Last year at this time, we posted on how to celebrate Thanksgiving Nebraska-style: Food, alternatives, and even cooking supplies. Especially for such a food-oriented holiday (and since agriculture and manufacturing are what make Nebraska’s economy go ‘round), it’s important to support your local community.

This quarter of the year is often what provides manufacturers and producers with enough income to support themselves for the rest of the year, so it actually is tremendously important to take a step and purchase locally manufactured products.

Without further ado, here are some of our outstanding producers that can help you celebrate in style. Best of all, you’ll be able to share the good news that your celebration is fueled by the farm just down the road, or a manufacturer twenty-minutes away.

The CanCooker: This bad boy made the list last year as well, but it’s honestly too good not to promote. It’s been a big year for Seth McGinn and his Nebraska-made anodized steel cooker: They released a new product, the Foldable Chicken Cooking Rack to cook juicy, whole chickens, and even a cookbook in July with recipes for poultry, game, and more.

The Fremont company is a “commercial take on cream can suppers that were a fixture on McGinn’s grandfather’s ranch in Northeast Nebraska,” according to the World-Herald. It’s a low-maintenance, easy way to cook a flavorful turkey. Demand for the CanCookers has been large enough that the company has moved to a 27,000 square-foot space, which indicates that there’s certainly something to the way these cookers work. They even have a recipe for how to cook your

If you haven’t heard about the bird-flu, or avian influenza, outbreaks in the United States, it’s been a brutal season for bird farmers everywhere: 8 million turkeys were lost in the outbreak. That means this year, large turkeys will be especially expensive. If you’re looking for a less expensive, and equally delicious alternative, step outside the box and think about a Thanksgiving ham instead.

Tom Misfeld of Ranch Oak Farm, Inc. says that “prices are lower than last year because there are a few more hog numbers, and more grain to feed hogs because of more rain.” This website, called Nebraska, can help you find a local hog farm near you that may also sell hams or meat products farmed in Nebraska!

Not feeling like cooking dinner or even worse, doing the dishes? Thanks to the Omaha World-Herald, there’s a open on Thanksgiving Day for those who prefer to take the relaxing route.

If you’re an Omahan, Sullivan’s Steakhouse will open a $39 turkey dinner with hand-carved roasted turkey breast, sweet potato casserole, shaved brussel sprouts with smoked bacon, chocolate pecan pie, and more. You’re still supporting Nebraska commerce, just in a different way.

Happy Thanksgiving to one and all, and we’re thankful for each of you who read this blog daily or weekly to keep up with manufacturing news around Nebraska.

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photo credit: via