Happy Thanksgiving
 

Warm wishes to Canadian Fodorites this coming weekend. All the best for your celebration.

Thanks, Judy. And to you too. The fall colours are really nice right now and we're having fun kicking chestnuts along the sidewalks. Good luck to Victoria marathoners on Sunday.

And a Happy Thanksgiving from Northern Ontario also........our colours are in full bloom, there`s a nip in the air and the ducks have started to gather along the lakeshore. I always have a tinge of sadness when I see them leave or see them flying overhead on their long trip south.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. It's our last weekend to play golf here in Whistler, and then we sit back and watch the snow creep down the mountain until ski season opens in late November. Right now we can see the snow line part way down the slopes, the maples and alders are brilliant reds and gold, and I watched a big black bear grazing on the fairway in front of my house this morning as he gets ready for his winter sleep. This is a great time of year, and we are thankful to be living in this beautiful part of our great country. Cheers, All, I'm off to the first tee. Al

Happy Thanksgiving from a P.E.I.er in Montreal !!!

Happy Thanksgiving from Austin, Texas to our Canadian friends. :-)

I thought of a question after I posted. I don't know much about the Canadian Thanksgiving, so can you please tell me how it compares to ours in the US? What are the differences and similarities?

Thanks.

The similarity is most Canadians celebrate wtih the traditional turkey dinner and give thanks for everything for which we are grateful. The main difference is it is celebrated the second Monday in October which is a National holiday. I prefer this time of year as the air is crisp, the fall colours are beautiful, local fruit and vegetables are available at farmers' markets, and it's kind of a celebration of the harvest.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. PM, the Canadian Thanksgiving is very similar to the US Thanksgiving ie family and friends get together for a special dinner usually turkey or ham, pumpkin pie etc. One of the only differences that I can think of is that it seems to be a much bigger holiday in the US perhaps just as important or maybe even more important than Christmas. At least that is my perception. Whereas in Canada I would say that Christmas is our biggest holiday. Other than that it's pretty much the same.

Lynn

Happy Thanksgiving from Victoria BC. I certainly agree with Lynn. We spend our winters in Arizona and are always there for American Thanksgiving. It is a much bigger holiday in the U.S. than in Canada. I think mainly it is because American Thanksgiving is on a Thursday and that gives most people a four day weekend. They have time for traveling etc. Boxing Day is not celebrated in the States so Christmas is just a one day event. The significance of the holidays is the same but its easier for families to get together at Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone from Edmonton (where the all the golden autumn leaves fell off - whump!! - all at once sometime in the past week - at least those in our usually lovely river valley did !! - didn't even have a chance to do my usual fall photography).

Lynn and traveller69 are right on about the differences in Thanksgiving celebrations between Canada and the US. There is one small thing about the US Thanksgiving that annoys me every year - it comes the month after ours, so all the yummy Thanksgiving recipes in the November issues of my favourite food magazines (all American) don't show up until AFTER our Thanksgiving :-d !!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you also !!
In Montreal, our hot weather has just stopped 2 days ago, in time for us to have our long weekend in the rain and cold, blah.
We do have a lot to be thankful for so all the best to everyone and their families.

I'm taking everyone to a thai restaurant tonight so no cooking for me. I usually like to do the traditional turkey dinner though.
There's always next year, lol...

" I think mainly it is because American Thanksgiving is on a Thursday and that gives most people a four day weekend."

I doubt this is correct. It has only become a 4 day weekend in the US over the last 20 years. Until then, most people worked on Friday, yet it was always bigger here. In 1863 when it was set on Thursday, I doubt that too many people were flying off to see the relatives for weekend. The likely explanation is simple: it originated in the US and has been celebtrated in one form or another here much longer. It is fundamentally a New England holiday that has spread.

Another possible explanation is that the quality of the football games is much higher.

boo hoo- I wish I was there celebrating with family in Saskatchewan
I live in Oregon - dont get to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving often

No fall colours here in Toronto yet. The annuals are still blooming well in our garden. But today is dreary - mind you, it was fairly nice the rest of the weekend.

lmhornet - the Canadian and American Thanksgiving celebrations developed independently at about the same time. Ours (Canadian) have more in common with the harvest festivals that occur in rural regions of Europe (which have been celebrated for centuries before any similar celebrations began on this side of the Atlantic).
In Canada we don't have any references to Pilgrims or the Mayflower that I sometimes see in American Thanksgiving celebrations.
With the spread and pervasive influence of mass media, our two Thanksgivings are starting to converge. As far as I'm concerned this is a good thing - giving thanks together brings us all together!!!

Happy Thanksgiving from (this year) Western Newfoundland. The weather here is clear and cool (sweaters, not parkas) and the trees are magnificent.

Our jobs take us all over the world: this time last year we were in Toronto, the year before, Italy and prior to that, Maine. This holiday makes it feel like home wherever we are as most places have some sort of havest festival associated with church or other community groups, even though the timing varies.

Here it is moose-meat cabbage rolls and pease pudding and partridge berry pie, in addition to turkey and pumpkin pie. Have a good one, and, if your experience of good advice is anything like mine, remember to add this Fodor's website and the community of friends it fosters to your list of things to be thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving from Michigan! We just got home from Toronto last night & I would like to give thanks to that great city for showing us such a great time!!

I can't wait to get back!!

Thank you all for your insight on the American vs. Canadian Thanksgiving. I hope you all had a safe and happy holiday.

Last year during the American Thanksgiving we were on holiday in Florida and had dinner with Canadian friends and family who live there.

They were telling us that to their surprise, many cooked their turkeys in deep oil - gallons of it - in a pot designed specially for that purpose. And they said it was fantastic.

This is certainly a departure from the routine oven-baked turkeys we cook and I wonder if this is something new, and do most Americans cook their turkeys in the traditional way?