5 apps for Thanksgiving (and not a turkey in the bunch!)

Here in the USA we're preparing to celebrate Thanksgiving. The typical celebration includes a turkey dinner, family and football on television (and perhaps a drunken uncle or two). Before you set up the folding card table for the kids, check out these iPhone/iPod touch apps meant to make the day more enjoyable.

Thanksgiving Jokes

Serving the "perfect" dinner while dealing with annoying relatives is stressful, so cut the tension with corny jokes, courtesy of Thanksgiving Jokes [iTunes link]. This free app is based on Dustin Kirk's Stacks platform, which puts flash cards on your iPhone or iPod touch. There's a large variety of topics available from math to trivia: nearly 13,000 in total. Dustin breaks from academia with Thanksgiving Jokes and focuses on groan-inducing one-liners. And you thought the turkey was dry.

Turkey Recipes

In my day, recipes were taped to cabinet doors. Today there's cooking software and even a dedicated television network. iPhone users can download Turkey Recipes [iTunes link] for $0.99 and pick from 27 recipes. Once you've selected the one you like (or added your own), you're a click away from generating a shopping list. Back in the kitchen, flick through the easy-to-read instructions (just wipe your hands first) and compare your finished product to the included photo. Just don't be too hard on yourself.

Thanksgiving Quiz

A young turkey is called: A.) A chick; B.) A pullet; C.) A poult. Use Thanksgiving Quiz [iTunes link] to find the answer without Google. This $0.99 app is a fun way to engage the occupants of the kids' table and the adults' table alike. Each question provides three choices as well as an anecdote to help the answer stick. Gain 1 point for each correct answer and earn your bragging rights. By the way, a young turkey is a poult.

Groceries

Groceries [iTunes link] is my go-to grocery shopping app, and that's high praise from a pen-and-paper guy. Groceries makes it easy to add items to a list, save lists for later use and move through the crowded store easily. My favorite feature automatically hides items you've already found, so your list shrinks as you shop. You can also email a list to yourself or anyone for that matter. Yes, Turkey Recipes will generate a turkey recipe list for you, but you'll be cooking more than that, right? Get the lot with Groceries ($4.99).

Fantasy Football Cheatsheet '09

Once you've gorged yourself on home cooking and denounced your uncle Arthur, it's time to watch some football. Enjoy another Detroit Lions loss while monitoring your fantasy picks. Fantasy Football Cheatsheet (FFC) offers up-to-the-minute player stats, injury reports, performance and more. How are your guys performing? Get updates on your iPhone easily. The UI is quite nice on this as well. You can even edit player rankings to keep on top of who's doing what. You can't let Uncle Arthur win, right? You can grab FFC for $1.99 [iTunes link].

So there you have them: 5 apps to make your holiday more enjoyable. Have fun!