No More Mr. Nice Pie
  • About
  • Blog
  • Pies About Town
  • Pie-Ku
  • Recipes
    • Recipe Index

THANKSGIVING IN OCTOBER

10/13/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
​Oh, Canada, you know how to taunt a girl; Thanksgiving in October. With a mere 42 days remaining before the American Voldemort of holidays crosses the bakery’s threshold, I wonder; why can’t we be more like the Canadians?
 
For those of you who didn't  pay attention in Mrs. Mangione’s 8th grade Social Studies class, history tells us that in 1578, English explorer Martin Frobisher hosted the first Thanksgiving celebration in North America. (Using the word ‘first’ is a little like using the word ‘best,’ but for our purposes, we’ll stick with Mrs. Mangione’s story.) Following a dicey journey through the Northwest Passage, Frobisher and his fellow explorers had plenty of reasons to be thankful. As they gathered to celebrate their good fortune in simply being alive, it is doubtful that anyone noticed the lack of Martha-inspired kraft paper/raffia tablescape accents. It is also worth noting that Frobisher and his guests were probably not peppering their dinner conversation with mention of Black Friday sales.
 
Traditionally, American Thanksgiving conjures images of bountiful harvests, tall black hats with gold buckles, turkey legs, and long lines snaking round Best Buy just before midnight. Not so a little further north. Granted, the early years of Canadian Thanksgiving were a little Plymouth-rocky. Folks took their time getting acquainted with the holiday, celebrating it casually, sporadically in the 17th and 18th centuries.  It was more of a day of reflection, appreciating the blessings bestowed upon individuals and their country. T-Day wasn’t celebrated in Canada nationally until 1879. For a while, Canada attempted a two-for-one approach to the festivities, combining it with Armistice Day. (You remember Armistice Day, right? November 11th, commemorating the signing of the armistice ending World War I in 1918.) Even more curious, Canadian Thanksgiving is celebrated nationally, but can be legislated at the provincial and territorial levels. In Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island, Turkey Day is optional. Those who work the holiday are compensated with both overtime and a bounty of leftovers courtesy of their stay-at-home co-workers. Which begs the question, what’s on the Canadian Thanksgiving menu?
 
Canadians have their eye on our November holiday when they gather around their Thanksgiving dinner tables. Yes, there’s probably a stuffed turkey and sweet potatoes and yes, dessert will probably feature a pumpkin pie. In some households new to Canadian Thanksgiving by way of Seattle, I understand turkey was not on the table and the ‘other’ white meat was, tip to tail. (All the more reason for certain individuals to consider a jaunt to the Garden State some time in November, B. Gray, but no pressure.)
 
For those so inclined, casual football viewing is available on Canadian television after that last smidgen of pumpkin pie has been consumed. However, no one is jumping up from the table in mass exodus, credit cards in hand, shopping mall programmed on the GPS. Black Friday shopping is far less popular in Canada. With the day after Thanksgiving falling on a Tuesday, Black Tuesday shopping just doesn’t have the same ring to it as its American counterpart. Canada’s biggest shopping day mirrors the UK, falling on the day after Christmas, commonly known as Boxing Day. Providing the perfect opportunity to return all of those less-than-desired holiday gifts back to the store in late December, this frees up the 3-day Thanksgiving weekend. With nary a word from Al Roker nor a single helium-inflated balloon hovering overhead, Canadians are known to get out of the house on Thanksgiving Day to enjoy October’s mild weather. This does wonders for shortening the lounging-on-the-couch-food-coma-recovery time, which probably offers some substantial health benefits. We could take a lesson.
 
From where I stand filling a freezer with stacks of pie shells, the most fascinating aspect of Canadian Thanksgiving is the casualness of it all. There’s plenty of gathering and celebrating, but it is not uncommon for people to stay local-ish. The craziness of travel by air/car/train/bus that we associate with Thanksgiving is toned down several notches. Which is why I’m a firm advocate for scattering Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, and Christmas throughout the year. No good can possibly come from lumping all of these holidays together in one exhausting pie-consuming cookie-decorating frenzy. If we start right now, we can adjust our calendars. This would mean that I’m terribly sorry, (Canadian accent on the word ‘sorry’) but Thanksgiving was last Monday.
 
Once again, it’s Canada for the win, eh?
Picture
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013

    Ellen Gray

    Professional Pie-isms & Seasonal Sarcasm

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Artwork by Retsu Takahashi
© Ellen Gray All Rights Reserved 2014
  • About
  • Blog
  • Pies About Town
  • Pie-Ku
  • Recipes
    • Recipe Index