Thanksgiving - Jezebel

posts about #thanksgiving more →
Happy Thanksgiving, Canada!
Food For Thought: It's What's For Dinner
Programming Note
Found Art
Turkey Day: Are You A Kitchen Slaver, Or Shirker?
Williams-Sonoma: A Pre-Thanksgiving Feast For The Eyes
The Naked Chef: Stick Your Face In Some American Pie
Who Knew? Thanksgiving Comes With A Dress Code
Martha On Sarah Palin: "Especially Gruesome"
Your Handy-Dandy Thanksgiving Day Survival Guide

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Slovenly Muse
10/11/09

In reply to Happy Thanksgiving, Canada!
Mmm, Thanksgiving. I'm away from my home and family in BC this year, and celebrating alone in an empty apartment in Quebec. That's not stopping me from having a great time, though! I made a small chicken dinner for myself with mashed potatoes and stuffing and peas and LOTS of wine, and because I couldn't find pumpkin pie in any of the grocery stores here (and lack the culinary ability to make it myself), I'll be finishing up the evening with a traditional Quebecois sugar pie.

Mmmm, sugar pie. I can't believe the scarcity of pumpkin pie here (how do people live this way?), but sugar pie does make an excellent substitute.
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BritneyCanadaWhore
10/12/09

@Slovenly Muse: aww, I'm away from MY family in Ottawa and Montreal this year, having just moved to the U.S. eat some sugar pie for me!
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SBJ
10/11/09

In reply to Happy Thanksgiving, Canada!
TEAM PIECAKE!
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ritualtheory
10/11/09

In reply to Happy Thanksgiving, Canada!
Thank you, Hortense! It's so nice to be remembered, especially by Team Cake.
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Adah
10/11/09

In reply to Happy Thanksgiving, Canada!
We love you Canada!

[www.youtube.com]

But, seriously, what does Canadian Thanksgiving celebrate?
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Slovenly Muse
10/11/09

@Adah: I'm pretty sure the tradition of Canadian Thanksgiving is more of a harvest celebration than an historical event. It's like the last big harvest before winter, when families who grew their own food would have one last hurrah before they started rationing their food supply for the cold season.

I don't know if that's actually true, but that's always been my impression of the history behind Thanksgiving up here.

And I'll second the love for "a boat." I say it that way, too!
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takeitasred
10/11/09

In reply to Happy Thanksgiving, Canada!
Canadian thanksgiving is my favourite food holiday. I'm away from my family, but my awesome boyfriend made us a whole chicken, stuffing, corn on the cob and mashed potatoes with minimal assistance from me (I'd love to get in the kitchen with him but I'm trying to finish this grad project). I dearly wish we had something made with pumpkin but pumpkin puree is difficult to find in the Netherlands. To those of you tucking into pumpkin anything; pie, tatin, square, cheesecake, please savour it as it deserves. I'm jealous!
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A-girl
10/11/09

@takeitasred: but they have pumpkins, right? It's easy to make the puree yourself. [I lived in Belgium for a while and they had pumpkins and imported cranberries at the grocery store around American Thanksgiving]
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takeitasred
10/11/09

@A-girl: I recall seeing some pumpkins in the grocery stores closer to American thanksgiving last year, but none were around this weekend, and if I'd had the time I could've probably got some puree in the expat store in Amsterdam. I'll keep my eyes peeled for pumpkins, because my hankering for the taste of pumpkin doesn't disappear after Canadian thanksgiving. Frankly, I like to ride that horse well into the Christmas season.
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MalinaMango
10/11/09

In reply to Happy Thanksgiving, Canada!
I have a Canadian mum and an American dad, so I grew up with two Thanksgivings. I think October is a better time to celebrate than November, because it's not too cold yet and it's not too close to Christmas.

