Is it time to rename Black Friday?

For U.S. retailers, Black Friday is a highly anticipated day. It’s typically among the most active shopping days of the year and signals the kickoff of the holiday season, when retailers hope to get on to the plus side of the ledger for the calendar year and move from the red into the black. (For some consumers, the day produces dread as they wade into turbulent malls and stores across the land, feelings expressed in these common shopping gripes.)

According to a recent survey by the Consumer Reports National Research Center, 28 percent of all U.S. adults will be shopping in stores on Black Friday. But given the dismal economic climate, many brick-and-mortar and Web retailers could still be seeing red after Friday’s blitz. The $682.74 that the average U.S. consumer plans to spend on holiday-related shopping in 2009 is down 3.2 percent from 2008, according to the National Retail Federation.

Retailers have responded by reducing inventories, but November 27 will still be less profitable than many would hope. So we’re hereby calling for a new name for the day. Less-Red Friday? Brown Friday? (Black and red make brown.) Or maybe Flack Friday, since you'll likely hear or read quotes from many "experts" putting a positive spin on lackluster retail numbers.

Whether you approach this challenge from the economic perspective or because you can’t stand this post-Thanksgiving shopping frenzy, send us your suggestions for a renamed Black Friday by leaving a comment below.

Essential information: Learn what several retailers are doing to boost Black Friday buzz. And stay on top of the latest deals with our Holiday Shopping Guide and use Tightwad Tod's shopping pointers.

Gobble It Up: What to do with leftover turkey

Not to get too far ahead of things—after all, you might still be planning for Thanksgiving or working on your menu, which might not be as expensive as last year's—but what are you going to do with the leftover turkey from your Thanksgiving feast? If you want to go beyond a boring turkey sandwich or played-out pot of soup, follow the advice of the Consumer Reports test-kitchen experts, whose tips first appeared in the December 2009 issue of ShopSmart magazine.

• Look for recipe ingredient clones. Use recipes with ingredients from your holiday-dinner courses. For example, a turkey pot pie will take care of some of the leftover bird and the vegetables from a premeal crudité platter. Use any remaining gravy for your sauce. As for the bottom or top of the pot pie, use frozen crusts you have on hand or pick them up at the supermarket.

• Wake up your palate. Invigorate your taste buds by adding spices like chili, cumin, or curry paste to leftovers. Try fajitas, turkey-and-cheese quesadillas, turkey chili, a Thai curry, turkey mole, or a southwestern turkey casserole.

• Boost the flavor of sandwiches. Instead of making another traditional sliced-turkey sandwich, cut the turkey into small chunks, add a little mayo, and toss in: some shredded carrot, a little Dijon mustard, and curry powder; or some herbs and celery slices; or hard-boiled eggs and walnut pieces; or dried cranberries, almond slices, and mandarin oranges; or chopped olives.

• Wait until you have a hankering for turkey. Instead of eating all the leftover turkey within a couple of days or throwing it out, cut some of it up into bite-sized pieces, divide it into the amounts you normally use in recipes, and store these portions in individual freezer bags. The next time you want to make a turkey-based dish—say turkey tetrazzini, turkey a la king, or turkey stuffed shells—thaw a bag and toss it in with the other ingredients for a quick meal. Stored properly, turkey will keep in your freezer up to four months.

For expert food-storage advice, download a PDF of "Keep It Fresh!" from the ShopSmart archives.

Essential information: If you plan to do some holiday shopping on Black Frida (November 27), stay on top of the deals and other news by reading Tightwad Tod on Our Money blog and visiting our Holiday Shopping Guide.

With cash for clunkers for appliances on the horizon, appliance retailers are looking for Black Friday boost

The recession has slammed the appliance industry. Year-over-year shipments of major appliances, for example, were down 17 percent in September, according to the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers.

The $300 million State Energy Efficient Appliance Rebate Program is being ballyhooed as one way to unleash pent-up demand for refrigerators, dishwashers, washing machines, heating and cooling systems, and other major appliances. And though the U.S. Department of Energy will have finalized funding plans for the cash for clunkers for appliances program on November 30, the rebate programs in many states won't take place until 2010.

