at the risk of sounding like a moron, what is canadian thanksgiving? i know what ours is (usa) but what's yours all about -- same thing?

thanks
maryanne

In Canada Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second Monday in October. 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.

This year my husband is out of town for thanksgiving, so we will postpone the turkey til he gets back. Might do cornish game hens though for my son and I, with brussels sprouts, a potatoe dish and haven't really thought the rest out yet. Khandi thanks for posting that, I knew we celebrated for successful harvest but wasn't aware of all the other info.

Shelley

Shelley

khandi, great information - thanks kindly for the lesson.

thanksgiving is my all-time favorite day - i love thanksgiving so much and i do like canada as well, so maybe i should start celebrating both!

maryanne

I thought the title of the post meant countdown to the American Thanksgiving which is of course the 3rd thurs and I was more than a bit confused. I thought wow, now that's what I call organized!! LOL I had no idea that Canadians celebrated a Thanksgiving! I am glad to know this.
Happy Thanksgiving to you all up north. Sue

American Thanksgiving was moved to the of end of November (maybe in the thirties - I'm not sure just when)as a boost to the economy by creating an official opening of the Christmas shopping season. It is supposedly a harvest festival too but of course the end of November is pretty late for harvesting much in most of the US.

RETRACTION OF ABOVE POST! Complete with Beet Red Face! Well, I spoke (wrote) first and checked facts later! Never a good idea. As soon as I hit 'submit message' I had regrets because I realized that piece of info was something I had heard somewhere in the past and just believed to be the truth. Now that I have looked into it a bit, it seems Thanksgiving has always been at the end of November. It still doesn't make sense if it is supposed to be a harvest festival. What do others know about this holiday?

Susytwo.....Where are your Brussel Sprouts? You sound like your having dinner at my house. Our friends just bought a restaurant, and they are serving dinner there too, so we will be having two meals. I love Thanksgiving, and there is so much to be Thankful for!!! "Happy Thanksgiving" to all my Canadian friends on the Forum!!! Diana55

We had brussel sprouts on the menu last year, but they weren't very popular with the children (and some of the adults). I love them, but will try to appeal to the masses.

This year I might do green beans instead. I don't think they'll turn down beans sauteed in bacon with onions and a little bit of heavy cream.

Just going to be 4 or maybe 5 of us this weekend. I am roasting a huge organic chicken (raised by friends), will do stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, perogies, cauliflower of some sort, and either green beans or broccoli.

Susytwo, do you have a recipe for the green beans above...sounds delish!

Some Hors d'oeuvres..one is served on small dried bagel bites w/ pesto..tiny tomatoes..parmigiana and pine nuts.. From this fall's Food and Drink..we like it..The other maybe an Olive Hummus..

Turkey..Stuffing.. Cranberries..a green veggie..Nancy's Asiago Bacon Potatoes..we are not counting calories..

Harvest soup first w/ pastry cutouts..

I may even add a salad.
And Walnut cookies and mini pumpkin shaped cheesecakes..:)

I love that day!

Nicely summarized Khandi!

We were fortunate enough to be invited to friends for Thanksgiving, so we'll likely sit down and come up with a menu in the next day or so.

Catherine

Maryanne, thank you for asking.

Khandi, thank you for answering.

I always wandered, but to moron to ask!

We were in Vancouver the first part of September and it was beautiful, just didn't have enough time to do what we would have liked to.

Happy Thanksgiving !

susytwo, I just saw this and thought of you.

Here is a link that might be useful: Canadian Thanksgiving

chancesmom, I don't have a recipe for the green beans, I just do it by memory of how my mother made them.

Steam or nuke the beans, just to get them tender-crisp. While the beans are cooking, dice some bacon and onions. Saute the bacon in a skillet until it starts to get crispy, then add the onions and stir until they become translucent. You may want to drain some of the bacon grease before adding the onions. Add the beans to the bacon and onion and a few tablespoons of water, just to help deglaze the pan. Pour in some heavy cream, just enough to coat the beans. Add salt and pepper to taste. Heat through and serve.

trudymom, thanks for the link. You know, on the side of that page there are a bunch of "Canadian" recipes listed. But I have to tell you, I've never heard of any of them!

