Thankful for Thanksgiving

A while ago there was a "thing" going around on Facebook where people had to guess (among other things) your favourite holiday. Mine was Thanksgiving.

I love what it's about, I love the weather, I love the traditional turkey dinner ... It's all good.

I was about to narrate the ENTIRE DAY, from stewing the cranberries to leftover-izing the meal, but just decided I will spare you. Instead, you get a photo essay. Not worthy of Time magazine, but enough to give you a taste of our holiday.

For us, the day is largely about the food. We all pitch in, chopping, paring, mincing, stuffing, and stirring.

 Then, because I like to, I decorate the table. Gold and bronze were the colour scheme this year.

Psst! That beautiful fabric? It's a shower curtain!
All the fabric and runners I could find were too expensive.

The best thing about this is that you get most of the work out of the way in the morning, and then you just relax and smell the sage until it's time to cook the veggies. In the interim, the perfect thing to do is go for a walk, and enjoy the season. On American Thanksgiving, it was fun to stroll the neighbourhood and watch as everyone put up their Christmas lights. (I had no idea it was such a tradition to do that.) In Ontario, we head for the forests to look at the miracle of leaves changing colour. [I recently (re)learned that the colour is caused by sugars left behind in the leaves when the sap all runs back to the trunk/roots.]

This year, our Thanksgiving weekend was spectacularly beautiful. A balmy mid-twenties with picturesque blue skies. Who could resist? First, we explored the forest.

Then we wandered through the neighbourhood.

This was my favourite picture of the day.

We walked back into the house and were greeted by the savoury smells of sage, turkey, and celery. There was just enough time to shower and do the final prep before our guests arrived. And then I was too busy enjoying myself to take many pictures, though I did get this one of my beautiful Katie holding her boyfriend's hand.

So I didn't get any pictures of the food all prepared and served. I never do. And that's part of why this is not a photo essay worthy of Time magazine: it ends before the climax. Ah well, you get the idea, right?

How did you spend your Thanksgiving/Columbus Day weekend?