what temperature the meat is at. I can bluetooth connect this item so I don’t have to eagle-eye the oven.
Hestan makes a the 36 inch gas grill with infrared burners, and rotisserie, so you can cook the bird outside. It’s a bit expensive at $6,600. But these cooking systems also can be used year-round.
And you can be a little bit of a show-off to others.
And don’t forget that carving knife. The Cuisinart CEK-40 is a great electric knife that won’t break the bank. It’s not cordless, because that will knock the price up to $180. It is a top selling knife on Amazon.
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