So appliance retailers are looking to Black Friday to boost their bottom line and kick-start sales throughout the 2009 holiday season. Here's a sneak peek at what some of them have in store:

Best Buy
Good through November 28, Best Buy's Black Friday specials cover large and small appliances, including the Dyson DC17 Animal vacuum for $350. The upright vacuum, which normally retails for as much as $550, was excellent on bare floors and very good on carpet in our tests. At 21 pounds, it’s among the harder vacuums to handle among those we've tested. If you need a new vacuum, check out our free buyer's guide to vacuums.

Home Depot
Home Depot is keeping mum about its holiday sales, but like many retailers and manufacturers this big-box chain encourages you to sign up for e-mail alerts about special promotions.

Lowe's
Black Friday discounts on kitchen and laundry appliances will run through November 30 at Lowe's stores nationwide. One highlight: Save around $400 on a matching Whirlpool Cabrio WTW6340WW high-efficiency washing machine (similar to the tested WTW6300WW washer) and WED6200S[W] electric dryer. Both units did a very good job overall in our tests. If you're in the market for a new laundry gear, check out our free buyer's guides to washing machines and dryers.

Sears
Sears' 15 percent off all appliances deal covers a wide variety of appliances and brands. The offer expires at 9 p.m. on November 27. Our appliances hub has links to our buyer's guides for kitchen and laundry appliances.

While the big-box stores dominate the marketplace, you might want to consider shopping at independent retailers. As covered in our survey-based feature on the best places to buy appliances, independent stores beat out big-box retailers thanks to superior service, easier checkout, and more-knowledgeable staff.

Latest news on Chinese drywall: "Strong association" between chemicals in drywall and home damage

"We now have the science that enables the task force to move ahead to the next phase, to develop both a screening process and effective remediation methods. Ongoing studies will examine health and safety effects, but we are now ready to get to work fixing this problem."

That's the message delivered yesterday by Inez Tenenbaum, chairwoman of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, after an interagency task force on Chinese drywall released the findings of its studies of 51 newer homes, 41 of which have Chinese drywall.

As reported in "Drywall Task Force Finds 'Strong Association' Between Chemicals and Corrosion," on the Consumer Reports Safety blog, federal investigators have found a link between the chemicals in Chinese drywall and their corrosive effects on homes. The CPSC statement was mostly silent on health effects related to drywall, though the agency did say current investigations are looking at long-term health issues.

For more information on Chinese drywall, visit the CPSC's Drywall Information Center and stay on top of the latest drywall news on our Safety blog. e-mail | Twitter | Forums | Facebook

For the U.S. housing market, the roller-coaster ride continues

Many of the latest housing-industry numbers portray a still-battered market, though some of the housing news offers modest reasons to be optimistic.

Sales of existing homes climbed 10 percent in October to a seasonally adjusted rate of 6.10 million units, according to the National Association of Realtors. That volume is up 23.5 percent from the 4.94-million rate in October 2008. The bigger-than-expected bump probably results from buyers hustling to take advantage of the federal government's home-buyer tax credit, which was recently extended and expanded.

But some experts don't expect the housing rally to continue uninterrupted. "With such a sale spike [in October], a measurable decline should be anticipated in December and early next year before another surge in spring and early summer," said Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the National Association of Realtors, in a press release yesterday.

Even as sales grew, the national median price of existing homes fell in October to $173,100, a year-over-year decline of 7.1 percent. (The median price peaked at $230,100 in July 2006.) This drop has left nearly a quarter of all homeowners underwater—they owe more on their mortgages than their properties are worth—according to this report in The Wall Street Journal. Foreclosed or otherwise distressed properties, which accounted for 30 percent of sales in October, are the main drag on overall home values.

But the latest Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index, which tracks residential prices in major markets nationwide, posted its fifth consecutive monthly increase, ticking up 0.4 percent in September, the latest month covered by the index.

