It’s becoming a bit of a tradition that each year we host a big bellied Thankgiving dinner for our pals to pay homage to my ‘lived-half-my-life-in-Canada’ heritage. Shame it wasn’t accompanied by a holiday on the Monday like Canadians have.
Back to the food. Everybody is delegated a typically Canadian dish to whip up and bring over and we take care of the bird & other bits. It kind of coincides with what us UK folk celebrate as ‘harvest’ – and probably has some deep rooted significance to do with pilgrims and land occupation but I play it up as an excuse to have some friends over, eat dishes where the main ingredient is butter and generally be thankful for each other and all we have. What’s really not to love?
I love having lots of people for food – it makes the effort of cooking so much more worthwhile. I even bothered with place-cards and a little golden tassle garland to try and usher in the autumnal/thanksgiving vibe.
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That’s 14lbs of turkey right there. Which fed 10 people, plus plates of leftovers AND a beast of a turkey & veg soup on Monday. I cooked it a la Jamie O.
Things I love about this picture: All the boys have their napkins tucked in their necks. I made everybody freeze for the picture so I could take it in automatic settings. So natural looking, guys – well played.
Some of the Canadian dishes people brought:
– Cheeseball & crackers appetiser – this is my all time FAVOURITE appetiser. Seriously. Try it.
– Sweet potato crisp – I love that the Canadians are so ballsy with their sweet/savoury dishes.
– Pecan pie for pudding.
SO MUCH BUTTER.
Then we let the kiddies burn off the butter in the garden with their dads while us girls curled up in turkey comas by the fire. Bliss.
It’s nice to be deliberate about taking stock of the good things we have in life sometimes. Even nicer when it’s accompanied by good food and friends.
So very thankful.
Mel Wiggins 