Random things I have learned this Thanksgiving:

The Butterball Turkey Talk-Line experts will answer 12,000 calls today.  TODAY.  They will talk with approximately 100,000 cooks this holiday season.

You CAN cook a frozen turkey.  It just takes longer, which means you’ll have people in your house for more of the day.

Turkey-shaped cake is about the cutest thing ever.

I’m sitting in the Butterball Talk-Line room, listening to the experts answer questions; they’re so calm and cool and collected.  And they are able to resist rolling their eyes when callers ask wacky questions, which I really admire.

These ladies are genuinely the nicest people ever in the history of people.  And certainly in the history of turkey.

I’ve done two radio interviews this morning — if you live in the Dallas area and were listening to KRLD this morning, you might have heard me geeking out about my meat thermometer; if you live in Maine and listen to WGAN, you heard me trying to explain why I’ve been commuting from Oklahoma City to suburban Chicago to talk turkey.

Fascinating, I know.

My head is completely full of random turkey information today — cook until the thigh registers 180! and the stuffing is 165! refrigerate after two hours! — and I’m a wee bit on the tired side, but mostly I’m just fascinated by the controlled chaos of the Talk Line.  And I might be tired from staying up late gossiping with Chris and Roxanna.  (We didn’t talk about you, we promise.)

Don’t forget — contest ends tonight!