Thanksgiving

[Wendy and Myla]

This weekend is Thanksgiving here in Canada - I know that for most of you Thanksgiving is another six weeks away but I thought it would be fun to see what your favourite Thanksgiving traditions are!  I'm having dinner here on Monday and am looking for some different ideas like recipes, centrepieces and just different traditions that we could start! 

I'll start by saying that I like hollowing out a small pumpkin and putting in a plant for my tabletop centrepiece - then on Hallowe'en I use the same centrepiece but get small plastic spiders from the dollar store and put pins in them and attach them to the pumpkin for a scarier centrepiece! I used to make one of these for my desk at work also - it was a big hit with clients!

[Wendy and Myla]

Wow, your table must be huge to hold all of that food!  How do you make the broccoli casserole?  I'm looking for a green vegetable dish that would look good beside the squash and I wanted to make something different than the bean casserole!

[Janie, Jackson and Jilly]

Your Thanksgiving Dinner sounds very much like ours! I'm wondering how you make your butternut squash? What a wonderful weekend and dinner to look forward to! Enjoy!! I too am thankful for the friends on DK!!

[Lori, Quincy & Frankie]

Happy Thanksgiving to all our Canadian friends and their families!  A favorite holiday for us!  

[Miss Ellie]

Thanks Lori & Quincy!

[Lynda Kamrath]

Oh, we have tons of pumpkins around here and I will share a couple of ideas I am using this year.  Tomorrow, I am doing a little cooking lesson at school (substituting) and have a pumpkin cut to be used as a dip bowl.  I make the dip with cool whip, canned pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, and instant vanilla pudding (3 boxes of dry).  Mix it up and scoop into the pumpkin and serve with vanilla wafers and sliced apples.  We are doing the same thing next week for our block party.  We also use small pumpkins and cut them to make soup bowls.  Scoop out the seeds and insides and make a pumpkin soup (or potato or corn chowder) and serve the soup in the pumpkin bowls.  Very festive.  Here is a photo of my pumpkins that we are using for dip bowls and soup bowls. (My sister sent me these flowers and I took a photo to send to her.)At school, we are making some little books for Halloween (or it could be for anything).  We are taking a sheet of construction paper (orange), folding in half, and cutting two little Vs on the top and then a stem for the pumpkin.  We fold three sheets of white paper inside and staple the top. Draw your pumpkin on the front and decorate if you like.  Now we have a six-page booklet with the title Pumpkin, Pumpkin.  It is made after the style of Brown Bear, Brown Bear or Polar Bear, Polar Bear.

Pumpkin, pumpkin                             I see a (witch, skeleton, vampire,etc.)

What do you see?                              Looking at me.

For November we do similar little booklet for I am thankful for . . . .

Then in December we do little books for the Twelve Days of Christmas.

Can you tell I was a kindergarten and first grade teacher?  We would make little books every month will different themes. My favorite was March for St. Patrick's Day.  We would do little diaramas of the perfect home for a leprechaun and make furniture and decorate the little houses.  When I taught the older children, we would make the books for our little buddies, read it to the buddies, have them read them to us, and do singalongs.  I guess I miss school for the holidays.

The kids love drawing their favorite Halloween costumes for the trick-or-treaters that the pumpkin will see.

[Wendy and Myla]

I love the idea of using the pumpkin for dipping!  We have some small ones in the garden - going to use that!

[Kelly]

Ok I'm from the South soooo... We deep fry a turkey and try not to set the house on fire.
I want to go to Miss Ellie's for dinner.

[Miss Ellie]

You are most welcome anytime Kelly...the more the merrier!

[Wendy and Myla]

What's the biggest turkey you have deep-fried - always intrigued by this but have never done it!  I also want to go to Miss Ellie's! 

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

My family doesn't do any really interesting traditions except my mom will make a Chinese dish or two to go with the traditional turkey + sides.  

[Wendy and Myla]

Thanks for all of the Happy Thanksgiving wishes!  I love this time of year!  All of the fall colors I love and cooler weather not so much!  but Thanksgiving is always a great time!!!!

[Judi, David & Maddie Irishdoodle]

Happy Thanksgiving from Ontario