Thanksgiving 2018

It is Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada. Not quite the big shindig that it is in the States, and not as late in the fall, either. This year it is a very small gathering at our home. Our daughter is about 14 hours away, up north, with her boyfriend's extended family. Our son is working. So tomorrow, Thanksgiving Monday which is a holiday for Canadians, we will get my husband's mother from her retirement digs and bring her over for a subdued turkey dinner. We'll be eating leftovers for the week, which makes life easy for me in the long run.

As usual I will be making a pre-stuffed, cook-from-frozen turkey which in my opinion is the best thing out there. Far less hassle than defrosting way ahead of time, making stuffing, and stuffing it myself. I knew I was going to have pumpkin pie, a favourite. I purchased pre-made frozen pie crusts. I like to take them out of the chintzy tin foil pie plates and transfer them to a nicer, sturdier pie pan. When I tried to transfer this one, it cracked and split and generally fell apart into a big mess. There was no amount of piecing together that was going to save that pie crust, so I smushed it altogether into a ball and rolled it out again. I think it will be fine. But then I thought, you know, I should just make my own pastry. I had all the ingredients, so I did. It felt very "harvesty" and now I have extra pie crusts that I will freeze and use some other time.

I even cut little leaves out of the extra pastry and will put those on top of the pie as it bakes. How very Martha Stewart of me!
I like to use pure pumpkin to make pies, rather than pumpkin pie filling. There is something gritty and a little "bitey" tasting about pumpkin pie filling that I don't like. Does anyone else use the recipe on the back of this label?

It never fails.

As the pie was doing its thing in the oven, I thought I'd be predictable and take some autumnal shots of the birds. I am down to three laying hens and three developing roosters. Sigh.

This is Bruce, thanking the Poultry God that he's not a turkey.

This is Nugget, the youngest rooster.

This is one of the laying hens, up close and personal, wondering why I didn't bring something to eat.

In terms of Autumn colour, we aren't yet seeing the full splendour, but it is beginning. The Autumn Joy Sedum is certainly showing the season.

Another sign that the seasons are changing, is that Scooter, the cat with no tail, spends longer periods of time in the house these days. I have no idea what he does during the day when I'm at work, but on the weekends, he will curl up on a kitchen chair and have a snooze for a couple of hours. When he does go out, he comes back with a new bunch of burs and various other "sticky" vegetation in his fur, which is, of course, another sign that it is definitely Fall.

I've not been blogging as regularly. I'm worn out with work and I do not wish to get involved in any political rants, so I find I have less to contribute to the world of blogging. I'm not dropping out of it, just not as frequent as I used to be, and I am enjoying reading blogs, especially those people who took some time off over the summer and are now back!

Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow Canadians!