As chosen by you, here are the most popular stories of all time aka last week, just in case you missed it.

Just in time to save us all from another turkey leftover dinner, Tender Belly’s Roaming Pork is coming to The Mission in Scottsdale on Monday, November 28. Chef Matt Carter will whip up a modern Latin cuisine with the juicy, all-natural pork products from Tender Belly. Enjoy eats and drinks on the cheap from 8:00 pm – 11pm, with menu prices from $5-$8.

The Tender Belly brothers Shannon and Eric Duffy have been providing superior pork products to five-star restaurants and high-end chefs throughout Arizona and Colorado since 2010. Monday’s Roaming Pork party will be the third pork party for the pair. RSVP to Monday’s event by clicking here.

The Mission | 3815 N. Brown Avenue |  Scottsdale, AZ 85251

As chosen by you, here are the most popular stories OF ALL TIME (aka last week). Just in case you missed it.

Fresh Start Women’s Foundationin Phoenix recently added a low-cost yoga series to its self-esteem services for women. The following classes are coming up soon at the Jewell McFarland Lewis Women’s Resource Center, located at 1130 E. McDowell Road, Phoenix, AZ 85006.

Prenatal & Postnatal Yoga with Erin Buggy
Second and Fourth Wednesday of the Month (next class is Nov. 30)
6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.

Restorative Yoga with Carrie Sweeney
First and Third Wednesday of the Month (next class is Dec. 7)
6:30 p.m. – 7:45 p.m.

All Levels Yoga with Thomas Lofy
Every Saturday
9:30 a.m. – 11 a.m.

Yoga y Meditacion with Jose Garcia
Every Thursday from 5 :00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.

Meditation with Lisa Mckenzie
First and Third Tuesday of the Month (next class is Dec. 6)
1:00 p.m – 3:00 p.m.

All classes in this series are $5 each. For more information call 602.252.8494.

Nobody does video like T-Poo.

Here’s what you missed this Thanksgiving week:

Of course, we planned our Black Friday weekend shopping attack early Monday with our special shopping guide, made reservations for a dish-less and delicious Thanksgiving out and checked our local listing for a new movie to see after stuffing our faces. And we didn’t sit around watching the turkey thaw Wednesday, we hit the town for a fun pre-Thanksgiving party night, even chatting with DJ Manifesto before dancing to his beats at The Mint. We’re looking forward to hitting ZooLights and sportin’ our fugliest to the Awkward Party at The Saguaro hotel this tonight, as well as the Roaming Pork Party on Monday and Celebrity Dodgeball Tourney Tuesday.

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving. See ya Monday.

It’s the last weekend for “The Perfect Pear” of seasonal cocktails at RA Sushi. The crisp flavors of the two pear infused cocktails, make for a refreshing sip after a long day of sale shopping. Stop in for the cocktail for $8, or mix up the seasonal cocktails at home with the following recipes for a Pear Martini and the Asian Pear Smash.

Pear Martini Ingredients:
1.25 oz Absolut Pears vodka
.5 oz  St. Germain Elderflower liqueur
1 oz pear nectar
.25 oz fresh lemon juice
Splash Prosecco

Preparation:
Combine vodka, St. Germain, pear nectar and lemon juice in a shaker with ice. Shake and pour into glass. Top with Prosecco.

»READ MORE

Ditch the Reindeer clad gift wrap this year and go for this high-fashion wrap from NYC-based designer Cynthia Rowley. The limited-edition wrap by the designer is exclusively available at One Kings Lane.

Just in time to save us all from another turkey leftover dinner, Tender Belly’s Roaming Pork is coming to The Mission in Scottsdale on Monday, November 28. Chef Matt Carter will whip up a modern Latin cuisine with the juicy, all-natural pork products from Tender Belly. Enjoy eats and drinks on the cheap from 8:00 pm – 11pm, with menu prices from $5-$8.

The Tender Belly brothers Shannon and Eric Duffy have been providing superior pork products to five-star restaurants and high-end chefs throughout Arizona and Colorado since 2010. Monday’s Roaming Pork party will be the third pork party for the pair. RSVP to Monday’s event by clicking here.

The Mission | 3815 N. Brown Avenue |  Scottsdale, AZ 85251

Apparently, not everyone knows that wearing underwear is best when pushing and shoving hundreds of others for a $2 waffle maker at the local big box shop. Perhaps, we should have included this little reminder in our shopping guide posted earlier this week. Check this vid out of Little Rock as posted just minutes ago on the New York Post as shoppers crack up, one in particular, for the $2 waffle iron. Click here to watch the video.

This busy shopping weekend, relax for FREE at Aveda with free Stress Relieving Scalp & Shoulder Rituals, Stress Relieving Neck & Shoulder Ritual, Stress Relieving Hand Ritual, Makeup or Hairstyling touch ups – all accompanied by Aveda Comforting Tea to ease your mind and body. And of course, once you’re relaxed and ready to shop again, take home an Aveda Holiday 2011 Collection gift set.

