Thanksgiving – home pictures

Thanksgiving 2015 – the art of giving thanks!

It’s a national holiday that is celebrated widely in North America. However, in Canada, it’s celebrated on the second Monday of October while it’s the fourth Thursday of November here. The onset of winter in Canada is a month earlier than the States, which is why they have an early Thanksgiving.

Back in the old days when puritans came from England, they did not know how to harvest crops, so Indians helped them to harvest them. They taught them how to harvest Corn, extract maple syrup and catch fish. In order to thank them with a bountiful harvest, Puritans started the Thanksgiving. In 1621, the first Thanksgiving was held and it was shared among puritans and Wampanoag Indians. It was a long festival that lasted for 3 days.

Many modern day Thanksgiving dishes were not present when the first Thanksgiving event happened. The dishes were prepared with native American spices and cooking methods. And there was no Pie.

After that, there was no Thanksgiving for 200 years until 1863, when President Abraham Lincoln started a national Thanksgiving Day.

In early 1800, New York started the Thanksgiving tradition and the writer of “Mary had a little lamb” Sarah Josepha Hale launched a campaign to start Thanksgiving. After trying for 36 years, finally President Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving as a national holiday.

These days on Thanksgiving, a table turkey is a must. However, back in 1600, there was no turkey in the Thanksgiving buffet. Thanksgiving foods include stuffing, gravy, potatoes, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie. The President of United States “pardoned” two Thanksgiving turkeys back to a firm for retirement rather than having them in a meal.

I love anything and everything about holidays. My home is sparkly clean and smelling heavenly with aromatic pinecones and scented candles. I have infused vodka with chai spice – my husband sips that with lemonade or a hot cup of tea. There are cookies, cakes, breads, nuts – and my kitchen smells blissful with them.

Every year we celebrate Thanksgiving with our family in NY; however, this year my mother in law underwent spine surgery. She is recovering and it’s impossible for her to host a lavish Thanksgiving spread. So, I decided to cook a simple and romantic Thanksgiving dinner for the two of us.

There is no point cooking a 20 pound bird, so I am preparing stuffed turkey breast, gravy, Brussels sprouts and a sweet potato salad. My husband is preparing mashed potato and we are finishing our dinner with a sweet apple pie.