Prairie Tumbleweed Farm Sells Unusual Holiday Gift

Talk about turning lemons into lemonade! Prairie Tumbleweed Farm in Kansas has created a new gift idea by turning tumbleweeds, which are kind of like giant weedy hairballs of the prairie, into a popular holiday item. They are promoting tumbleweeds as a distinctive item that can be used as a decoration (plenty of space for lights, tinsel, etc.) or as a unique gift.

With the motto "If they don't tumble we don't sell them!," Prairie Tumbleweed Farm is promoting the product as a multi-purpose piece of decor. "Tumbleweeds! Decorative year 'round!" They note that these tumbleweeds are the same kind that have been used as props in movies, TV shows, etc. over the years.

It's an audacious idea, but it's good to see these folks have a healthy sense of humor about their product. "Our Prairie Tumbleweeds are 100% Y2K compliant," they note with tongue firmly in cheek.

Just make sure no one gets near the Christmas tumbleweed with a lit cigarette...

'Tis the Season for Baby in the Oven Stories!

Along with turkey and cranberry sauce, those "baby in the oven" stories are another Thanksgiving tradition. You know... some mother (or uncle, or brother, or stranger) accidentally (or not) puts a child in the oven, either to shut it up or keep it warm, or maybe the child looks like a turkey. Every year such stories make the rounds on the Internet, and some of them are true.

Very few baby in the oven incidents actually happen. People searching for them on the Web will find some articles, but the most recent one I found was from January 2007, and a couple others were older than that. The baby in a microwave oven seems to be just a more modern variation on this oft-rumored tale.

So rest easy... there is no holiday epidemic of cooks putting their babies in the oven, whether intentionally or accidentally. But just like the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, those baby in the oven stories, a holiday tradition, are back.