Also, what's everybody's favourite part of Thanksgiving? I'm a stuffing fiend. Mmmmm, stuffing. I can't control my excitement for later. I can actually smell some wafting up off the street, or maybe I'm just imaging it.
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Snowbunny
10/11/09

@MalinaMango: On God, stuffing. I fucking love stuffing. And rolls! I like to make sandwiches with rolls and stuffing...which is basically bread, but I love it. Because I don't eat meat Thanksgiving is one gigantic carbohydrate for me (and I love it).
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JLady
10/11/09

In reply to Happy Thanksgiving, Canada!
I am making a huge pot of applesauce and some very delicious pumpkin pie appetizers and I am getting very hungry for my family's Thanksgiving feast!
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morninggloria
10/11/09

In reply to Happy Thanksgiving, Canada!
I like to imagine that on Canadian holidays, everyone dresses up like a mountie. Even grandmas and babies. And Canadian families gather around their dinner tables made out of a big slice of a giant tree and sing songs about moose and universal health care and permafrost and how people from Quebec are funny.
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isacloud
10/11/09

@morninggloria: Nah. We sing about Newfies.
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morninggloria
10/11/09

@isacloud: I dream of one day participating in such a glorious tradition.
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HidingInCanada
10/11/09

In reply to Happy Thanksgiving, Canada!
Can't wait for tonight, y'all. Going to a potluck with lots and lots of cornbread and tabouli. I need to make a vegetarian side, and decided, what the hell, lets do something Lebanese.
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happy macrophage
10/11/09

@HidingInCanada: Mmmm, I hosted a Thanksgiving potluck last night for my friends (many of whom could not make it home for Thanksgiving) and we had such a delicious variety of non-Thanksgiving food - samosas, spanakopita, curry chowder, shepherd's pie, perogies - along with the tradish turkey, stuffing etc. And desserts. So many desserts. Most of it is now sitting in my fridge - can't wait to eat ALL WEEK.
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memphreblues
10/11/09

In reply to Happy Thanksgiving, Canada!
Thanks, Hortense!

I'm in school for baking, and this weekend is the first time I've brought my product home- pumpkin pie and a cake. They will be our dessert tonight. Wish me luck!
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athenasadidas
10/11/09

@memphreblues: luck!
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elliebean
10/11/09

In reply to Happy Thanksgiving, Canada!
Thanks for the well wishes, Hortense!
What are my fellow veggie Jezzies eating this year?
My mum and I are having:
Stuffed peppers, roasted mushrooms in red wine sauce, green beans, roasted potatoes, butternut squash soup and apple crisp (pie for others but I hate pie crust).
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eibhinn
10/11/09

@elliebean: Tofu and Carmelized onion tart, Butternut Squash soup (great minds!), Risotto, greens, and apple crisp (again!)
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snugbug
10/11/09

@elliebean: This is neither cake nor π, technically, but I make a killer onion tart for my veggie friends. It's quite simple, really: Get some regular pie dough going. Then saute 1.5 pounds of sweet Maui onions in olive oil and a quarter cup of cooking wine. Keep the suckers going on the stove, stirring often, until they're deliciously caramelized. About 30 minutes. Then place the pie dough in a pie dish, top with the onions, and also with some good sliced preserved olives. If you feel particularly bold, also decorate the tart with slivers of smoked preserved bell peppers. You can find them canned in most Euro marts. Lastly: brush the tart with egg whites if you want to achieve an xtra-attractive, brown crust. Stick the whole thing in the oven for 30 minutes.

This recipe has been such a hit with my veggie and carnivore friends alike.
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HuckleberryFriend
10/11/09

@elliebean: I predict my mother-in-law will make me a gigantic bowl of something potato based. Also, I'll eat a lot of pumpkin pie.
Happy Thanksgiving fellow Canucks!
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elliebean
10/11/09

@snugbug: That sounds incredible!
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whateverwilbewillbe
10/11/09

@elliebean: carrot and brie soup, mashed potatoes with sage butter and truffle oil, dilled carrots, hazlenut roasted brussel sprouts, and buckwheat crepes stuffed with caramelized onions, roasted mushrooms and gorgonzola with a vodka tarragon cream sauce on top. My aim is to make every meat eating thanksgiving seem like a pale imitation of a mega-veggie meal.
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bandofconsciousness
10/11/09

@elliebean: YAY Happy Thanksgiving! I am celebrating tomorrow with our famous vegan and gluten-free thanksgiving dinner that my husband and me do every year for friends and family. This year we are making vegan shepard's pie with organic red potatoes and gluten-free soy crumbles plus lots of organic veggies and my husband's famous nutritional yeast gravy. Dessert is blueberry muffins with vanilla frosting. Yum :P
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wtfox?!
10/11/09

In reply to Happy Thanksgiving, Canada!
I am so hungry now. Thank you SO VERY MUCH, Hortense!

