Happy Canadian Thanksgiving

[Catherine]

Happy Canadian Thanks Giving to members and guests who are celebrating this weekend. I wish you and your animal friends a safe and happy holiday.

[Tobi]

Wishing you, Catherine -and all Canadians
A VERY HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

With all my best wishes,
Tobi

[Knight of Albion]

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!

[Catherine]

Thank-you for your kind wishes.

Thanksgiving is a real family time. People gather with family and friends and just be together and share a good meal. It is also the time when you start to eat the winter vegetables like squash and pumpkin. The weather is turning colder and the leaves are falling.
Dessert is always Pumkin Pie. I know I can get it all year round now, but it tastes better in the fall and it tastes best of all with Thanksgiving Dinner.

[Tobi]

I had pumpkin pie a couple of times, and it is very nice!
Winter squash is good added to many dishes. Lovely! (yum)

It is nice to have a celebration to mark the turning of the year and the change from summer to winter, and to give thanks. I think the closest we come to that here is the Harvest Festival. But it's mainly only church-going people who observe that.

But there are many ways of celebrating those things. I used to like the feeling of having got the firewood in, gathered the hazelnuts and walnuts, and apples, etc. Then when the nights start to draw in, there is a special atmosphere in the evening when there is a log fire....

[Catherine]

Our Thanksgiving is really a harvest festival, but it is also a National Holiday. We are the only country that celebrates on this particular day, the second Monday of October. Many people celebrate on Sunday, but it is okay to celebrate on Saturday or Friday night. I have managed to go to three different Thanksgiving dinners one year because everyone who invited me had a different day in mind.

It does mark the end of the warm weather. If it gets cold after Thanksgiving we accept it, with a minimum of grumbling.

As much as I hate to see the end of the warm weather and the signs that winter is coming, there is something right about winter foods and warm fires. The days are getting shorter so we can't pretend that summer isn't over.

I love pumpkin pie. It will go on sale after this weekend, so with luck I will be able to put some pies in the freezer and enjoy them later. It is the kind of food you should eat as winter approaches.

[Tobi]

Pumpkin is also excellent medicine for dogs! It has a way of normalising the gut function. So if a dog has either diarrhea or constipation it works both ways! It should be cooked without sugar or salt for them. Apparently they do like it too. And cats can eat it.
There's some info. here:

http://www.petplace.com/Dogs/9-benefits-...page1.aspx

[Catherine]

Interesting that pumpkin is good for dogs and even cats.

I feed butternut squash(milder flavour) to my lizards. They eat it raw and cut up fine, but it is good for them and they like it. I would think that the squash and pumpkin contain much of the same things. I know they are rich in Vit C and Vit A.

Squash/pumpkin is my favourite vegetable. I like them in soup and pie, but I also like them cooked plain and served with a little pepper.

I cut up the squash for the reptiles, give some of it to the guinea pigs and save some for myself. Now I am craving squash soup.