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Feeling Quiet
On Giving Thanks
As many of you probably already know, this weekend is Thanksgiving weekend in Canada. Thanksgiving in Canada is always the second Monday in October as opposed to the last Thursday in November, which is when they celebrate it in America. Unlike the American tradition of remembering Pilgrims and settling in the New World, Canadians give thanks for a successful harvest. The harvest season falls earlier in Canada compared to the United States due to the simple fact that Canada is further north.
The history of Thanksgiving in Canada goes back to an English explorer, Martin Frobisher, who had been trying to find a northern passage to the Orient. He did not succeed but he did establish a settlement in Northern America. In the year 1578, he held a formal ceremony, in what is now called Newfoundland, to give thanks for surviving the long journey. This is considered the first Canadian Thanksgiving. Other settlers arrived and continued these ceremonies. He was later knighted and had an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean in northern Canada named after him - Frobisher Bay.
At the same time, French settlers, having crossed the ocean and arrived in Canada with explorer Samuel de Champlain, also held huge feasts of thanks. They even formed 'The Order of Good Cheer' and gladly shared their food with their Indian neighbours.
After the Seven Year's War ended in 1763, the citizens of Halifax held a special day of Thanksgiving.
During the American Revolution, Americans who remained loyal to England moved to Canada where they brought the customs and practices of the American Thanksgiving to Canada. There are many similarities between the two Thanksgivings such as the cornucopia and the pumpkin pie.
Eventually in 1879, Parliament declared November 6th a day of Thanksgiving and a national holiday. Over the years many dates were used for Thanksgiving, the most popular was the 3rd Monday in October. After World War I, both Armistice Day and Thanksgiving were celebrated on the Monday of the week in which November 11th occurred. Ten years later, in 1931, the two days became separate holidays and Armistice Day was renamed Remembrance Day.
Finally,on January 31st, 1957, Parliament proclaimed...
"A Day of General Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed ... to be observed on the 2nd Monday in October."
Thanksgiving was one of my favorite holidays when I was growing up. Because my mother had been overweight as an adolescent, it was really important to her when we were kids that we didn't overeat, or eat things that weren't good for us. As a result of this obssession of hers, everything we put into our mouths was very much controlled...every cookie in the cookie jar was counted...a tin of peas lasted our family of five, two days. There were only a few days during the year that we could eat uncontrollably and to our heart's content...Christmas and Thanksgiving...and eat uncontrollably we did!
Nobody roasted a turkey better than my mom. She would start it on top of the stove the night before. She had (and still has) an aluminum waterless cookware set and one of the pieces was this HUGE roaster thing. She would heat that up, using two burners on top of the stove and once it was heated and ready she would pop the turkey in and begin by browning it carefully on all sides. It always amazed me that she could turn it over and move it around with such ease. My mother is a very small woman and the turkey always seemed to be huge in comparison. After this initial browning...she would pop the lid on and I expect it steamed for a while...then...get this....she would turn the burners off and go to bed.....leaving the turkey there...sitting covered, on top of the stove, at room temperature, all night....to this day I am totally amazed that none of us died from botulism or some other form of food poisoning.
The next morning she would get up early, get dressed, and then, and only then, would the turkey go into the oven to finish cooking. The strange thing is..... there was never a dry turkey...it was always succulent and moist and full of flavour, with the best gravy on the planet, I kid you not! Along with the turkey there would be her stuffing....a delicious concoction I have never been able to replicate myself and like nothing else I have ever tasted anywhere else. There was always a huge pot of potatoes on the boil and once tender she would remove about 1/3 of the potatoes from the pot and mash them together with small bits of white bread torn from a whole loaf, minced onion, summer savoury, sage, salt and pepper, butter and some juices from the turkey...that was it! that was the stuffing! It wasn't baked for hours alongside of the turkey...it never saw the oven other than to keep it warm, but it was delicious! (or we thought so anyways) Then there would be a lovely pot of mashed swede....she always mixed the swede with some more potato to try to tame down it's natural bitterness...it was always my favorite thing on the plate. Another pot held mashed winter squash. Now, as a child, I never quite appreciated this vegetable, but as an adult I adore it. Go figure! There would also be peas and carrots.....fluffy, buttery mashed potatoes, and homemade white rolls, hot from the oven with cold butter melting inside. My mother's gravy was the best gravy I have ever tasted, bar none! The table would be adorned with her best cut glass pickle dish, filled with sliced dills and sweet mixed pickles... I don't recall that we ever had cranberry sauce much until I was in my teens. For dessert there was always homemade pumpkin pie with freshly whipped cream, and for those who couldn't abide it there was a delicious fresh apple pie. I was one of those that couldnt' abide pumpkin, but then again, as an adult I have come to love it and it wouldn't be a proper Thanksgiving dinner with out it.