Unfortunately, the news for many homeowners is dismal. The combined percentage of loans in foreclosure or with at least one payment past due was at a record 14.41 percent last quarter on a nonseasonally adjusted basis, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's National Delinquency Survey.—Daniel DiClerico | e-mail | Twitter | Forums | Facebook

Essential information: If you're concerned about losing your home, read our advice on how to avoid foreclosure and learn why reverse mortgages are seldom the best solution.

SiteSeeing: EPA launches Green Homes Web site

The federal government generally isn't typically known for its ability to make things simpler. Indeed, bureaucracy and streamlining seem oxymoronic terms.

So while its new Green Homes site is far from perfect, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency deserves some kudos for making it easier for you to find information from the government on a wide range of green subjects. As someone who's spent countless hours surfing various federal sites for details for stories like "Cut Your Energy Bills" and others on our Energy Saving & Green Living guide, Green Homes is a welcome step in the right direction.

Green Homes targets the nation's 128 million households and brings together a lot of the same information from the EPA's main site and other federal agencies and it's organized around an interactive room-by-room navigational tool. Click on the kitchen, for example, and you'll find specifics on energy-efficient appliances and formaldehyde-free cabinets as well as links to related issues like water filtration, pest management, and mold.

The Top Green Home Terms glossary is a nice feature, allowing you to bone up on eco-friendly lingo like weatherization and learn the difference between, for instance, insulating concrete forms and structural insulated panels.

Green Homes isn't perfect—the interface is a bit cumbersome, and the repackaging of information results in some redundancies. But it's a lot more user friendly than the EPA's main site, which could make it easier for you to cut your energy use and adopt some green practices.—Daniel DiClerico | e-mail | Twitter | Forums | Facebook

Essential information: Get advice on a range of appliances and home systems and products by using our room-by-room Home Improvement Guide interactive. And if you're in the If you're in the market for new energy-efficient appliances or heating and cooling equipment, get up to speed on the $300 million State Energy Efficient Appliance Rebate Program, aka cash for clunkers for appliances.

By the Numbers: 2009 Thanksgiving meal cheaper than last year's

$42.91

Average cost of a Thanksgiving meal for 10, down about 4 percent from last year's average of $44.61, according to the American Farm Bureau, an agribusiness lobbying group. The same meal cost $28.74 in 1986, the first year the AFB started tracking the price of the holiday meal.

"Consistent with the retail food price declines seen throughout the year, consumers will pay just a bit less for their Thanksgiving feast this year," said Jim Sartwelle, an economist with the American Farm Bureau Federation, in a press release. "Consumers are benefiting at the grocery store from significantly lower energy prices and the effects of the economic slowdown. Again this year, the cost per person for this special meal is less than a typical 'value meal' at a fast-food outlet."

The components for the meal, described by the AFB as a "classic Thanksgiving dinner," include a 16-pound turkey, peas; sweet potatoes; cubed bread stuffing; fresh cranberries; 1 gallon of milk; a dozen rolls; a relish tray (carrots and celery); pumpkin filling; pie shells and cream for pumpkin pie; and sundries like onions, eggs, sugar, flour, evaporated milk, butter, and coffee. The AFB's figures are based on information from 200 shoppers in 35 states. The AFB graph shown tracks the actual cost and inflation-adjusted cost of the meal since 1986.

Missing from the AFB's list are premeal snacks for the noshing and grazing you'll do throughout the day—there are three National Football League games on Thursday, after all—and beverages, including wine and beer (again, there's football to watch).

If you're behind on your Thanksgiving work, check out this recent post about planning for the holiday, and learn how to shave 34 percent off your Thanksgiving food costs with the expert advice from Tightwad Tod of our Money blog.

Here's wishing you a wonderful holiday, one that's filled with good food, good company, and good times. And for a bit of Thanksgiving-related diversion, check out these two short films made in 1951 from the Prelinger Archives on the Internet Archive. The first covers Thanksgiving dining etiquette for kids and the other involves a family that's experiencing some hard times and won't be able to have a turkey for the holiday.—Steven H. Saltzman | e-mail | Twitter | Forums | Facebook

Essential information: While I don't plan to hit the stores on Black Friday—that's a day to sleep in and then go on a hike with my family and our dog—if you're inclined to do some holiday shopping this November 27, stay on top of the deals and the news by visiting our Holiday Shopping Guide.

