Yay! :-D It's definitely winter up here - a few more weeks and the snow will arrive!

Big potluck dinner this Monday - my first attempt at cooking a turkey! It's going to be ... interesting.

What is a traditional Thanksgiving menu in Canada? Interested to know.

How old is this Holiday? My Mom never celebrated it but she moved to the states in the early 70's.

Mid-C-Frrank, I belive it is just the same as how U.S citizens do it. Although, that is just my guess from comparing what I see at Canadian Thanksgiving, to what is shown on thanksgiving T.V series specails. So turkey, stuffing, buns, mashed potatoes & gravy and pumpkin pie - from there, the other sides can be anything, depending on family preference. My mom always makes cauliflower and cheese sauce, but I've seen people do other things.

Mmmm - cauliflower and cheese sauce! Sounds much better than my mom's turnips.

I am proud to be Canadian and lived there for 25 years, I now live in the USA with my husband who is American so our family observes both Canadian and American Thanksgiving...

Skylark254_ Canadian Thanksgiving became an official statutory holiday in 1959. Parlament declared Canadian Thanksgiving to be on the second Monday in October in order to give thanks for the harvest. You can read more about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanksgiving_%28Canada%29 BUT there is more info if you wikipedia Thanksgiving and read about it in general, Canadian Thanksgiving dates back to 1578 and has been celebrated since then which actually was before Americans celebrated Thanksgiving at the site of Plymouth Plantation in 1621, almost 50 years later.

Mid-C Frank- We eat all the same foods as Americans do at our Thanksgiving meal Turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, rolls, pumpkin pie, green bean casserole and other sides... same same. :)

This year, as I am making a thanksgiving feast to celebrate our holiday IN America, I have foudn it hard to find some things because it isnt officially 'holiday season' here I cant find a whole turkey SO I am making this: http://www.marthastewart.com/photogallery/emerils-everyday-food?lpgStart=1&currentslide=16&currentChapter=1#ms-global-breadcrumbs

Since I'm in grad school way up north and no one has family here, I'm doing an Orphan's Thanksgiving, vegan-style (since I'm in a philosophy department, there are lots of veg folks). So, it will be a open, casual, bring-anyone type of celebration with Tofurky, mashed potatoes and roasted potatoes, my famous sourdough/wild rice/cranberry/almond/Chardonnay stuffing, chiffonade brussels with caramelized onions, broccoli and Daiya cheese sauce, green beans in Earth Balance, and brown sugar/nutmeg acorn squash slices. Of course, pumpkin pie for dessert :) And lots of cheap wine. And Band Hero.

virtualjess, i don't see what being a philosophy student has to do with being vegan? or vice versa?

but, anyway, yes, canadian thanksgiving is much akin to its southern counterpart, but we celebrate earlier. turkey, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, pumpkin or apple pie and various other dishes.

i'll be posting my first thanksgiving over at my blog,

I'm a Canadian and our traditions look very similar to the U.S. I like having it earlier than down south because everything is ripe now. We love to have turkey, yams, mashed potatoes, corn, freshly made cranberry sauce, and butternut squash cubed with marshmallow topping. We always have homemade pumpkin pie and apple pie.

We moved from Toronto to Colorado when I was still in grade school, but we still celebrated thanksgiving in October! Now in Seattle I hold a Canadian Thanksgiving for friends each year and save the American one for family.

I would second the cauliflower with cheese sauce, that was a perennial favorite. We also had tomato aspic at our thanksgiving dinners. For dessert there were always butter tarts (in lieu of pecan pie) and if we were really lucky someone would bring some nanaimo bars!

In my family, creamed onions are the must-have side dish, along with the turkey, gravy, stuffing, and a big green salad. We also usually have either peas and mushrooms (I have no idea why this is so good, because it is exactly what the name implies, but it's delicious) or quickly stir-fried green beans sprinkled with almonds.

We've been paring away at the number of side dishes for a long time, and since everyone in my family loves the stuffing, a few years back we dropped the rolls and potatoes all together in favour of more stuffing. Also, maybe oddly given that my mom's family came to Canada from the US, we have never in my life had sweet potatoes with a Thanksgiving dinner.

@tariqata- i'm with you on the sweet potatoes. The first time I heard of them (with marshmallows) I thought it was a joke!

I've since learned to like them, but always think of them as pumpkin pie minus the crust.

Love having an earlier Thanksgiving because it doesn't run into the Christmas season. We are pretty traditional with the turkey and pumpkin pie (made from our own pumpkin!). Potatoes mashed with roasted parsnips and garlic. Mmmmm, good food coming tomorrow.

@Mid-C Frank

Everything is pretty much the same, except Canadians don't make sweet potato & marshmallow casseroles.

Our sugar fix is filled with butter tarts, and in Quebec, sugar pie. (well, in addition to pumpkin and apples pies...).

It's a lovely holiday, because it is more low-key and less stressful than the American version -- Christmas is still far away, there are no sales and so no shopping trips, and this is really just about getting together with friends and family and eating autumn harvest foods. Actually, I think it is my favourite holiday...

We're not really celebrating it here in Switzerland... the kids have school, and whole turkeys are hard to find, but I thought I could at least stuff a turkey breast in honour of the holiday -- but all my husband could find was turkey "escalopes". I'm still wondering if I can roll them around some stuffing... My non-traditional side dish is Norma Darden's spoonbread, which is divine.