A Tale of Two Thanksgivings

I've always loved Thanksgiving. It's one of my favorite holidays. What's not to like? Family, friends, food, football, and just stopping everything for a day in the middle of the week to take stock of all the blessings in our lives, and to be thankful. It's one of the U.S.A.'s best traditions.

But in 1980, I moved to Canada. Now, Canada has a Thanksgiving, too, but it's on the second Monday in October, not the fourth Thursday in November. And when did I move? In the last week of October. So I was too late for Canadian Thanksgiving, and I moved away from the U.S. before American Thanksgiving. Missing Thanksgiving that year was very sad, especially when it was Thanksgiving back home and it was just another workday here in Canada.

So when Canadian Thanksgiving 1981 rolled around, I felt overdue for a good Thanksgiving feast. But to my amazement, no one invited me to their home for Thanksgiving dinner. I was a little hurt. No one at my church even thought to invite me over!

And then, a week or two before the day, our pastor announced that we would have a potluck after church on the Sunday before Thanksgiving. But it just seemed like it was going to be just like any old potluck - there didn't seem to be any indication that there would be turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and the normal Thanksgiving meal. So I marched up to Debbie and announced to her that I would accept nothing less. And she said, "Well, then, you're going to have to arrange it, because I'm not going to," to which I answered, "If that's what it takes!" (And that, boys and girls, is how the Social Committee at the Mennonite Fellowship of Montreal was created.) So I arranged for a full turkey dinner after church, and at least I had my Thanksgiving meal that year.

But it still wasn't the same as Thanksgiving back home. And as I stayed in Canada over the years, I came to realize that Thanksgiving is simply a different kind of holiday here. It's not necessarily worse - just different. Now, Canadians (unless they've spent a Thanksgiving in the U.S.A.) don't really understand what the differences are. So let me try to explain it.

First, there's all the hype. Thanksgiving in the U.S. is accompanied by stories of the cooperation between Pilgrims and Indians. There are lessons and pageants in schools. There are displays in stores. Thanksgiving is part of the national story.

In the U.S., it is unthinkable for anyone to spend Thanksgiving Day alone. It is a day meant to be spent with family, preferably, but if one does not have family around, with good friends. I cannot count the number of guests who we had in our home for Thanksgiving when I was growing up, especially single people whose families lived far away, and who were not able to go home. If I had been a single person new to a church in the U.S., I would easily have had a half dozen invitations to Thanksgiving dinner that first year.

But in Canada, Thanksgiving is much less of a family holiday than it is in the U.S. Of course, if family is all in the same general area, they will get together - a turkey feeds a lot of people! And sometimes, someone will even have a big meal and invite a large group of unrelated people. But it's not considered that much of a tragedy for someone to spend the day alone. As a matter of fact, since Thanksgiving is on a Monday, a turkey dinner at any point over the long weekend is perfectly acceptable, whereas Americans know that Thanksgiving is on Thursday. And then there's the travel. It would not occur to a Canadian to drive from, say, Montreal to Toronto for Thanksgiving dinner, much less to fly from Vancouver to Halifax. But such voyages are routine in the U.S., and part of the holiday.

But I think the biggest difference is simply that Americans take a little more time during that day to reflect on how fortunate they are to live in a land of plenty and freedom. Now, you can say what you want about American jingoism, and the inflated opinion that Americans have of themselves and their way of doing things, but this is one area where Canadians could learn from Americans. Because Canada, too, is a land of incredible plenty and freedom. But very often I think we fail to appreciate it.

It was at least 20 years before anyone invited me to Thanksgiving dinner in Canada. For the last few years, I've been going to my friends Sandy and Jim's place for Thanksgiving, and we've been cooperating on the meal. It has been lovely. But I've also been trying, as much as possible, to travel to the U.S. for Thanksgiving down there. My brother and sister-in-law have made that easier, by moving to New York, halfway between Montreal and my parents' home, and buying a huge house where they can accommodate everyone for the weekend. And so I'm heading there (on the train - yea Amtrak!) next Wednesday, for a time of food, family, games, and fun.

And now, the recipes. Last year, at our Thanksgiving potluck at church (that tradition continues), I was going to make a pumpkin pie. But I hate making pie crust (and my pie crusts aren't very good, because I always compare them to my late Grandma Sauder's pie crusts, which were the best I've ever had), so I decided to double my pumpkin muffin recipe, bake it in a tube pan, and call it a cake. People raved about it, and now I get specific requests to bring my pumpkin cake for potlucks. (I could also have baked it in loaf pans, and called it pumpkin bread, and so can you!) Here is the recipe (plus a bonus recipe for cranberry sauce):

Pumpkin Cake
4 cups flour
1 cup sugar
4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. allspice
2 cups pumpkin puree
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup vegetable oil (I use canola oil)
1 1/2 cups milk

A note about the pumpkin puree - Hallowe'en pumpkins look pretty, but don't make the best pumpkin for pumpkin pie. The small pumpkins (the ones that look like miniature versions of the big Hallowe'en pumpkins) are good, but the best is a good squash, such as a buttercup or butternut. Just bake the squash until soft, and mash it up with a potato masher.

Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine all the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl.

In another mixing bowl, combine the pumpkin puree, eggs, vanilla extract, vegetable oil, and milk. Beat together until smooth.

Pour the wet ingredients all at once into the dry ingredients. Stir just until all the dry ingredients have been moistened. The batter will be lumpy. If you continue stirring until the batter is smooth, your cake have an unpleasant tough texture.

Pour into a greased tube pan (or two greased loaf pans). Bake for 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. (It will probably take a little less for the loaf pans.)

Let cool and serve. This cake is very moist, so an icing is not really necessary. But if you want to ice it, a cream cheese or a maple frosting would be good.

Cranberry sauce

1 12-oz. bag fresh cranberries
1 medium orange
1/2 cup sugar
1 oz. Grand Marnier or other orange-flavored liqueur (Cointreau, Triple Sec, Curaçao)

Grate the orange rind (just the orange part; the white part is bitter), and then juice the orange. Put the cranberries, orange zest and juice, and sugar into a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. (Caution - when you put the orange juice into the saucepan, it will not look like enough liquid for the cranberries. Do not be tempted to add additional water or orange juice. The juice of one orange is plenty. Otherwise your cranberry sauce will be too runny.)

Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, until all the cranberries have popped and the sauce has thickened. Take off the heat, and stir in the orange liqueur. (Do this while hot. The heat will make most of the alcohol cook off.)

Serve with the Thanksgiving turkey. If you have any leftover, it's really good spread on toast.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving, everyone!