Top Picks: Thanksgiving Day TV, Benjamin Moore's color app, and more

HBO's sports retrospective looks at how athletics can cross race, gender, and class lines, the American Chemical Society's site has tips on Thanksgiving cooking as well as facts about the science behind it, and more top picks.

Kitchen chemistry

Plenty of websites offer tutorials for cooking a Thanksgiving meal to perfection. But how many also teach the chemistry involved in making favorite holiday dishes? The American Chemical Society’s site has a collection of articles and videos discussing everything from why it’s safe to cook turkey for less time to the science behind thickening gravy. Check it out at http://bit.ly/thanksscience.

From balloons to best in show

NBC will again host Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, one of the beloved traditions of Turkey Day, starting at 9 a.m. Then stay tuned for the 12th annual National Dog Show at noon. Will a fox terrier win “Best in Show” for the third year in a row? This year three new American Kennel Club-sanctioned breeds are battling for first: the chinook, the Portuguese podengo pequeno, and the rat terrier. Expect heart-tugging features on canines who are making a difference in the lives of the humans around them.

Barbra comes home

Barbra Streisand provides the perfect post-Thanksgiving activity: listening to two hours of her hits, including nine songs she has never performed on a concert stage. Barbra Streisand: Back to Brooklyn airs on PBS’s “Great Performances” Friday, Nov. 29, at 9 p.m. Twenty-seven songs are framed by video montages of Streisand’s childhood and early career. Those include her alma mater Erasmus High School, the Loew’s Kings Theater, the Dodgers, her yeshiva, Brighton Beach, and Brooklyn Heights. At 16, she left her fourth-floor Brooklyn apartment to pursue her acting career; the rest is history.

Athletic nation

HBO shoots for the heart on our national holiday with a look at the sports moments that have made fans laugh and cry – the ones they’ll remember for the rest of their lives. Sport in America: Our Defining Stories debuts at 6 p.m. Thanksgiving Day. Following the rise of both black and women athletes, the film examines how sports can cross race, gender, and class lines. Ranging from the 1936 Olympics with Jesse Owens to the 1972 Munich Games to the NFL’s first post-Katrina games in 2005 New Orleans, these are the games and the athletes that have inspired generations of Americans.

Color it perfectly

Redecorating a room? With the Benjamin Moore Color Capture app, you can snap a picture of a room, a travel photo, or a magazine page, and then click on the color you want. The app will match that hue with one of Benjamin Moore’s 3,500 paint colors. You can also save your selection and ask for complementary shades. It’s available for iPhone, iPad, and Android devices.

Stories from the heart

“Live with courage” – PBS brings these three simple words to vivid life in a Thanksgiving Day special from its “POV” laboratory. StoryCorps looks for wisdom and poetry in the lives of regular people; this animated film brings together a tapestry of natural storytellers doing what they do best – talking about their lives. This may just inspire you to use the record function on your smart phone at the next family meal and see what gems turn up. Listening Is an Act of Love: A StoryCorps Special airs Nov. 28 at 9 p.m.