Canadian Thanksgiving

Today, October 8th is Canadian Thanksgiving. We have so much to be thankful for that we have been celebrating 2 Thanksgivings since we arrived in Ajijic, Lake Chapala in 1994.

We usually have Canadian Thanksgiving at our house and did so again last night. We had 10 people for a traditional turkey dinner with all of the trimmings. My husband, made the appetizer and specialty drinks, I did the main course and our daughter and friend did a wonderful pumpkin cheesecake and pumpkin cake. Our guests were very complimentary for which we were grateful. We always have a great time with this group.

We have had many wonderful dinners with this group of Canadian/Mexicans and they are our Mexican family.

After dinner we played the original Trivial Pursuit game until the wee hours and many bottles of Barefoot Pinot Grigio were happily consumed.

There is a lot to do in preparing dinner for a lot of people. The wine glasses, napkins, placemats all have to be cleaned along with the good silver and sundry serving dishes. The table has to be set and decorated suitably for the occasion. The shopping has to be done, usually in stages. This year I was unable to get Butternut Squash or Brussels sprouts which usually grace our Thanksgiving plate. I substituted with excellent yams and green beans with toasted slivered almonds.

I made the stock from scratch for the gravy, the stuffing, the mashed potatoes and our daughter made the homemade cranberry sauce. We got our turkey, as usual, from Puritan Poultry and for the third year had the magical little red button on top which pops up when the turkey is done to perfection taking all the guesswork and subsequent swearing out of the equation.

My husband made fantastic low-calorie Candied Bacon and Strawberry/Raspberry Margaritas both of which were fantastic.

I managed to have everything ready for the main course and on the table piping hot and my daughter said “Dad, everything is delicious!”. “Excuse me” I said, “I made the turkey!”. One year my husband chose to brine the turkey which was a 3 day process and included a great deal of swearing, cussing and cupboard slamming. Our daughter, from that, had assumed that my husband had, indeed, made this turkey as well.

Don’t get me wrong my husband is an outstanding chef, as is our daughter, but I do know how to cook a turkey, especially with the magic red button on top.

I wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving and we will see you at La Nueva Posada for American Thanksgiving, November 22nd. La Nueva Posada does an amazing Thanksgiving dinner complete with Judy Eager’s outstanding red cabbage.

We are very lucky and have so much to be thankful for. We did, however, miss our son and his wife who are in Toronto and our other daughter, her husband and our grandson who are in Sacramento but are coming to visit in November so we will have American Thanksgiving with her and our grandson who is now walking and talking. We are looking forward to this visit.