My mother had these special melamine dishes that only came out at Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving....they were beautiful in my eyes...even if they were only glorified plastic....the bowls, side plates and table accents were a rusty brown colour and the dinner plates were white with an autumn leaf pattern on them. My mother had gotten these dishes as a gift from one of my dad's business contacts one time as an apology for having made her and us children wait too long in the car, while he and my dad had had a meeting. I remember him gifting her with them and how excited she was to get them. They still hold a special place in her china cabinet and to this day she always brings them out on special occasions. The table was always dressed with her finest tablecloth and we used "glass" glasses...she had special ones that she had saved from washing powder with turkeys and pheasants printed all over the outsides.
We would all sit around the table and gorge ourselves , having seconds and maybe even thirds...every delicious morsel and her many labours appreciated beyond measure.....afterwards we would sit around, totally satiated...almost to the point of feeling sick...vowing never again to eat as much as we had just eaten...but then....a few hours later we'd be scrounging around the kitchen, looking for a turkey sandwich...
It was a special time of year... a time we all stopped and reflected on our many blessings...most especially the blessing of belonging to a family filled with a deep and abiding love for each other. I carried many of these traditions on into my own family once I had one...the stuffing might have changed and I would never cook a turkey like that for fear of actually killing someone, but it was always a time to gather around the table and give thanks for life....and love....and the blessings of family. It's on holidays like this that I miss my family most....
Here's a tasty recipe for sweet potatoes you might want to try with your next turkey dinner. We never had sweet potatoes much when I was growing up, but, having discovered them upon becoming an adult, it just wouldn't be thanksgiving without a bowl of them on the table.
*Praline Mashed Sweet Potatoes*
Serves 8 to 10
Although this reads like a dessert it is really surprisingly good eaten with Roast Turkey. It seems to offset the taste very well. Delicious!
5 cups cooked and mashed sweet potatoes
½ cup castor sugar
1 ½ TBS vanilla essence
4 eggs beaten
1 cup heavy cream
½ cup butter, room temperature
½ cup flour
1 ¼ cups chopped pecan nuts
¼ - ½ tsp ground cinnamon
Preheat oven to 180*C/350*C. Lightly grease a casserole dish.
In a mixing bowl, mix together mashed sweet potatoes, sugar, vanilla, eggs and cream; mixing well. Spread into prepared casserole dish.
In a separate bowl, mix butter, brown sugar, flour, pecans and cinnamon. Mix until crumbly; sprinkle over the mashed sweet potato mixture. Bake for 30 minutes, until hot and bubbly and the topping is crispy.
Written by mariealicejoan Blog about this entry |
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You had me eating that meal with you, it sounded so delicious!!!! Thank you for the info on Thanksgiving as well, it was interesting.
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Enjoyed reading your account of 'Thanksgiving' it is always nice to learn how and why these events happen ~ and it was very interesting to ~ Love the picture of the feast ~ Ally
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Marie,
Your description of your family thanksgiving dinner has made my mouth water. Hope you will be celebrating in similiar style this weekend. Your meal sounds like my old family christmases. That was our day for eating as if we would never see food again!
Kate.http://journals.aol.co.uk/bobandkate/AnAnalysisofLife/ -
Marie ,I thoroughly enjoyed your account of your familys thanksgiving dinners,and the history of some of these festivities ,very informative ,I have just discvered your journal and am enjoying it so much ,.,.,.Jan xx
08/10/06 20:24
Susie
http://journals.aol.co.uk/sus