Marge Klindera always knows exactly where and how she'll spend her Thanksgiving each year.

She's logged 27 years as one of the more than 50 professionally trained home economists and dietitians at the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line based in Naperville, Ill.. FYI: (800) BUTTERBALL.

That means, each year, she spends Thanksgiving Day with a telephone in front of her rather than a table place setting.

"It's just part of what comes along with this job and everyone has to work Thanksgiving Day," Klindera said.

She's logged more than two decades answering all the important questions that have to do with preparing "the perfect turkey" in time for the family holiday dinner.

And by the time T-Day arrives Thursday, the famed Butterball Turkey Talk-Line will receive more than 10,000 calls just that day alone, many from nervous cooks worried about their Thanksgiving dinners.

The Butterball staff have doled out expert turkey-preparation advice to more than 2.4 million cooks suffering from turkey trauma for the last 29 years.

Throughout all of those years of talking turkey, the question most frequently asked still remains the same year after year: What's the drill for thawing a frozen turkey?

Over the years, cooks have called and hurriedly tried to thaw frozen turkeys, using everything from hair dryers and dishwashers to blow torches.

So for the record, the recommended guide is to allow a frozen bird to thaw one day in the refrigerator for every four pounds. If you use the "quick-thaw" method by submerging the frozen turkey in cold water, it takes 30 minutes per pound and the water should be changed a few times.

And invest $1.25 for a meat thermometer to take the guessing out of how long to bake the turkey says Klindera.

When the inside temperature is 180 degrees, you're ready to carve. As for those who like their stuffing inside the turkey, the USDA changed its recommended temperature in 2007 so bread dressing should test from 160 to 165 degrees.

While some of the stories from callers might prompt a chuckle, Klindera said, at times, they are also very heart-warming, such as the time she helped talk a 75-year-old woman through roasting her very first Thanksgiving Day turkey.

"For her entire life, her mother had always made the turkey for Thanksgiving dinner and her mother had recently passed away and this was the first year for her to make her own turkey," Klindera said.

"We also get lots of first year, new brides tackling their first thanksgiving dinner, who call us whispering over the phone so her in-laws and guests in the next room won't hear her."

One of her oddest calls most recently came following a husband who helped his wife "fit" an over-sized turkey in her roasting pan, by wrapping the bird in a large towel and stepping on it "to break some of the bones."

As for other questions and topics Klindera and others from the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line have faced during the decades, here's generous helping served up for all to enjoy:

* Who's calling who? -- According to the latest statistics, there are far more men calling and cooking than ever before.

* A crispy creation -- In the past decade, more and more cooks call eager to try the "deep frying" process for a whole turkey, especially since it was prominently featured as a "novel" culinary approach on the cable cooking shows of folks like Emeril Lagasse and Bobby Flay. Now that there are even cooking contraptions sold to make the process even easier, even more questions float in than ever before.

* In the bag -- When Klindera started answering calls 27 years, the concept of using a "cooking bag," was far from the norm. Today, because it helps ease mess and clean-up, it's favored by many. However, since it accelerates cooking times (using a steaming process), callers are often confused about the needed cooking time.

* Ready or not? --- On the subject of cooking times, other new cooking options like using a microwave oven or pricey convection oven seem to equally confuse callers.

* Over and out -- While the processing of "basting" is age-old (and not needed with Butterball brand since they are "self basting"), in recent years, more and more callers have questions about seasoning "rubs," which have become increasingly popular with TV cooks like Martha Stewart and Paula Deene.

* Sticking out -- The idea of the pop-up timer, already implanted in some brands of frozen birds (never Butterball) is intended to help take the guesswork out of internal cooking temps. However, a meat thermometer is still recommended, primarily since the disposable pop-up times are always found in the breast region, even though it's the thigh area which requires the longest cooking time. This can result in improper roasting times.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer. He can be reached at philip.potempa@nwi.com or 219.852.4327.

Today's Celebrity Birthdays

Country singer Johnny Carver and actress Cathy Crosby (daughter of Bob Crosby) and singer Jim Yester of The Association are 69. Former Beatles drummer Pete Best and bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn of Booker T. and the MG's are 68. Actor-comedian Billy Connolly is 67. Singer Lee Michaels is 64. Actor Dwight Schultz ("The A-Team") is 62. Actor Stanley Livingston ("My Three Sons") is 59. Drummer Clem Burke of The Romantics and of Blondie is 54. Record producer Terry Lewis is 53. Actress Denise Crosby ("Star Trek: The Next Generation") is 52. Actress Shae D'Lyn ("Dharma and Greg") and guitarist John Squire of the Stone Roses and guitarist Gary Stonadge of Big Audio Dynamite are 47. Guitarist Chad Taylor of Live is 39. Actor Colin Hanks ("Roswell") is 32. Actress Katherine Heigl ("Grey's Anatomy," "Roswell") is 31. Actress Sarah Hyland ("Modern Family") is 19.