Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is a time for families to come together, reminisce, show gratitude and indulge. I love any excuse to gather the family together, enjoy each other’s company and spend quality time together.
For as long as I can remember, Thanksgiving preparations start in late August with a trip to the Millarsville Market to visit our good old friend, Mr. Hiebert, a local farmer from the Millarville area, to snatch up as many bundles of his irresistible Summer Savoury as we can possibly get our hands on before anyone else stops to ask what we use it for. This magical ingredient has been a staple in the Stinson Family “Stuffing” for many generations, and has been kept top secret until now. My Dad always used to tell stories of getting his Savoury from the Ottawa Market when he was a young lad. The fragrance of Savoury brings back so many memories that just simply can’t be replicated by the regular old poultry blend that you can pick up at your local grocery store.
The second most important stop is to the Bearspaw Farmers Market, where we order ahead our farm fresh Turkey from none other than Bowden Farm Fresh Chicken. Bowden Chickens is a family owned business that has been in business since the year I was born (1982). Their turkeys are Free Run, without antibiotics, growth hormones, preservatives or animal byproducts in their feed. There is nothing quite like a fresh, juicy Bowden turkey and if you haven’t yet tried one, what are you waiting for? The flavor is truly unmatched and it will make your Butterball say wa, wa, waaaa! So, we line up good and early to get our hands on the biggest bird we can get. My Mom always said that turkey tastes better on day two, or three, or… you get the point. It definitely gets better with time, and the more time that goes on, the more clever we get with our recipes. So, we can never get too overloaded with turkey.
Thanksgiving wouldn’t feel underway without the annual Stuffing versus Dressing debate between my parents. My Dad insists it’s absolutely, unequivocally, without a shadow of a doubt called Stuffing. My Mom will not relent, when it comes to her Dressing. So, I have learned over the years to quite diplomatically adjust what I call “it” depending on with whom I am speaking with. According to Rachel Ray, they are both right. Stuffing refers to a mixture used to stuff another food, usually poultry. Whereas, Dressing is cooked in a pan outside of the turkey. Given that we stuff our turkey first, but usually have extra left over that we wrap in tin foil, they are both technically correct. No wonder I was such a confused child! I’m glad we settled that. Now we can move on!
So, I have been passing on a lot of my early childhood memories down to my husband and kids. For our family, Thanksgiving is a busy time because we now celebrate three separate times in the same weekend (with my side, with Jeff’s side, and with our own little family). In fact, it’s not uncommon to run into my Dad or sister in the turkey line as we are all picking up our individual turkeys to bring home. I love the aroma of buttery Turkey wafting through our house, and really enjoy passing on the tradition of making the stuffing with my kids.
Thanksgiving really is all about traditions for me, and sensory overload. Another one of my favorite memories is when my Dad and I would make our Cranberry Sauce from scratch. I love the sound of fresh cranberries popping into the sugary syrup as it warms, and the rich, ruby redness of the sauce as it combines. It’s so simple to make, and so much better than what you can get in a can.
The next step is definitely mashed potatoes. In my family my mom always whipped up mashed potatoes with butter, sour cream, salt and pepper. My husband’s Mom introduced me to her famous Mashed Potato Casserole whereby she sneaks in cottage cheese, pours salted butter over the top and sprinkles Parmesan cheese before baking in the oven. Both are delicious alternatives, and I honestly can’t and wouldn’t dare (wink, wink) decide which I like better.
For our veggie side, we would always alternate between acorn squash baked with brown sugar butter topping, green beans with butter and pecans, or honey glazed carrots. The veggies, make no mistake, were more like candy than punishment. It’s Thanksgiving after all, and what better reason to indulge yourselves.
Growing up dessert was always Pumpkin Pie, served with handmade Whipping Cream, which you can never go wrong with. However, in recent years I’ve been playing around with some other ideas. I’ve made gingerbread cookies into mini pies, and well as sugar cookies into turkeys. I even made a Spiced Turkey cake with Cream Cheese frosting and Chocolate Candy Melt feathers in Fall colors, for my Niece’s birthday as it falls very close to Thanksgiving and we were doing a birthday/thanksgiving combo one year. One time, I even attempted to make a homemade Caramel Apple Pie which if I remember correctly, turned out pretty incredible.
One year, I hosted Thanksgiving for my husbands side of the family. Jeff has quite a big family so I was a little nervous taking it on, but in the end everything went really smoothly and it felt like a big accomplishment. I made the traditional recipes that I had growing up but on a much larger scale. I picked up a 34 pound turkey, and I was barely able to fit it into our oven. I made mashed potatoes, vegetable casseroles, cranberry sauce, stuffing, and I can’t forget the gravy. I also made charcuterie cones for friends and family to snack on while we played games and waited for our dinner. To drink, I offered the usual selection of alcoholic and non alcoholic bevies, but I also made a Apple Cider Sangria with Prosecco, Apple Cider, orange, lemon, pear and apple slices, pomegranate seeds, star anise, and cinnamon sticks. For dessert we had a choice of pumpkin or apple pie, and a variety of cookies and other sweets. I even made little turkeys favors for the guests to take home with Reese’s Pieces candies wrapped in Tule. I used pipe cleaners to make little turkeys and googly eyes. It was a lot of fun having his family here to celebrate with us that year, and I’m really looking forward to hosting Thanksgiving with my family this year.
Well, however you choose to celebrate Thanksgiving, may it be filled with loved ones, steeped in tradition and be loaded with plenty of gratitude. I have so much to be Thankful for, but most of all I’m thankful for my family, good health, and all of you. Happy Thanksgiving y’all!
