Cat in the Stax: Thanksgiving Foods and Google Trends
As Falvey’s Cat in the Stax, Rebecca writes articles covering a broad range of topics, from academics to hobbies to random events. All the while highlighting how Falvey Library can enhance your Villanova experience!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! It’s almost here, and I want to wish everyone a fun and food-filled holiday. I hope you all are enjoying the break and taking this time off from school to relax, connect with friends and family, and think about everything you are grateful for. Load up on those carbs, eat as much food as you can, and savor every bite.
I was interested about the most popular Thanksgiving foods, and I wanted to see what people were most likely cooking this year. So, I looked on Google Trends to see what people were searching up as the holiday draws closer. Below are the five top trending Thanksgiving Recipes in the U.S.:
- Turkey Dressing
- Green Bean Casserole
- Mashed Potatoes
- Prime Rib
- Corn Casserole
Now keep in mind that these are only side dishes. Turkey is the traditional main dish of this holiday, and its annual place at the table in reflected in the Google Trends data. Every year, there is a huge spike in “how to cook a turkey” search interests during the month of November.
Another Thanksgiving food staple is pie. While one might think a typical pie served for this holiday to be either pumpkin or apple (or maybe pecan pie), the trends show that people are considering different kinds for their holiday meal. The picture below shows Google’s most searched for pies in each state:
As you can see, the types of pies being searched vary quite a bit, though there are a few common ones. According to this map, the top five most searched for pies are 1) apple pie, 2) pumpkin pie, 3) key lime pie, 4) sweet potato pie, and 5) pecan pie. Does this ranking surprise you? How about some of these outliers?
No two tables look the same! The data here shows that certain ideas we might have about Thanksgiving foods are different across the nation. Families might have different traditions during this holiday, and every household serves different dishes. Even if you are planning for a more “traditional” meal, the recipes used are not the same across the board. Every dinner this holiday will be unique in its own way!
Rebecca Amrick is a first year graduate student in the English Department and a Graduate Assistant at Falvey Library.