Okay, this is a dog food recipe I wouldn't turn my own nose up at.

It's packed with turkey and cranberries and all.

Read the story of Sydney and her special diet.

As lensmaster azpoppy starts off:

"My dog Sydney is half Australian Shepherd and half Belgian Shepherd (Tervuren type). I trained her to be a Hearing Ear dog and she has been a wonderful companion over the past 13 years. There is much more to her story, which I plan to write about at another time, but for the purpose of this lens, I will explain some of her eating and food issues and how I wound up making her food for her."

Congratulations (and thanks!) to azpoppy for winning $1000 for the Humane Society.

That's right.

When you're done eating Thanksgiving dinner... put it on your face!

A whole new spin on how to use leftovers.

Here's how pumpkins, cranberries, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes and green beans can be used as DIY beauty treatments. There's even a recipe for a turkey fat mask... but that's only for the more adventurous among us.

Thanks to Ener-G and this winning Cookoff lens, Squidoo is donating $1000 to the Madison Valley Aquatic Center.

P.S. There's still time to enter your own Cookoff lens! But hurry. Turkey Day is next week.

Sure, the recipe on this lens sounds pretty good. But no matter how savory or sweet, it's not about the potatoes. Not really.

Here's the backstory and confluence of events.

Christene wanted to enter a lens in the Cookoff, to support the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
But she doesn't cook! (Says she).
So she thought: I don't have to do this alone. (Smart Christene).
And asked friends from an online community if they had a family recipe she could feature.
Someone did. (Yum).
Christene made the page. (She's a pro).
Earmarked her lens royalties to JDRF.
November also happens to be Diabetes Awareness month. (Good timing).
Entered it in the contest. (Thanks!)
She made it a special tribute to her friends, Mary Kathryn's family.
And today, of all days, the same day Christene's lens gets selected as a Cookoff winner and as Lens of the Day, she also learns that it would have been Mary Kathryn's 7th birthday. (Even better timing).

And so, thanks to Christene, we're donating $1000 to JDRF.

See. Told you it wasn't about the potatoes.

P.S. Only 7 more days until Thanksgiving, only 7 more Cookoff Winners we can select. (Out of hundreds and hundreds and hundreds. Oh my). Give yourself a leg up and email us your Cookoff entry at squidoocookoff@squidoo.com. We'll keep picking winners, and then on Thanksgiving Day we'll put all the winners in a big poll and let you vote on who should get the $5000 grand prize.

Did somebody say desserts? Ooh la la, pumpkin is good for more than just pie, as kimmanleyort shows us in Pumpkin Parfait, Anyone?

In this lens, Kim shares this treat from a collection of favorite recipes her mother compiled shortly before Kim got married. She tells a lovely story, and includes simple instructions for making pumpkin parfaits in classy parfait flutes. I can just see the kids wanting to put this together!  Don't they look delicious?  And simple too - just a few ingredients, mix them up, refrigerate them, and enjoy.

For her work, we're sending $1000 to Earthjustice.

http://www.squidoo.com/pumpkin-parfait

What a stressful day! I can't wait until later when I can kick back with a relaxing cup of hot tea. Ahhh...and Sylvestermouse makes it so easy with her wonderful Spice Tea Recipe.

Great as a treat for yourself or your guests, spice tea is simple to make with ingredients from your grocery store. If you're making gifts for friends, spice tea mix is a delicious way to say "Happy Holidays!"

And while you're relaxing, we'll be donating $1000 to National Wildlife Federation's Alaska Resource Center.

http://www.squidoo.com/Spice-Tea

My movie from earlier this afternoon (Mystery Science Theater: 3000) wasn't exactly Thanksgiving related, but it sure was nice to kick back this afternoon and watch (snooze through) a favorite flick. With Halloween over and a break needed before we hit Christmas, eccles1 knows exactly which Thanksgiving Movies are hot.

I honestly didn't know there were so many movies about Thanksgiving! True, many include Thanksgiving as only part of the plot, but it's good to know Hollywood hasn't left out this important holiday.

TLC Animal Shelter hasn't been left out either. We'll be sending them $1000 on behalf of this LOTD winning lens.

http://www.squidoo.com/thanksgivingmovies

Thanksgiving is a great time to teach kids about food: about being thankful for it, about giving it, and about what makes it good for you. Lensmaster GonnaFly makes it easy with her selection of Food Coloring Pages.

Learn the difference between vegetables and grains and fruits and nuts, and how they do a body good. (No, chocolate isn't on this pyramid.) It's a cute way to teach kids about healthy eating, and you can even let them help you pick out what you'll be serving this Thanksgiving. Or they can turn their designs into a colorful paper cornucopia!

On behalf of this lens, we're sending $1000 to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

http://www.squidoo.com/FoodColoringPages

To me, pumpkin pie from scratch means making it out of a can instead of buying it from Sara Lee. To lensmaster PJWuebker it means growing a pumpkin, picking it, slicing and dicing it, and turning it into a delicious, wholesome dessert.

From the Garden Pumpkin Pie shows you how easy it is to turn your home-grown garden pumpkins in to pie-ready "pumpkin meat." Too much pumpkin to eat just yet? Save it in the freezer and enjoy fresh pumpkin all year long. What a fun project for kids to plant pumpkins in the spring and choose which ones will become pumpkin heads and which ones will become pie.

For this great lens, we're sending $1000 to Wildlife Forever.

http://www.squidoo.com/GardenPumpkinPie

Every day (or nearly that) Squidoo's Community & Charity Organizer, Kimberly Dawn Wells, highlights a lens that stands out from the crowd, a lens that is unique in topic, approach, personality, tools or timing. Or, you know, just a lens that made her day.

If you find a lens you'd like to submit for LotD consideration, send it to us here.

Looking for some help and advice on your own lenses? Swing by SquidU, where tons of smart lensmasters hang out.