Any Canadian Jezzies in Indiana somewhere who need help consuming all that turkey, mashed potatoes, and pie? I'm awesome with dishes!
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FurrierAndIves
10/11/09

In reply to Happy Thanksgiving, Canada!
About the menu. Do the Canadians make sweet potato casserole the way Americans do, especially the Methodists according to Garrisson Keilor and my own experience. Coated with brown sugar, butter, and marshmallow? Also, can you even get cranberries in a can up in Canada?
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isacloud
10/11/09

@FurrierAndIves: Yes and (shudder) yes. (The sound of the first makes me want to shudder, too, but I've never tried it.)
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FurrierAndIves
10/11/09

@isacloud: Ha! Sorry to hear it, I was hoping for a saner approach. I enjoyed that casserole when I was in grade school, but really I think it's ruined sweet potatoes for me for life! I adore all veggies high and lowly. And other than the slimy & prickly okra, the sweet potato is the only veg I do not love. Sorry to my Canadian brothers and sisters for the cultural contamination. Really, we Americans don't all cook like those examples would indicate.
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isacloud
10/11/09

@FurrierAndIves: When I was growing up, my family always had a random assortment of things for Thanksgiving based on what we felt like eating that year, so the first time I went to my ex's parents' place for dinner, I was like "What... is that can-shaped goo?" to the gelatinous cranberry sauce (we always made fresh) and eyed the sweet potato casserole with suspicion. And some of my best friends are American, so I know you're not all insane. ;) (Although one of my best American friends refers to the sections of the store in which I buy most of my food as "the hippie aisles.")
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eibhinn
10/11/09

@FurrierAndIves: I have never had marshmallow/sweet potato combos, and don't understand canned cranberry sauce, as it takes about 2 minutes to make from scratch.
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ngoandy
10/11/09

@eibhinn: You need canned cranberry sauce for the can shape.

We do a mix. There will be a base of jarred cranberry sauce in the bowl and then a decorative cylinder of the canned sauce on top.
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MalinaMango
10/11/09

@FurrierAndIves: Whoa. I grew up partly in the States, partly in Canada, and I have never heard of marshmallows with sweet potatoes. Maybe it's a regional thing? Weird. I don't even eat marshmallows, but I'm intensely curious.

Also, I hate fresh cranberries, but I kind of like the sauce in a can. It's always fun to see if you can get it to stand up in a bowl without falling apart.
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sweetcheesus
10/11/09

@FurrierAndIves: In typical Canadian style, my Mom is from Finland, so we have Finnish versions of such casseroles - she makes a kickass turnip casserole that she cooks for practically weeks (something to do with the permafrost...ha ha). The funniest is that she calls it "that same old shit" (my Dad taught her english, he has a potty mouth), and now that's what we call it too. Mmmm....same old shit...
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FurrierAndIves
10/11/09

@eibhinn: I know, that's so true. But in my family over the years it was always the canned sauce, which fit perfectly and symmetrically into the oval frosted green dish that was only ever used for that purpose. Also, INSTANT mashed potatoes, also easy to do from scratch, but I guess my grandmother, the cook, would go for instant over from scratch every time, given the choice. Some years there were over 25 people, so I can sort of see her perspective. Mercy! As she would say.
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FurrierAndIves
10/11/09

@sweetcheesus: Hm, I love parsnips and cook with them all the time. How does she do the turnip dish? Sounds interesting.
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whateverwilbewillbe
10/11/09

@FurrierAndIves: I've never known any canadian to use marshmallows on sweet potatoes- I've always assumed that was an American thing. But then, I grew up on a homestead where we made our own butter.
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bibomaco
10/11/09

In reply to Happy Thanksgiving, Canada!
I made 4 pumpkin pies, two apple pies, 24 pumpkin crème brûlées, and 1 angel food cake. Let's get this party started...
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elliebean
10/11/09

@bibomaco: I cannot handle pie, but your pumpkin creme brulee sounds amazing! I am the worst baker ever, so I took on cooking this year.
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Snowbunny
10/11/09

In reply to Happy Thanksgiving, Canada!
I have pumpkin bread in the oven. It's respectful to the pie tradition (although Canada's Thanksgiving is not MY Thanksgiving geezz) but still appeals to my cake preference.
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