Finger-Clicking Good Sites

This time next week, many of us will do the traditional belt loosening and succumb to post-tryptophanic fatigue. To prepare for that slumber of satiety, the Web can help with some of the fixin’s.

Before hitting the kitchen--or the restaurant--check out www.holidays.net/thanksgiving to get into the spirit. This site lets users explore the story of Thanksgiving from the days of pilgrims and has holiday pictures for the kids to print and color, tasty holiday recipes to try and e-greeting cards to send friends and family. Heck, you can adopt your own virtual gobbler too.

There’s also familyeducation.com/topic/front/0,1156 ,1-3714,00.html, which has family-oriented articles and activities for kids. You can make place cards and thank-you notes, among other things.

To keep yourself or the kids busy as the turkey or tofurkey roasts, click on www.theholidayspot.com/thanksgiving/games/index.htm for some goofy games and puzzles.

The Web, of course, is a hotbed of cooking information. From gobbler to giblets, there are recipes for each part of the meal. Among the most user-friendly sites are www.foodtv.com/holidays/thanksgivingindex and www.turkeyfed.org/consumer/thanks.html.

Foodtv.com lets online cooks browse through loads of recipes and tips for turkey and fixings. It also provides a turkey “calculator” so you can figure out the best cooking time, a video to sharpen carving skills and quick fixes for kitchen disasters.

At www.turkeyfed.org, the National Turkey Federation offers tips on how to pluck a turkey from the market and prep it for the oven, as well as recipe ideas such as jalapeno-glazed turkey breast.

Although we think one should be suspicious of someone so perfect, Martha Stewart’s site at www.marthastewart.com offers decent, yet occasionally uptight, tips.

Other sites with great recipes and cooking tips include:

* www.cooksrecipes.com

* www.epicurious.com

* www.allrecipes.com

* www.globalgourmet.com

* www.recipeamerica.com

* www.gourmetspot.com/features/thanksgiving.htm

At Learn2.com (www.learn2.com/04/0441/0441.asp), you can get tips on carving ranging from how to choose the correct knife to actual cutting. You can also check out the proper way to open a bottle of wine and set the table. (If only the Web could do these things for you!)

Don’t forget dessert! The baking tips at www.pierecipe.com can help you create delicious desserts, such as Frosty Pumpkin Pie with 277 calories per slice.

Believe it or not, even at this time of year, some folks do watch what they eat. For the non-carnivores among us, several sites have recipes for you too. In the recipe archives at www.fatfree.com/recipes/tofu and www.vegkitchen.com/thanksgiving.html are some fine, featherless features. At www.cookinglight.com, you can find ideas on figure-friendly recipes.

Those cooking for diabetics can check out www.diabetic-lifestyle.com for sugar-conscious recipes.

On the preparation front, you can find out where to pick up fresh cranberries and veggies by checking www.cafecreosote.com/Farmers_Markets for farmers’ markets in your area.

With all this talk of food, you’d think the holiday is about gorging. For those of you scratching your heads, it doesn’t have to be. One way to express gratitude for things in your life is to give back--and you can work up a pretty decent appetite doing it. Check out www.volunteermatch.org for ideas on giving back. The site lets you search among thousands of one-time and ongoing opportunities by ZIP Code, category and date. You can sign up by e-mail for those that match your interests and schedule.

Sweating bullets in fear you might get asked to say grace at the dining table this year? To get some ideas, check out www.night.net/thanksgiving/grace.html-ssi.

Since we’re on the topic of bowed heads and closed lids, let’s hit the post-feast activities. As you prepare for touchdown on the couch, www.nfl.com can give you the lowdown before kickoff for the New England-Detroit and Minnesota-Dallas games.

Football doesn’t float your boat? Maybe you’re into enormous balloon characters, occasionally sent on a rampage by the wind. At www.ny.com/holiday/thanksgiving/parade.html, you can find details on this year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade in New York. The site includes the performance lineup, new floats to look for and pictures of parades past.

We thought you might want some sites on watching your figure, but you’ll probably be getting all the exercise you want, lifting overloaded forks.

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Michelle Maltais is a broadcast producer and copy editor at The Times.