Complimentary services will be offered today through Sunday, November 27. Find a store near you by clicking  Aveda beauty locations.

Thanksgiving is over which means we are officially on the high speed crazy train to Christmas Town and there ain’t no stopping us now. With that in mind, here is another amazing DIY project from BLDG 25 that will having you decking everyone’s halls with handmade cheer. Just pick up some of those clear Christmas bulbs from your local craft store and whatever objects you would like to fill it with to compliment your holiday decor. They used funky feathers and small, plastic woodland creatures to give off that signature whimsy, but the possibilities are endless. We love the idea of stuffing them with tinsel and hanging these bad boys from a wire over a mantel or filling them with family photographs and putting them on your tree to add a personal touch. If you make it happen, send us some pictures! We’d love to see the finished product. Let the countdown begin!

This year, Yelp pledges to shop local – making their list, checking it twice and scratching off the big box shops. Just one gift, bought from a local artisan or shop, can make a big difference in our community. As 2011 comes to a close, Yelp has pledged to “Shop Wisely. Give Locally. Yelp On!”

Mark your calendars for easy ways to get your Yelp On this holiday shopping season after the jump:

»READ MORE

The Capitol Steps troupe has been traveling the country to satirize our country’s politicians for three decades now and they’ll be bringing their up-to-the-minute repertoire to Scottsdale tonight.

Set to popular music, the group’s political satire pokes fun at all sides of the issues, from left to right. You can bet we’ll see ‘guest appearances’ by President Barack Obama, Speaker of the House John Boehner and assorted presidential candidates. Lord knows they have plenty material to work with, so who knows what else we’ll see from them come Friday. Rick Perry, maybe?

Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
Friday, Nov. 25, at 8 p.m. and Saturday, Nov. 26, at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. 

Tickets are available for $49 or $59 online at www.ScottsdalePerformingArts.org or through the Patron Services Box Office at (480) 499-TKTS (8587). 

After you’ve filled your tummy with turkey, digest and rest at the MercBar tonight from 7:00 p.m. – 2:00 a.m.

If you didn’t make it home for the holidays, the Merc’s Bar Chef will be serving fresh roasted turkey entrees, with mixologist Micah introducing holiday-themed cocktails.
MercBar | 2525 East Camelback Road at the Esplanade | Phoenix, AZ 85016 | 602- 508-9449

On behalf of the entire Desert Living Today / Scoop Factory family, we hope you have a happy and safe Thanksgiving holiday.

DJ Manifesto is mixing at The Mint in Scottsdale tonight. We caught up with the mix master on how his career picked him and what he likes best about bringing the music to the people. Check him out tonight at The Mint’s Pre-Thanksgiving Party from 9:00 p.m. – 2:00 a.m. 

DLT: When did you become a DJ?

DJ Manifesto: I was 11 years old when I bought myself my first set of turntables (vinyl) and a rotary mixer. Then making a makeshift studio in my walking closet and spending hours after school teaching myself how to spin.

More from DJ Manifesto, after the jump: »READ MORE

Tasting Table national bringing us a quick guide today of “The Modern Butterball” hotline, with helpful sites to click thru if tomorrow’s Butterball is baking up to be more like a gutterball. Save Thanksgiving with the following tips from TT:

For decades, Thanksgiving hosts have dialed into the Butterball hotline for tips, tricks and last minute fixes for all kinds of turkey-roasting dilemmas.

These days, there are a handful of contemporary tools to help you solve your kitchen quandaries. We are, predictably, fans of our new digital cookbook. But the following resources are equally helpful during the final stretch of the big feast’s preparation.

Food 52: This site’s digital holiday cookbook ($10) includes instructions and reference tips for everything from trussing turkeys to building gingerbread houses. The mobile version is a truncated Hotline app (free): Enter a question and it’ll be directed to the Food52 website, where members and the site’s editors can offer advice in real time (click here to download).

Paprika: This app ($5) is great any time of year for organizing recipes, but we find ourselves particularly dependent on its yield calculator during the holidays. Increase your favorite meatball recipe from 6 to 16 without doing a single sum (click here to download).

Turkey Timer: Keep track of your turkey’s cooking time with this app (click here to download), which estimates doneness and color of your bird based on applied data (oven temperature, bird weight). Or for the extremely high tech, the iGrill ($99) is a Bluetooth-enabled meat thermometer that alerts you to your turkey’s temperature via iPhone or iPad.

