A story about the horrible abuse of men with disabilities at a turkey plant in Iowa prompted Dr. Pamela J. Winton, a senior scientist at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute and the director of FPG’s National Professional Development Center on Inclusion and CONNECT: The Center to Mobilize Early Childhood Knowledge, to pen this piece.

Garner-based Butterball, the nation's largest turkey processor, said Wednesday it is expanding into the pork market by buying an Illinois company that specializes in bacon, hams and deli meats.

Butterball's acquisition of Gusto Packing Co. adds about 500 employees to Butterball's workforce of more than 5,000 people in three states.

With the deal, the family-oriented Butterball brand also acquires Gusto's risqué motto: "Eat More Pork, Be A Better Lover."

Butterball spokeswoman Stephanie Llorente said Butterball has no plans to change Gusto's operations. Gusto employees are expected to remain in their current jobs, Butterball said in a release.

Remember that Baskin-Robbins ice cream cake shaped like a turkey that my colleague Andrea Weigl gave away on the Mouthful blog last month?

Well, she's at it again, but this time she's giving away a $31 Baskin-Robbins gift card to purchase an ice cream cake shaped like a snowman, an elf, or Santa.

All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on Andrea's post on the Mouthful blog HERE. You have until noon Friday to enter.

Good luck, everyone.

Did you enter to win Holiday Giveaway #5 for a coupon for a free Honeysuckle Turkey, up to $15?

The winner is:

It's time for Holiday Giveaway #5 -- a coupon for a free Honeysuckle White holiday turkey.

The coupon is good up to a $15 value and doesn't expire until 5/31/13 so the winner will have plenty of time to redeem it.

To enter, leave a comment or a question at the end of this post. Be sure your newsobserver.com registration is up to date with a current email because that's how I'll notify the winner.

The deadline to enter is noon Tuesday, Dec. 18. I'll pick the winner using random.org.

Good luck.

As you're prepping for Thanksgiving and the kick-off to holiday shopping, here's a sampling of stories that just might save you some time or money, or inspire you with a new idea or two.

Click HERE to read my story on Black Friday shopping, which might well be called Black Thursday, with so many stores now open on Thanksgiving Day. Along with the story, be sure to check out the lists of freebies, helpful smartphone apps and a couple of gift suggestions for the minimalist on your list.

If you prefer to shop local and support small businesses here in the Triangle, head over HERE to read our story on what's going on for Small Business Saturday.

And even though you haven't even put your Thanksgiving turkey in the oven yet, food writer Andrea Weigl is ready to help when Friday rolls around and you've got turkey leftovers staring at you in the fridge. Click HERE to find inspiration, along with numerous recipes.

I've bumped this post up for those among us who have yet to buy a bird for Thanksgiving.

Make room in your freezer fridge, folks.

It's time to buy your Thanksgiving turkey.

And you're in luck because most Triangle stores have the birds on deep discount in hopes that once you've picked your turkey, you'll wander the aisles, filling your cart with all the fixings to go with your Thanksgiving meal.

Be warned, however, that to get that bargain-price, many of the stores' deals require a minimum purchase and some of the stores are limiting the number of turkeys you may purchase.

To help you find the best deal, here's a sampling of turkey prices, along with all the fine print:

On top of the great turkey deals you can snag right now at Triangle grocery stores, you can score an additional rebate when you purchase Butterball, Honeysuckle White or Shady Brook Farms turkeys.

The Butterball deal:

Buy a turkey and get five $1/1 coupons on Butterball items. Not as good as cold hard cash, but if you're buying a Butterball anyway, you might as well get your coupons. All it will cost you is a stamp and the $1 coupons might prove valuable at the next Super Double coupon event we have.

Click HERE to read all the fine print and to print a rebate form. In the meantime, hang on to your UPC and your cash register receipt. The rebate form was also available in the Nov. 11 Smart Source insert.

The Honeysuckle White and Shady Brook Farms deal:

Buy a turkey and the Blu-Ray Combo Pack version of  Disney-Pixar's Brave and receive a $5 rebate by mail, a nice perk if you were already planning on buying the movie.

Click HERE to print a Honeysuckle White rebate form and read all the fine print.

Click HERE to print a Shady Brook Farms rebate form and read the fine print.

But heads up: Be sure to hang on to the proof of purchase tab from the movie along with the cash register receipts from both the movie and the turkey.

Allow six to eight weeks for your check to arrive by mail.

The folks at Baskin-Robbins offered me a $32 gift card to give away to one of my blog readers. It seems they are hoping you will use it to buy the turkey-shaped ice cream cake (pictured at left) for your Thanksgiving feast. It feeds 8-12 people and sells for $32.99.

I figure you can enter to win the gift card and use it for whatever you like: a birthday cake, an ice cream outing or this turkey cake.

You know the drill: Leave a comment below this post before noon Friday, Nov. 16. I want to be able to get the gift card to you before the holiday. Good luck.

A few local businesses are now taking orders for Thanksgiving meals and desserts.

You can order a whole cooked local turkey plus sides and desserts to feed four people or 20 dinner guests from The Q Shack at North Hills in Raleigh. Prices start at $45. For more information, call 919-786-4381 or go to theqshack.com/turkey_order.php.

Durham bakeries, Scratch and Hummingbird, also have order forms for their baked goods if you don’t want to make your own desserts.

For more information about Scratch’s menu, go to piefantasy.com or call 956-5200.

For Hummingbird, call 919-908-6942 or go HERE. (I've also attached a copy of the Hummingbird bakery order form below.)

If there are more that should be added to this list, send me a note at andrea.weigl@newsobserver.com.

And check out Greg Cox's list of Triangle restaurants serving dinner on Thanksgiving Day in Wednesday's paper.

UPDATE: Here are a few more options if you want to order Thanksgiving dinner:

• Southern Season is offering a holiday catering menu. Turkeys start at $99. Go HERE to see the menu from cheese to desserts.
• Foster's Market in Durham and Chapel Hill is offering a holiday catering menu, including a Thanksgiving meal for four people for $99. Go HERE.
• Whole Foods stores across the Triangle also are offering Thanksgiving feasts. (There are Whole Foods stores in Raleigh, Durham, Cary, Chapel Hill and North Raleigh.) You can go online to see each store's menu and order what you like.
• Weaver Street Market with locations in Carrboro, Chapel Hill and Hillsborough also is offering complete dinners with turkey or ham or vegetarian for $69 to $99. To order, go to weaverstreetorders.com.