Thanksgiving weekend serves as a time for family and friends to bond over food and fall leaves

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This Week Staff

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Children are jumping into piles of colourful leaves, their laughter riding the autumn breezes to make the whole world smile.

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The family cook is quietly sipping homemade wine between the chopping, the dicing, the stuffing, and then the big heave-ho of the gigantic size turkey into the oven.

The aroma of savoury and sage fills the house that must stretch on this one day to accommodate more family than it was ever designed for.

These are the sights, sounds, and smells of a traditional Canadian Thanksgiving. And at night, when everyone has eaten too much, swapped too many stories, and laughed enough to last until Christmas, the adults sit quietly on the porch to watch a harvest moon light up the sky.

Stock markets may tumble, political leaders may rise and fall like the tide, but the bonds of good family and good food keep our little part of our vast country forever strong.

This Week was combing the markets, chatting to the best cooks in the neighbourhood, and listening to those who love life talk about Thanksgiving this week. The exercise ends with this collection of Thanksgiving facts and foibles, and some tried and true recipes to keep the tradition alive and well.

While Canadian Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second Monday in October, that being Oct. 13 this year, we discovered that in Metro Moncton, the term is more loosely used to describe this entire weekend.

Because of families dealing with children returning home from university, and other family members who have to travel distances to draw up their seat at the table, the traditional Thanksgiving feast is a moveable one, from today until Monday, depending on when everyone can get there.

As in so many ways in life, Maritimers remain intensely practical about their celebrations.

The most traditional version of the origins of Canadian Thanksgiving is that European farmers in Europe held celebrations at harvest time to give thanks for the abundance of food. They would fill a curved goat's horn with fruits and grains, creating what we still know as a cornucopia or horn of good plenty.

When the Europeans settled in our new world, they brought these traditions with them.

The first recorded Thanksgiving ceremony in Atlantic Canada was in 1578 in what is now Newfoundland when the English navigator Martin Frobisher held a "thankful" ceremony to celebrate his safe arrival there.

However, it wasn't until 1879 that the Canadian Parliament declared a formal Thanksgiving Day. It was to be Nov. 6, but over time, it was moved closer to our harvest season, and was fixed as the second Monday of October on Jan. 31, 1957.

The act read that the day would "be a Day of General Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed," and the country said "Amen" to that and commenced to pass the turkey platter.

Here are some of the very best of traditional recipes for your Thanksgiving celebration.

Roast Turkey with Herbal Rub

(This is for a medium-size turkey, just add or subtract depending on the size you select).

Ingredients:

1 whole turkey, fresh or thawed

1 medium onion quartered

1 lemon quartered

1/4 cup vegetable oil 60 ml

1 tsp dried thyme 5 ml

1 tsp dried tarragon 5 ml

1 tbsp dried rosemary 15 ml

1 tsp salt 5 ml

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper 2 ml

Method:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit or 160 degrees Celsius. Remove giblets and neck from turkey and reserve for broth. Rinse turkey with cold running water and pat dry with paper towels. Place onion and lemon quarters in neck and body cavities. In a small bowl, mix oil with herbs, salt and pepper. With your finger tips, gently loosen skin from the breast without pulling off the skin.

Place 1 tbsp 15 ml of herb mixture under skin; replace skin.

Rub cavities and outside of turkey with remaining herb mixture. Secure the neck skin to the back with skewers. Fold wings under back of turkey. Place legs in tucked position. May be prepared to this point, covered and refrigerated for several hours. Place turkey, breast side up, on a rack in a large shallow (no more than 2-1/2 inches) deep roasting pan. Insert an oven-safe thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh, being careful it does not touch the bone. Cover bird with a loose tent of foil. Roast turkey in the preheated oven for 15 minutes per pound or 45 minutes per kilogram. (If you are cooking a stuffed turkey, make that 20 minutes per pound). Remove foil and baste bird with pan juices about two hours into the process. Then continue to roast until meat thermometer registers 180 degrees Fahrenheit in the thigh. Remove turkey from oven and allow to rest for 15-20 minutes before carving. Transfer to a large platter and serve with gravy.

Note: To calculate the size of turkey you need, estimate each person needs one to 1 1/2 pounds (680 g).

Old Fashioned Bread Stuffing

Ingredients:

3-4 loaves of white bread (or 5 if you like leftovers)

2 bunches of celery

1 or 2 onions

2 tbsp butter 30 ml

1/2 tsp sage 2 ml oysters (optional)

mushrooms (option)

Method:

The night before you want to eat the stuffing, break the bread into small pieces (about 1 inch squares) into 2 huge bowls or pots. Let the bread sit overnight to dry out. The next day, after you remove the insides of the turkey, boil them in water in a 2/3 quart sauce pan until cooked (about 20/30 minutes). Remove insides for later use or discard. Keep water and put aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Chop onion and celery and place into food processor until minced. Melt 2-3 tbsp (30-45 ml) of butter in large saucepan.

Saute onion and celery until heated through. Do not brown! (Saute mushrooms also at this time if wanted). Depending on how much stuffing you want and how much celery and onion you’ve chopped, you may have to saute the onion and celery in two parts. Once cooked, pour the onion/celery mixture directly over the dried out bread. Pour the sage over bread/onion/celery mixture.

Then take your reserved water and pour slowly over bread. The bread will shrink as you do this. Be careful not to pour too much water in. Mix thoroughly and smell/taste for perfect stuffing. If you need more liquid, open a can of chicken broth and pour over bread. If you need more spice, add more sage. If you are using oysters, add them now. Once stuffing is of a consistency that it will stick together and does not look too dry, do not add more liquid. Either stuff in turkey to be baked in oven, or put in 9 x 13 pan.

If using oysters, it is recommended that you bake the stuffing in a pan so as to ensure the oysters will be cooked through. Bake in 350 degree oven for 45 minutes to an hour. You want the stuffing to have a nice brown crust on top.

Note: Oysters add an extra element to this stuffing, but be sure to make guests aware of this ingredient. People with allergies might not expect to find oysters in traditional bread stuffing.

Fruited Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients:

1 can (40 oz - 1.25 kg) sweet potatoes drained and mashed

1 can (8 oz - 250 g) crushed pineapple in juice drained

1/4 cup each bourbon, brown sugar, golden raisins, shredded coconut 60 ml

2 tsp pumpkin pie spice 10 ml

1 tsp salt 5 ml vegetable cooking spray

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 degrees Celsius). In large bowl, combine sweet potatoes, pineapple, bourbon, brown sugar, raisins, coconut, walnuts, pumpkin pie spice and salt. Pour mixture into 2-quart casserole dish that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Bake for 40 minutes.

Note: Orange juice may be used in place of bourbon, and pecans in place of walnuts, if desired.

Cranberry Chutney

Ingredients:

1 pkg (12 ounces - 375 g) fresh cranberries

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar 125 ml

1/2 cup sugar 125 ml

1 tsp nutmeg 5 ml

1 tsp cinnamon 5 ml

1 tsp cayenne pepper 5 ml

1 tsp cumin 5 ml

Method:

In medium saucepan, over high heat, combine cranberries, vinegar and sugar; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and add nutmeg, cinnamon, cayenne, and cumin. Simmer 20 to 25 minutes or until mixture is very thick, stirring frequently.