In this turkey trot, TurboChef is faster than Electrolux Wave-Touch range and NuWave oven

As cooking appliances get faster, records continue to fall in our labs. The video (right) shows how the TurboChef 30" Double Wall Speedcook oven, using "Airspeed Technology," cranked out a nicely browned 13-pound turkey in a record 53 minutes. So if time is really of the essence—you'll have to shell out about $8,000 for a TurboChef—this dual oven could be for you.

No oven or range we've tested is as fast as the TurboChef, though the Electrolux Wave-Touch smoothtop electric range wasn't that far off—and costs about $6,000 less. With its Perfect Turkey setting that uses a meat probe to measure the internal temperature and adjust cooking time, it produced a juicy, 13-pound bird in 98 minutes, about half the time of most other electric ranges.

If you're on a much tighter budget, consider the $150 NuWave Pro Infrared Oven. Using direct heating, convection, and infrared cooking, in two hours it made a 10-pound turkey that was tasty and juicy with a moist interior, albeit a little bit overdone toward the outside. The NuWave oven is available with an extender ring that allows you to cook larger turkeys. e-mail | Twitter | Forums | Facebook

Essential information: Our recent post on Thanksgiving planning looked at grilling, deep-frying, and smoking turkey. Check out our new report on national brands of turkey stuffings and watch our video on carving a turkey. With Black Friday coming up, stay on top of the shopping deals by reading Tightwad Tod on our Money blog.

Home-use fire extinguishers are key safety gear, especially over the holidays

With Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, and New Year's upon us, the risk of a fire at your home could be higher since you're likely to be cooking more, using holiday lighting (especially on Christmas trees and the like), and perhaps even burning candles more frequently.

The best way to avoid fires is to be safe; check out our safety advice for the kitchen, holiday lights, and candles. Still, you should have fire extinguishers on hand, keeping one each in the kitchen, garage, workshop, basement, and on every living area of the home—and have one nearby when grilling or deep-frying a turkey. "Keep extinguishers readily accessible so you don't waste valuable seconds rummaging around when a fire breaks out," says John Drengenberg, director of consumer affairs for Underwriters Laboratories, which conducts compliance tests of fire extinguishers.

While it might be convenient to keep a fire extinguisher under a kitchen sink, for example, manufacturers recommend you mount extinguishers in their bracket—in a convenient location and in plain sight—3.5 to 5 feet above the ground so they're out of the reach of small children.

You also need to know how to properly use your extinguishers. "When a fire breaks out is not the time to read the instructions on the extinguisher," adds Drengenberg. When you bring the extinguishers home, read the owner's manual to familiarize yourself with their operation and register them with the manufacturer so you're aware of any product updates or recalls.

(We’re currently testing various sizes of rechargeable and nonrechargeable fire extinguishers from brands like First Alert and Kidde for a report scheduled to appear in the May 2010 issue of Consumer Reports, online and on newsstands in early April. Stay tuned for preliminary reports of our findings, including our experience with First Alert’s Tundra, an aerosol spray classified as a firefighting tool as it is not tested to the ANSI/UL711 standards that apply to home-use extinguishers.)

Buy only extinguishers that have been listed or certified by a nationally recognized testing laboratory, such as UL, ETL, CSA, and FM Approvals. You'll notice letters on the extinguishers, which indicate the type(s) of fires they can handle. Class A are designed to put out rubbish, wood, and paper fires; Class B are for oil and grease fires; and Class C are for electrical fires. Class ABC models work on all the fires above.

For the home, Drengenberg recommends Class ABC extinguishers, since you won't necessarily have time to analyze the source of a fire. Our in-house experts recommend that you buy the largest fire extinguishers you can comfortably handle, since they'll give you a longer operating time. To increase your chances of successfully and safely extinguishing a fire, use the PASS—pull, aim, squeeze, sweep—technique and watch this video from the Fire Equipment Manufacturers' Association:

• Pull the pin, hold the extinguisher away from you, and release the locking mechanism.
• Aim low, pointing the extinguisher at the base of the fire.
• Squeeze the lever slowly and evenly.
• Sweep the nozzle from side to side.

