Sunday, October 10, 2010

It's Thanksgiving in Canada

On Saturday, the day before Thanksgiving I was writing this with the yummy smell of turkey cooking in the oven and wondering how I am going to make a proper Thanksgiving post which links nicely to my current obsession and the real subject of my blog (in case you haven't noticed). I had a post started, which was only peripherally about Thanksgiving and I had a couple of neat ideas, but no time to do anything with it because I was bringing the turkey to my sister-in-law's house in another hour to celebrate with my in-laws. Yes, I know it was day early, but the following day I was going to my own sister's house for another big feast soooo, you can see there is little time for blogging between the feasting and festivities!

A traditional Canadian Thanksgiving supper is a roast turkey with a savory breadcrumb stuffing (usually a family recipe), mashed potatoes, gravy, various fall vegetables (our family likes brussell sprouts, but squash or turnips, or green beans are other choices).  A necessary condiment is cranberry sauce made from fresh berries (not the canned type!)

Perogies
Depending upon the number of guests, various other side dishes may be offered as well. Canada's mixture of cultures is evident in the wide variety of types of food people enjoy eating. Central Canada has many descendants of Ukrainian and Polish immigrants so perogies and cabbage rolls are popular here. I still remember the first time I saw a perogie. My sister had bought some of the delightful potato and cheese stuffed dumplings at a bazaar in the Catholic church. She had to explain to us that it was to be heated up, garnished with fried bacon and onions and served with sour cream. It is now a staple food in our house, but especially served at holiday times. My daughter looked to buy some when she was in England, but no one knew what she was talking about. So that was one thing she missed about Canada!

Of course dessert must include Pumpkin Pie and perhaps an apple or blueberry pie as well, for those who may not be quite as fond of pumpkin. Years ago my family grew a bit weary of the same old pumpkin pie so we tried variations like pumpkin chiffon, or more recently pumpkin cheesecake!  But to die-hard traditionalists, there is nothing like good old, plain pumpkin! It's just not Thanksgiving without it!

So, as I started off saying, I was wondering how to tie Thanksgiving and Richard Armitage together when what to my wondering eyes did appear? -- but a fabulous (and timely) post by TeetotallyNot at her blog: Y I, Mum?  She has made the most gorgeous Thanksgiving picture with none other than Richard right in the middle of it!

Well, much as I would like to snaffle it and put it up here, she did inspire me to make my own (nowhere near as good as hers of course) -- with the help of Face in Hole.com, a website I have become quite fond of lately!


So here's a toast to you, my loyal readers! I am very thankful for those friends I have made online ever since I took to the web to discover something about this mysterious actor person I was so curious about. But I have since discovered so much more. People from all over the world who share the same interests, who are kind, generous and inspirational to each other, and have fabulous discussions, many creative talents and a wonderful sense of humour.
For all of you -- I am thankful!

8 comments:

DEZMOND said...

and you didn't even invite us for the Thanksgiving diner :((((
:)

Phylly3 said...

I will be thinking about you when I dig in about 6 hours from now. Unfortunately I believe you might be asleep by then! Maybe next year? LOL

Avalon said...

Yummy, us Americans have about the same, except ours is in November. The only thing you are lacking is some traditional native cuisine.

We also have sweet potato pie, do you like this?

A toast to you as well (sparkling cider), Happy Thanksgiving!

mulubinba said...

Sounds fabulous!!! I confess I had to look up Thanksgiving to learn more about it .... especially Canadian Thanksgiving. By this time I suppose you've had your meal? A friend of mine's Mother was from Latvia and she used to make Piroshki .... They sound similar to your Perogies ... a variation perhaps?

Nat at RA FanBlog said...

Happy Thanksgiving, Phylly and Canadian pals! :) Your day sounds a lot like the American version, but I love hearing about holidays and traditions in other countries.

Phylly3 said...

@Avalon & Nat -Yes. American Thanksgiving is a much bigger deal than our Canadian version. Our harvest is earlier, that's why we have it in October. As for traditional native cuisine -- the blueberries were hand-picked from our woods here, so you can't get more native than that! Thanksgiving weekend also is the opening weekend for hunting season, so some of us will be eating moosemeat soon! :)
Sweet potatoes are something I have only lately come to appreciate. I love them french fried! It is not a traditional Canadian pie (except perhaps nearer to our southern border).
Thanks for dropping by!

Phylly3 said...

@Mulubinba -- Perogies are spelled and probably pronounced various ways, so what you are talking about is probably the same thing. I have a link to Wikipedia if you click on the word perogies, and also a link with information about our holiday under "Canadian Thanksgiving".
Does Australia celebrate a harvest festival? I know it would be in a different time of year, as you are in springtime now, right?

Avalon said...

Well the next time I travel to Canada, I will stop by with some fried bread and corn cakes for you. Oh and one of my homemade sweet potato pies. You will love it!