Happy *Canadian* Thanksgiving!

[mikethompson]

To all our Canadian members, have a great Thanksgiving everyone! Heading off to my parents later in the day with my wonderful wife and two wonderful kids. I have a lot to be thankful for.

 

[bluto]

Happy turkey day from the right hand side of the country

 

[yohanan]

 

[jpmcwjr]

All best wishes to our friends in the North!

 

[mau1]

Happy Thanksgiving fellow Canadians. Remember to go easy on the stuffing; there's never enough!

 

[mikethompson]

I prefer the three pinch method when stuffing, packing a little tighter every time. The trick is to get the stuffing a little dry as well to bring out the most flavour.

 

[mso489]

Are there Canadian Thanksgiving holiday rituals that are different from the U.S.'s? I'm sure there are. The U.S. holiday seems to rest on the image of Pilgrims and Native Americans feasting together, and the big family meals of turkey, dressing, potatoes, gravy, vegetables, and cranberry sauce, etc. What are the traditions in Canada that would tip off an onlooker that they weren't south of the Canadian border? I won't mention the problematical relatives and family discussions at U.S. Thanksgiving.

 

[mikethompson]

Pretty much the same, food wise I'd bet. There are no images of pilgrims and natives over a roasted turkey or anything like that.

 

[mso489]

mike, do you think the selection of a date in October for Canadian Thanksgiving relates to the earlier onset of winter weather in Canada, so that travel to family is easier and safer, or is there some other reason for the October date? In Illinois/USA, it seemed the first snow fell, usually lightly, the day after our Thanksgiving at the end of November. I haven't researched it, but I believe our Thanksgiving was based on Old World harvest feasts and was timed to be after the major work of harvest was done. You can judge this somewhat by the different timings of state and county fairs in the U.S. which tend to be earlier in the north and later in the South. In N.C., the State Fair is the middle of October, coming up, but in the North they are often August or September.

 

[davet]

Besides the whole pilgrim thing this is all I can come up with :rofl:

 

[mso489]

I don't know. In N.C./US we're still waiting for our first cool fall nights. It hangs in around 68 or 70 still. We're waiting. My wife bought me a new day-glo orange fleece jacket.

 

[mikethompson]

I was always under the impression that Canadian Thanksgiving came earlier due to the earlier harvest of crops / onset of winter Tom. That could be wrong though.

 

[bluto]

Fresh barley and new beer crop marks the onset ..

 

[viesturs]

We don't have a football game on thanksgiving like in the US but everything else is much the same. I remember always seeing the Bears and Lions or Green Bay playing on US thanksgiving. All about getting together with family.

 

[jvnshr]

Happy Thanksgiving to all of our Canadian members.

 

[sablebrush52]

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

[olkofri]

MSO: Canadian Thanksgiving's date is not really about safe travels, but about the end of the harvest season.

On January 31, 1957, the Governor General of Canada Vincent Massey issued a proclamation stating: "A Day of General Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed – to be observed on the second Monday in October."

Thanksgiving in Canada

 

[jpmcwjr]

I prefer the three pinch method when stuffing, packing a little tighter every time. The trick is to get the stuffing a little dry as well to bring out the most flavour.

Excellent advice, Frankly.
Happy Days to y'all! No snow forecast for my area for at least a millennium (when global warming gives way to global cooling).

 

[jpmcwjr]

Foods traditionally served at (Canadian) Thanksgiving include roasted turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes with gravy, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, sweet corn, various autumn vegetables (mainly various kinds of squashes but also Brussels sprouts), and pumpkin pie. Baked ham and apple pie are also fairly common, and various regional dishes and desserts may also be served, including salmon, wild game, butter tarts, and Nanaimo bars.

OK, leave out the Brussel Sprouts and add lobster, and I am in!
And, importantly, there is football!

In Canadian football, the Canadian Football League holds a nationally televised doubleheader, the Thanksgiving Day Classic. It is one of two weeks in which the league plays on Monday afternoons, the other being the Labour Day Classic. Unlike the Labour Day games, the teams that play on the Thanksgiving Day Classic vary each year; the Montreal Alouettes have traditionally held permanent hosting of the Thanksgiving games in recent years.

Do you Canucks (said lovingly) also play touch football à la President Kennedy? Do the Trudeaux play?

 

[jaytex1969]

Happy Thanksgiving.
Enjoy your family time and celebratory feast.
Loosen your belt and, maybe, when finish, a wafer thin mint? :lol: