For Thanksgiving dinner, Bing will teach you to cook -- Google prefers eating out

Thanksgiving is probably my favorite holiday. Not only is it a great day to reflect on what I am thankful for, but it allows me to overeat in a socially acceptable way. When I am gorging on food the other 364 days, I'll get dirty looks; not so on Thanksgiving! Turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes -- mmm mmm mmm, I can taste it already.

If you haven't made plans for the holiday yet, do not worry; both Bing and Google are aiming to help you out. The competing search engines, however, are taking polar approaches as to how to eat. Bing will help you find recipes, while Google will help you with eating-out.

"Our friends over at Zagat.com have made it easy to find top-rated restaurants for Thanksgiving. With city spotlights in Austin, Denver, NYC and San Francisco (to name a few!), you can check out top-notch Thanksgiving dinner options -- whether you want a traditional Thanksgiving meal or would rather try tacos or sushi", says Google.

The search-giant has partnered with Zagat to locate restaurants that are open on the holiday, making it easy to find a place to dine with Google Maps. While some will find eating-out on Thanksgiving to be sacrilege, remember, not everyone has a large family, or a kitchen large enough to cook a big meal. Hell, my first apartment, a studio, had no kitchen -- just a microwave in the living room.

For those who want a traditional home-cooked Thanksgiving meal, Bing is here to make your holiday wonderful. Microsoft's search service is launching a new way to find and view recipes.

The Bing team explains, "Thanksgiving is almost here and that means two things, family and food. We understand how difficult it can be to cook such a huge feast. Whether you are looking for a new dish for this year's table or for how to make stuffing just like your mom's, Bing can help you find the perfect recipe. We've collected recipes from all of your favorite sites, this way you can look through all of them in one place. Click through our new carousel with large images to explore dishes until you find the right one".

I'm sure a lot of you enjoy eating-out, and I get that; it is easier and requires no cleaning up. With that said, it is rather special sitting around a table with your family enjoying a home-cooked meal and talking about what you are thankful for. Whether you go a restaurant, or cook yourself, maybe you should call a lonely friend or relative and invite them -- I am sure they will be thankful for that.

Will you be eating a home-cooked meal this Thursday, or eating-out? Tell me in the comments.

Photo Credit: Lisa A / Shutterstock