"Also, be sure the fire is not between you and the door—you want to leave yourself a way to get out," says Drengenberg, who says you need to be aware of an extinguisher's limits. "Fire extinguishers, especially smaller ones, have a limited amount of extinguishing agent and are meant for fires that are small and contained, such as those in a wastebasket or frying pan. If you're faced with a fire that is spreading rapidly, your job is to get people out and call 911." (If you're faced with a small flare-up in a pan or a pot, turn off the cooking element and cover the flames immediately with the lid, which eliminates a source of oxygen a fire needs.)

Like smoke alarms and carbon-monoxide alarms, which you should replace every 10 years and every five years, respectively, fire extinguishers have a limited service life. Replace home-use nonrechargeable fire extinguishers 12 years after the manufacture date, according to the National Fire Prevention Association. If you're unsure whether your extinguishers are rechargeable, check the owner's manual or the pressure gauge. On most extinguishers, a needle on the pressure gauge will sit in a green-colored part of the dial of if the unit is properly charged and to red-colored areas if it needs to be recharged or is overcharged.

To determine whether extinguishers are properly charged, inspect them every 30 days and as detailed in the owner's manual. If you need to charge rechargeable models, bring it only to a certified fire-equipment-maintenance company.—Gian Trotta | e-mail | Twitter | Forums | Facebook

Essential information: Check out the ratings of smoke alarms and CO alarms including where to place them in your home. If you want to carry a fire extinguisher as part of a roadside-emergency kit, our Cars blog colleagues recommend a 1A10BC or a 2A10BC compact model. Finally, learn how to treat burns and scalds.

Tip of the Day: Get rid of roof algae, which can damage shingles

Rooftop gardens have been touted as a type of cool roof that can help reduce energy use and costs. But one plant life you don't want to see on your roof is Gloeocapsa magma, a blackish algae that thrives on moisture seems to have an affinity for material used in some roofing products. When left unchecked, it can damage shingles.

This algae creeps its way upward on roofs, gradually turning shingles dark brown or black. It's easy to spot along some east-west streets with lots of trees, and sometimes it's present house after house.

My wife and I recently noticed Gloeocapsa magma algae on our 10-plus-year-old roof (shown), as well as lichens, which look like greenish-white splotches made with a paintbrush. Fortunately, we didn't have any other growth, such as moss, which can dig in beneath the shingles and upgrade the buildup from two- to three-dimensional.

I looked into some DIY solutions to eliminate the algae, such as oxygen bleach. But the safer, more-prudent move—especially with bursitis in one of my shoulders—was to hire a pro who'd do the job at a reasonable price and not use the chlorine-bleach solution the Asphalt Roofing Manufacturers Association recommends (PDF), which can damage vegetation around the house. (Note: If plants and grass are watered before applying the bleach solution and if the bleach solution is applied correctly, vegetation shouldn't be harmed by the cleaning.)

Pricing for a good roof cleaning, according to Baltimore's My Clean Roof, is based on many factors, including roof height, roof pitch and angles (not all roofs are walkable), and the algae species involved. We got a wide range of cleaning quotes, from a few hundred dollars up to $1,200.

We also spoke with one fellow who wanted to pressure-wash the roof (not recommended), and another who wanted to install copper or zinc strips without washing first. While using the strips would provide a long-lasting solution to the algae problem, the $1,500 price seemed way too high.

In the end, we found a roof-shampooing franchise operation, which quoted us a price of $350. We agreed to the price this past Monday evening, and the work was done two days later. (The cleaned roof is shown, right.) The company even threw in cleaning the siding of the two front dormers and gave a one-year warranty on the work.—Ed Perratore | e-mail | Twitter | Forums | Facebook

Essential information: If you need a new roof, read our latest report on roofing materials and find the best product for your home in the ratings (available to subscribers).