SEATTLE, Nov. 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Allrecipes.com, the world's #1 digital food brand with more than 1 billion annual visits, celebrated its biggest Thanksgiving ever as record-breaking numbers of home cooks visited the site during the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving Day. The day before Thanksgiving, Wednesday November 21, saw Allrecipes' busiest traffic day ever, shattering previous records with more than 7.9 million visits from home cooks. For the first time ever, the biggest hour of traffic on the site was between 3-4 p.m. PT, an hour later than past years. This trend shows the transition of home cooks leveraging mobile devices in the kitchen while cooking, rather than searching on a laptop or desktop and then moving to the kitchen with a printed recipe or written notes.

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Visits to Allrecipes.com from mobile devices the week leading up to Thanksgiving Day were up 97 percent year-over-year, with the total number of visits from mobile devices for the same time period reaching an astounding 12 million. The recently-launched Video Cookbook app for Windows 8 and iOS, saw nearly 20,000 unique visitors, while nearly 4 million home cooks visited Allrecipes from a tablet device the week leading up to Thanksgiving, a 232 percent increase year-over-year.

Top Thanksgiving recipes of 2012:

1. Yummy Sweet Potato Casserole
2. Turkey Brine 
3. Grandma's Green Bean Casserole 
4. Apple Pie by Grandma Ople 
5. Grandma's Corn Bread Dressing
6. Perfect Turkey
7. Candied Yams
8. A Simply Perfect Roast Turkey
9. Double Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake
10. Awesome Sausage, Apple and Cranberry Stuffing

"Thanksgiving is the most popular holiday for a home-cooked feast. Seventy percent of home cooks prepared for a Thanksgiving meals this year, and it's so rewarding to be the go-to food resource for them as they embrace the latest digital technologies, platforms and devices to simplify meal planning," said Lisa Sharples, president of Allrecipes.com. "Allrecipes has always believed digital technology, social media, and online communities would revolutionize how, when, and where cooks are thinking about their next meal, so it's thrilling for us to see the numbers continue to rise each year!"

More than 1.6 million home cooks also sought out original, made-for-web video content to gain inspiration and confidence for preparing the year's biggest feast. Allrecipes.com video views shot up 200 percent year-over-year as home cooks eagerly devoured instructional food-focused videos on the web, mobile devices and internet TVs.

What did home cooks need the most help with? Below are the top five instructional videos home cooks watched this Thanksgiving:

1. How To Prep And Roast Turkey
2. How To Brine A Turkey
3. How To Make Turkey Gravy
4. How To Make Stuffing
5. How To Make Pumpkin Pie

The top recipe videos for Thanksgiving were:

1. Whipped Sweet Potato Casserole
2. Candied Sweet Potatoes
3. Green Bean Casserole
4. The Best Mashed Potatoes
5. Apple Pie By Grandma Ople

Specialized diet recipes trended up this year compared to last, with searches for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and Paleo recipes during the week leading up to Thanksgiving rising 40 percent. For vegetarians, vegans, and others with dietary restrictions, the top recipes were:

• Top vegetarian - Thanksgiving No-Turkey Turkey
• Top vegan - Roasted Beets 'n' Sweets
• Top gluten-free - Gluten Free Thanksgiving Stuffing
• Top Paleo - Quinoa Stuffing

Regionally, America's tastes are as diverse as the country's geography. The most uniquely popular side dish for each region is:

• Northeast - Potato Filling (432 percent more popular in the Northeast than the rest of the U.S.)
• South - Yellow Squash Dressing (233 percent more popular in the South than the rest of the U.S.)
• Midwest - Old-Fashioned Scalloped Corn (238 percent more popular in the Midwest than the rest of the U.S.)
• West- Citrus Glazed Banana Squash (327 percent more popular in the West than the rest of the U.S.)

Families also enjoyed a second helping of Thanksgiving! The most popular leftover recipes are:

• Turkey - Dad's Leftover Turkey Pot Pie
• Potatoes - Baked Potato Soup I
• Gravy - Chicken Gravy Enchilada Casserole
• Cranberry Sauce - Thanksgiving Leftover Wontons with Cranberry Salsa

About Allrecipes
Allrecipes, the world's largest digital food brand, receives more than 1 billion annual visits from family-focused women who connect and inspire one another through photos, reviews, videos and blog posts. Since its launch in 1997, the Seattle-based social site has served as a dynamic, indispensable resource for cooks of all skill levels seeking trusted recipes, entertaining ideas, everyday and holiday meal solutions and practical cooking tips. Allrecipes is a global, multiplatform brand providing insights into the lives of women everywhere based on activity from 18 websites, 18 mobile sites, 11 mobile apps, and 14 eBooks serving 23 countries in 12 languages. Allrecipes is part of Meredith Corporation (NYSE: MDP), the leading media and marketing company serving American women. For additional information regarding Meredith, please visit www.meredith.com. For additional information regarding Allrecipes, please visit http://press.allrecipes.com.

Stephanie Robinett
206.708.9271
stephanier@allrecipes.com

SOURCE Allrecipes.com