This year's popular favorite, "Sweet Potato Pie I." (Allrecipes.com)

One of the wonders of the online world is that it generates stats like this: The average Thanksgiving meal was 2,225 calories, up 5 percent from last year, according to Seattle-based Allrecipes.com, which is in a position to know, claiming a record of more than 2.8 million visitors the day before Thanksgiving this year.

The No. 1 recipe on the site was "Sweet Potato Pie I," as last year's top pick, "Homestyle Turkey the Michigander Way," apparently fell out favor.

The New York Times wrote earlier in the week about Allrecipes and other sites using their traffic patterns to draw conclusions about eating habits in different parts of the country and world.

Here's how that regional comparison ended up: According to Allrecipes, the biggest Thanksgiving eaters this year turned out to be in South Carolina, where meals averaged more than 2,690 calories per serving. Iowans and Minnesotans, apparently watching their weight, came in at an average of 1,797 calories per serving.