Turkey and trimmings and football, oh my! Thanksgiving Day info for Virginia

Put on the pants with the stretchy waistband; it’s that time of year when we gather together to celebrate family, good fortune – and the fact that there are about 47 different football games on all at once.But even in your Food Coma, remember to not lose sight of the origins of Thanksgiving, when the Pilgrims took a moment to give thanks for the start of a new life in the New World.Of course, if your feast is threatening to fizzle, don’t panic:find tips to salvage your stuffing, transform your turkey, liven up leftovers and more below.

http://www.butterball.com/en/index.jsp

It’s the ideal time to “give back” to others in the community. Consider donating extra food to a local food bank or homeless shelter.If you’d like to volunteer your time on Thanksgiving, call early in the month to make arrangements,Many charitable organizations are flooded with volunteers around this time of year – but they need your help the rest of the year, too.If their roster is full, consider other times when you could pitch in.Below are lists to help you find organizations near you.

http://national.unitedway.org/myuw/

http://www.secondharvest.org/zip_code.jsp

http://www.homelessshelterdirectory.org

Chew on these fun Thanksgiving facts!

·The average person consumes 4,500 calories on Thanksgiving Day.

·Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey – not the eagle -- to be our national bird.

·President Abraham Lincoln established the original date for our National Thanksgiving Day celebration in 1863.

·Only male (tom) turkeys gobble. The famous gobble is actually a seasonal mating call.

·The average age of the Mayflower passenger was 32. The oldest passenger was 64.