Many years ago I attended Thanksgiving at my Canadian cousin's home in St. Henri, PQ. In addition to the "usual" fair, we had brussel sprouts, parsnips, turnip and 2 types of stuffing, potato sausage and one made with vegetables, bread and sausage. Maple syrup and apples figured prominently in the meal.

Here in the USA, I have always made the bread stuffing recipe above; it was my Memere's recipe. Another cousin here in the USA makes the potato sausage stuffing; it was her Memere's recipe. Our family tries to preserve our French Canadian heritage through our recipes. A few years ago we created a Family Heritage Cookbook to do just that. We are in our third revision now.

moosemac, my mom makes potato pork stuffing. It's a tradition! As is butter tart squares.

It is nice to preserve the French Canadian heritage through recipes.

Susytwo, thanks for the directions. I think I will do that along with roasted cauliflower!!

My mom made the BESTEST butter tarts you ever had.......thinking about them always makes me miss her! She was French Canadian too. But never had potato stuffing?!?

That was very interesting! I didn't know very much about Canadian Thanksgiving,
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you. Enjoy the day with your families and friends!

I had to dig down to get this timely thread resurrected for the timely long weekend which we are starting.

We are all leaving for a wedding weekend in Banff on wednesday so I don't have to do a big turkey celebration.

In fact I am golfing tomorrow and will help myself at the golf club turkey buffet dinner, the kids are all busy with friends so I'm off the hook as far as cooking this weekend.

Happy thanksgiving to all my canadian compatriots !!!!!

Oh, how lucky to be in Banff this week. It should be beautiful this time of year.

Here in Southwestern Ontario, it is 30F with the humidex. I can't recall a Thanksgiving this warm! It's too warm to cook a turkey.

We may even use the pool tomorrow!

A very Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!

Suzy I think you meant 30 C. which is about 85 F.
It hit 31 here in Sarnia yesterday which is almost 88 and it's about the same today though a few more clouds.
Who said it's always cold in Canada LOL My a/c has been running non stop now for 3 days.

Speaking of Tgiving we had ours last weekend out at my nieces in the country since sister, bil, nephew and gf were only able to make it that weekend. Mom and my other sis here in town are vegetarian, my partners away in Newfoundland so there's little point in me cooking a turkey

Whoops. I got my temperatures mixed up. You're right. I think 30F would be -1C. Hardly swimming weather. :)

I'm headed off to my brother's in Regina and am in charge of a salad (your basic tossed lettuce salad), buns (which unfortunately will be store bought) and cranberry sauce (which I did make and is just cooling as I type). He's in charge of the turkey and stuffing and ham and veggies; my mother is bringing her awesome pies (apple and pumpkin so as to keep all the grandkids happy) and potatoes. We decided to keep the menu simple and eliminate the cabbage rolls and perogies as it always seems as if we have double or triple the food that we need. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I am making a boneless turkey roll, spiral ham, potatoes. I made a cranberry sauce today and an orange-cranberry relish. tomorrow I'll make the mustard sauce. The rest of the family will be bringing veggies, salads and dessert. We will have around 30 here.
Last Christmas I made the turkey roll in a cooking bag and it was so good. I can cook it in my garage in my portable oven - which frees up room in the kitchen and this year, reduces the heat! But...my local store doesn't carry those Reynold's bags anymore - WAHH...I am so disappointed. I live an hour away from a large city - so I am stuck. I LOVED using those bags for cooking the roast. Darn.
I hope I come up with something to keep it from drying out.

Happy turkey to all of you.

PS. We are farmers and I wish our Thanksgiving was the first weekend in November not October. The guys are never done at this time of year - they have just started. it would be nice to really celebrate the harvest with a big feast - when the work is actually done.