10.09.2010

Happy Thanksgiving, Canada

Thanksgiving in Canada is celebrated on the second Monday of October, due to the earlier harvest. It did not become an official, national holiday in Canada until 1957 when Parliament declared it to be: "A Day of General Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed." Despite the references to God, Thanksgiving in Canada is not officially considered to be a religious holiday and it is instead designed to coincide with the secular harvest festivals of England and Europe.
Since Canada shares such a similar colonial history to the United States, many of the cultural trappings of Canada's Thanksgiving are the same. The American traditions of food (turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce), decoration (gourds, cornucopias, wheat) and celebration (big family dinner) are all identical in Canada.

So, I would like to wish the Canadian contingent of Martha Moments readers a very Happy Thanksgiving! Eat well. Be well. And thanks to everyone for your support.

11 comments:

Gabriela said...

Happy Thanksgiving Andrew,

Love the banner, it looks amazing!
And these photos are so elegant.


~ Gabriela ~

Anonymous said...

what a beautiful holiday table setting!Unfortunately, it looks unaffordable, and out of reach for most of us, as well. All those chargers and plates and linens! But I suppose we can dream, can't we?

Kenn said...

Wishing you and your family and very happy thanksgiving. There is so much to be thankful for this year!

Anonymous said...

Happy Thanksgiving Andrew to you and your family. I hope you have a day (weekend) of celebration planned.

Pru

Nicole said...

Hello Andrew,

I discovered your blog last month when I was searching frantically for news as to whether The Martha Stewart Show was going to be shown in Canada this season. And the only silver lining to finding out is isn't, was discovering your exquisite blog. And the fact that you're Canadian made it ever better! So Happy Thanksgiving from a new fan.

ANDREW RITCHIE said...

The photograph was from a fun site I visit now and then called Dining Delight. It is run by a Canadian woman obsessed with dressing her table for any and all occasion: http://dining-delight.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

well it seems to me a far more civilized time of year for a family get together honestly with the bottlenecks at the end of november and rushing and stress to prepare for the December festivities my gosh you folks in canada are no doubt consumed with far less stress then the Americans

ANDREW RITCHIE said...

Yes, it's nice to have a 'grace period' between Thanksgiving and Christmas to get things in order.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Martha, but we, in Canada, would be really thankful if we were still getting your show.

ANDREW RITCHIE said...

Oh, Martha doesn't run this site. I do! (And I share your sentiments. I miss the show greatly.)

Ailsa said...

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving Andrew -- thanks for your well-wishes!

We had the whole deal, even though I forgot the harvest chickens in the oven and they came out slightly charred. Oh well.

Have you ever had pumpkin-mincemeat pie? We had it for the first time many, many years ago at Moorside Tea Room at Mackenzie King Estate and have made it a family tradition ever since. Went there for afternoon tea on Friday and it was lovely. No crowds and yummy food.

All the best.