[Tasting Table]

After 10 years in Scottsdale, Bloom will shrivel this Saturday after its supper service. The Fox Restaurant Concept known for its seasonal American menu was the first FRC in the Valley, and the third restaurant for the Tucson-grown company, inspired by the company’s original Tucson restaurant, Wildflower. Bloom’s wine list was a consistent favorite for Wine Spectator Magazine.

The space will taken over by Highgrove Hill and a new American eatery will open at a later date.

The second best part to Thanksgiving – the leftovers (the first, the day off of oourse!). We’re really looking forward to leftovers this year with this Turkey Risotto recipe from Chef Stephen Jones of Latilla at The Boulders Resort. Ditch the turkey sandwiches and feast, post-feast on this tasty turkey dish.

Ingredients:
3 cups roasted turkey stock warmed (Recipe See Below)
2 oz dry white wine such as Sauvignon Blanc or Un-oaked Chardonnay
¼ cup shredded left over turkey (white and dark meat)
1 each shallot, finely minced
1 clove garlic , finely minced
1 tsp each fresh sage, thyme, rosemary , finely minced
3 tbsp grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
1 tsp minced fresh chives »READ MORE

Bunky Boutique

The lovely ladies of LocalLily.com are going loco for local shopping this Black Weekend. Check out the following local favorites for smokin’ hot deals this weekend. And download their “Arizona Falliday Guide” by clicking here for info on shopping, holiday entertainment and more.

Bookman’s, Mesa

Bunky Boutique, Phoenix

Boutique six10 , Chandler

Designer Blvd, Gilbert

With the holidays comes family and with family comes much needed time away from them in a dark theater where talking is seriously frowned upon. For this, we are eternally grateful for the Oscar gods who made this time of year the best for cinema. Want to know what to see? Check out what we’re itching to see after the jump.

»READ MORE

Can we be the Thanksgiving equivalent of the Grinch? We are tired of all the turkey talk and it’s only Wednesday. How about a post free of poultry and filled with great news about new restaurants, not-so-great news about new restaurants and an easy holiday recipe that is a huge crowd pleaser. Here’s a redux of this week’s happenings in our favorite food blogs:

When given the opportunity to pick whether or not you want to hear good news or bad news first, we always go with bad to get it over with. It’s like ripping off the band-aid and then getting a popsicle. For this reason, we are starting the blog recap with EaterAZ’s no-so good review of O.H.S.O Eatery and nanoBrewery which just opened up on Indian School. The restaurant, which has only been open for a hot minute, has some great deals on a vast selection of beers on tap and an excellent wine list. The food, however, left a lot to be desired according to EaterAZ. We will let you read the review as it is ohso funny (and does not overuse that joke at all) as it describes the food in just the meanest of the mean way they were striving for. Mission accomplished.  »READ MORE

If it’s time for the holidays in the Valley, it’s time for ZooLights. The annual holiday tradition kicks off its 20th year lighting up the Phoenix Zoo with 3.5 million lights and more than 600 glittering displays powered with SRP EarthWise energy.

New this year is a gigantic 3D praying mantis and the “Music in Motion” dancing tree show alongside old favorites like Jengo the talking giraffe. Back for a second year is the first simulated snow tubing in the Southwest, the 160-foot long Polar Slides!

Coming December, ring in the new year with the first ever Zoo Year’s Eve event with ZooLights open until 12:30 a.m. December 31st.

Head to the zoo’s website for more info or purchase your tickets here or at participating Fry’s stores.

November 24, 2011 – January 8, 2012
6 to 10 p.m. nightly 

Phoenix Zoo | 455 North Galvin Parkway, Phoenix, 85008 | 602.273.1341

Wednesday, November 30th at 6:00 p.m. dine Big Easy style with Food Network star Chef Beau MacMillan on the Paradise Views Patio at Sanctuary Camelback Mountain Resort. The three-course dinner features Chef MacMillan’s New Orleans-style specialties with crawfish cakes, shrimp and crab etouffee, andouille sausage gumbo with dirty rice and fried okra and more. A selection of fine cigars will light up the evening including the Casa Miranda Robusto, La Aurora Preferito #2 Cameroon and La Sirena “A”.

Reservations are $125 per person, including dinner, beverages, cigars and gratuity. Call 480-670-2300 to reserve your seat.

Sanctuary Camelback Mountain | 5700 East McDonald Drive | Scottsdale, AZ 85253 | 480-948-2100

Christmas shopping starts on Friday and we’ve got an item for the top of our list. Mercedes-Benz is revealing their new super SUV, the 2012 ML63 AMG at the Los Angeles Auto Show.

Mercedes keeps their luxury SUV tradition alive by improving the ML63′s fuel efficiency by an estimated 33% while the 518-horsepower engine is an increase of 15 horsepower over the 2011 model. And not that you’d ever try this on Valley streets, but it can go from zero to 60 mph in 4.7 seconds and has a top speed of 174 mph.

Check out the official AMG website for more info.