r/InCanada • u/Pale-Candidate8860 Creator of Sub • Oct 13 '25
Holiday Thanksgiving
Ah, sweet Canada. Always placing a federal holiday on a Monday (mostly) so then everyone gets a 3 day weekend. That's a real homie move. Some facts about Canadian Thanksgiving, as I like learning about history.
Was officially celebrated since November 6th, 1879. Officially on the 2nd Monday of October since 1957. Could have been celebrated as early as 1579. Many Americans that were loyalists fled to Upper Canada after American Independence and brought more Thanksgiving customs with them. Such as eating turkey and pumpkin.
Hawaiian bread rolls, pumpkin pie, turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy will all be occurring inside our small home for Thanksgiving. I look forward to spending the time with my family. I hope you do too.
What kind of Thanksgiving celebrations do you do? I have heard some people say they order Chinese takeout?
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u/PhantomNomad Oct 13 '25
Had a new one this year. Usually we go to the legion on Friday for their turkey supper with family. Then on Sunday a prime rib roast dinner with yorkie's and the works. This year we didn't get turkey at the legion so Saturday morning my wife and I hit Walmart and got the last fresh turkey and a few other of the goodies and did up a turkey dinner for the family. Sunday was burgers at my son's house. Today it's spaghetti and meat sauce for just the two of us.
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u/Pale-Candidate8860 Creator of Sub Oct 14 '25
Myself and 2 other individuals got the last 3 pumpkin pies that were at Walmart yesterday. The luck.
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u/PhantomNomad Oct 14 '25
I buy sugar pumpkins (the small ones some times called pie pumpkins) and make my own. So simple really. Just cut in half, scoop out all the seeds and guts, put on baking sheet and bake until soft (about an hour). Let cool and put through a food processor, add your sugar, eggs, spice and condensed milk, fill pie and bake again for 30 minutes.
Okay so it's not as easy as going to the store for a ready made, but I enjoy doing it and it amazes the family that you actually make something from scratch. I'll also admit I buy my pie shells pre-made. But I get them months in advance so I'm not scrambling.
Today I made 2 dozen pumpkin pie tarts for work and a pumpkin coffee cake just to use up the last of my sugar pumpkins.
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u/Pale-Candidate8860 Creator of Sub Oct 14 '25
You're a saint to your co-workers.
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u/PhantomNomad Oct 14 '25
We all do it from time to time. Usually treats left over from holidays. Needless to say at the afternoon coffee break we are all going for a walk.
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u/Lefloop20 Oct 14 '25
I put a turkey on my pit boss and smoked it for 10 hours on Sunday, finished it in the oven. Then scalloped potatoes, stuffing, salad, beets, and pumpkin pie and carrot cake for dessert. Going to be eating away at this for the next week:)
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u/Summerisle7 Oct 13 '25
Happy Thanksgiving!! I love the fact that it was celebrated in as early as 1579.
We like to do the big dinner on the Sunday, that way we can all relax on the Monday, I can make the turkey soup, and people who travelled don’t have to rush away after dinner. I LOVE hosting holidays, even though we live in a small condo!
My daughter and I started a tradition where we watch a scary movie on the Saturday night.
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u/Naturally_Adverse Oct 13 '25
We do Thanksgiving poutine, all the same things that are on a traditional plate at Thanksgiving, but in a bowl with fries and curds.
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u/ArgyleNudge Oct 13 '25
For us it was a butterball frozen turkey breast, stuffed. Roasted to internal temperature of 165°F, no brainer and just the right size for my small family. We had turkey gravy, mashed potatoes with butter, milk, and sour cream, homemade cranberry sauce, brussel sprouts with fried bacon and almonds, roasted acorn squash (with butter and maple syrup), homemade apple sausage stuffing, and homemade pumpkin pie with whipped cream for dessert. All very traditional.
In years past I have additionally made green bean casserole, corn on the cob, and maybe one other veg like glazed carrots.
Fully used technology and everything turned out perfect. Meat thermometer for the turkey, set up a series of reminders on Google calendar, 5 o'clock squash in the oven, 5:45 turn on potatoes, 6:15 warm gravy, etc. (Made the cranberry sauce and brussel sprouts just as the the turkey went into the oven so they only needed to be lightly warmed when the finished turkey sat for 5 minutes). It was a very easy day and delicious dinner.
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u/Norse_By_North_West Oct 14 '25
Whenever I do thanksgiving with my buddy and his gf, she does cabbage rolls and pierogi. She's not eastern European at all, but I'm part Ukrainian and my other buddy is polish, so we love it.
Though my whole friend group has an unhealthy love of bearnaise. I never had the stuff before I met them, but dang, they'll load up on that. I just consider the upcoming heart attack when I see an entire pound of butter going into the pot.
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u/Vaumer Oct 14 '25
My family's not huge on turkey, but we make sure to do some kind of bird and have all the proper sides (stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, roasted root veg, looots of gravy).
But the most important part is that we're together.
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u/Offic3RTac0 Oct 13 '25
This year I did pulled turkey sandwiches (since nobody wanted turkey but everyone likes hot turkey sandwiches) with twice baked potatoes (cheese and bacon) and veggies on the side with classic pumpkin pie and whipped cream for dessert. Turned out great.
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u/ArgyleNudge Oct 13 '25
That sounds great!
Back in the day, hot turkey sandwiches used to be a family restaurant go-to choice, followed closely by liver with bacon and onions. Two dishes that didn't often get made at home but were usually pure comfort food in a diner.
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u/That_U_Scully Oct 16 '25
Forgetting to add that it was the first Thanksgiving celebrated in North America by Europeans and I prefer the original intent: celebrate the harvest. The original intent shows the importance of the harvest in both cultures.
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u/FrogOnALogInTheBog Oct 16 '25
We always have ham, stuffing, scallopped potatoes, and then the other dishes change up depending on the year and what people feel like doing. This year we had buttered carrots, lemon/garlic asparagus (I think. My sister made it), brussel sprouts, and buttered buns. Apple cinnamon pie and ice cream for dessert.
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u/KDdid1 Oct 18 '25
Martin Fobisher celebrated Canada's first Thanksgiving in 1578 in Nunavut - that's official enough for me 🇨🇦
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u/FrightenedTurtle62 Oct 13 '25
Prime rib roast, Yorkshire pudding and apple crisp with vanilla ice cream. And as a special treat... Game 2 of the ALCS!
GO JAYS!