Thanksgiving Wrap-Up: The Web’s Top Turkey Day Stories

Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online
Before you sit down to watch a little football or enjoy some turkey and stuffing with your extended family, why not kick back and savor some of the most succulent Thanksgiving-related stories and blogs the Internet has to offer?
NASA GOES Satellites Predict Travel Troubles
Before any holiday get-together can actually get underway, people need to get to where they’re going, and that often depends on the weather – as NASA reported on Tuesday. The agency’s GOES-East and GOES-West satellites detected an active weather pattern, which foretold a heavy snowstorm which is expected to affect travelers in the Carolinas and along the East Coast of the US starting Wednesday and into Thanksgiving Day.
Google Data Reveals Most Distinct Dishes For Each State
Once you get to where you’re going, odds are you can expect a traditional-style Thanksgiving dinner: turkey (usually roasted or deep fried), stuffing, cranberry sauce, and more. But what are the most unique dishes served throughout the country? That’s what the New York Times set to find out, with an assist from Google.
The popular search engine documented for the most-looked for and most distinct types of Turkey Day foods throughout each of the 50 states. Among the more interesting dishes: Alabama’s Sweet Potato Dumplings, Connecticut’s Butternut Squash Casserole, Delaware’s Pretzel Salad, Georgia’s Key Lime Cake, Indiana’s Persimmon Pudding and New Jersey’s Stuffed Artichokes. The most unusual sounding dish, Frog Eye Salad, is a combination of pasta, fruit, eggs, whipped cream and marshmallows that topped the list in Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, and Wyoming.
Thanksgiving Side-Dish Ideas For Gluten-Free Eaters
While Thanksgiving is one of the biggest eating days of the year, it can be tough for those with gluten allergies to feel comfortable dining to their heart’s content without knowing that the meals are safe and 100 percent wheat-free. Fortunately, redOrbit’s Rayshell Clapper has scoured the Internet and gathered recipes for a few gluten-free offerings that you can prepare for this year’s festivities, including Fried Zucchini Chips, Gluten-Free Dinner Rolls and Pumpkin Pie Tart with Almond Crust.
Just make sure that you don’t eat too much or this may happen to you…

Astronauts Set To Enjoy Different Kind Of Thanksgiving Dinner
Even Americans in orbit are looking forward to enjoying a Thanksgiving meal, although the menu for the NASA astronauts on board the International Space Station probably looks a bit different than yours. Their dinner will consist of irradiated smoked turkey, thermostabilized candied yams, freeze-dried green beans and mushrooms, NASA’s own freeze-dried cornbread dressing and thermostabilized cherry-blueberry cobbler for dessert.
On the bright side, at least they can enjoy a freshly brewed cup of coffee thanks to the recent arrival of ISSpresso, an espresso machine made specially to work in the microgravity environment of space. Borrowing concepts perfected by pod coffee makers, ISSpresso keeps both the water and the coffee in separate capsules, heating and pressurizing the water before running it through the coffee pod.
Astronauts Send Special Holiday Message From The ISS
Speaking of the space station, NASA astronaut and Expedition 42 Commander Barry “Butch” Wilmore broadcast a special Thanksgiving message from the orbiting research facility, sharing his thoughts on the holiday, what it means to him and his family, and some of the various things that he is especially grateful for.
Giving Thanks: The Science Of Gratitude Examined
Thanksgiving is about many different things to many different people, but as Wilmore expressed in his message (and as the holiday’s name implies), counting your blessings is an important part of marking the occasion – and researchers from the University of California-Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center say that gratitude can improve your physical and psychological health.
Dr. Emiliana Simon-Thomas, science director of the Greater Good Science Center, and her colleagues found that people who had been conditioned to practice gratitude had stronger brain structures for social cognition and empathy, as well as improved function in the brain that processes reward. She recommended starting a “gratitude journal” and writing in it a couple of times each week in order to remind yourself of who and what you’re thankful for.
Tryptophan: Unfairly Blamed For Post-Dinner Naps
After all the thanks have been said, the meals have been eaten, the dishes cleaned up and the leftovers put away, there’s still one big Thanksgiving Day tradition left: taking a nap. An amino acid found in turkey meat known as tryptophan has long been blamed as the reason that people feel drowsy after eating it, largely due to the fact that it makes serotonin, a neurotransmitter which helps regulate sleep.
However, as Lee Rannals explained last year, while tryptophan does make people drowsy, it is not the sole reason that people feel the need to nap Thursday evening. In actuality, it is a mixture of meat and carbohydrates consumed at Thanksgiving that actually sets the stage for the amino acid to do its dirty work. The carbs clear out all amino acids except for tryptophan, allowing the substance to reach the brain and increase serotonin production.
And For Black Friday: Products To Avoid At The Toy Store
Finally, once Thanksgiving’s all said and done, it’s time to start Christmas shopping – and once again Rayshell Clapper has you covered by listing the Top 10 toys to avoid for safety reasons this holiday season, as selected by the World Against Toys Causing Harm (WATCH). Topping the list in 2014 are the Air Storm Firetek Bow, the Radio Flyer Ziggle and the Cata Pencil (a pencil and slingshot all in one).
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and remember to thank the chef!

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