William Neuman of the New York Times reports that the market for heritage turkeys remains strong, even in a down economy, even at prices exceeding $10 a pound, or $180 a bird.

“It’s a hot item,” said Bill Niman, a prominent advocate for sustainable agriculture who this year jumped into the so-called heritage turkey market — older breeds of birds that had all but disappeared until championed by preservationists and foodies.

He raised 2,500 birds for Thanksgiving and “sold every bird.”

Neuman says: “Heritage turkeys are old-fashioned breeds that resemble their wild ancestors more closely than do modern breeds. Devotees say they are more…

Today’s Post-Dispatch features a story about things that can go wrong with your Thanksgiving dinner. Let’s broaden that a little, though. We don’t have to limit ourselves to Thanksgiving. Let’s talk about that time at Grandma’s birthday, or your in-laws’ anniversary when someone or something broke down, blew up, threw up or otherwise malfunctioned.

We’re talking far beyond food. Hasn’t everyone, at some point, overcooked, undercooked or forgot to cook something? Let’s hear about the Christmas tree that wouldn’t stand up — so you nailed it to the wall. (That really happened to a friend of mine. Thanks, Tom.) Or the big…

The rite of passage used to go like this: child goes off to college, child graduates from college, child ventures out into the world, child’s bedroom becomes a guest room, sewing room, weight room, etc.

Not so fast. A new study out today from the Pew Research Center said that nearly 1 in 7 parents with grown children had a child move back in with them in the past year. Blame the economy and the country’s 10.2 percent unemployment rate. Experts say young adults feel the brunt of a recession first and will be among the last to feel the recovery.

While…

No one likes getting a traffic ticket. Speeding, running a red light, rolling through a stop sign, it doesn’t matter. The increased heartbeat and dry mouth that comes when you see those police lights in the rearview mirror are never welcome.

A motorist in Virginia probably felt that  way, and more, after he (or she; I don’t believe it was specified) got stopped recently. The Washington Post reported on Sunday that a motorist who violated the high-occupancy vehicle law got slapped with a $1,000 ticket.

To be fair, it was the driver’s fourth violation. And police said drivers violating the HOV lane law…

Post-Dispatch reporter Georgina Gustin reports that there may be a shortage of pumpkin pie filling this holiday season.

It seems that this fall’s heavy rains have turned pumpkin patches into quagmires, compounding an already strained supply.

“Last year’s supply was short, so there really wasn’t anything in the pipeline,” explained Leo Darrow, a grocery manager at Dierbergs. “Then they had a late spring, a cool, wet summer, a rainy fall, and things just snowballed.”

While stores aren’t reporting bare shelves, they aren’t offering any incentives.

Dierbergs and other supermarkets haven’t advertised canned pumpkin in the usual preholiday fashion, Darrow said. “Everyone has some pumpkin now….