Canadian Thanksgiving and a Recipe for Apple Crisp

This weekend is the Canadian Thanksgiving.   Yes, you read that right - Canada does indeed have a Thanksgiving  Day and it is exactly like the American holiday - minus the Pilgrims.  (FYI - Canada was a French colony back in the early days and although we did have Jesuit Priests, we did not have zealous Puritans.)  In fact, the early French settlers and fur traders with their native wives ( for some reason, French women weren't flocking to live in the mosquito-plagued wilderness of New France) celebrated a yearly harvest feast in the European tradition decades before the pilgrims arrived in Plymouth.

For centuries, the celebration has been held around the end of October or early November depending on the harvest.  In 1879 it was declared a National Holiday, and in 1957 it was pinned down to it's current date of the second Monday in October which means, in practical terms - bales of straw, scarecrows and pumpkins are permitted for the first two weeks of October, then you can add the ghosts, witches and all other spooky Halloween decorations for the last two weeks.  Then it's straight into Christmas decorations, but that's a whole other post.

So... (getting back to the subject at hand) except for the buckled shoes and funny hats, Canada's Thanksgiving is the same as the American holiday and I'm sure my American friends will agree that Thanksgiving has a very defined menu that has to be strictly adhered to lest you cause an uprising amongst the clan.  This is the Canadian menu:  a roasted turkey stuffed with a bread dressing and served with a cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes with gravy, fall crops such as squash/sweet potatoes/apples in some form or other, and of course, pumpkin pie.  There MUST be pumpkin pie.

Now, because I like you all very much, I am going to share with you my family's absolute requirement for each Thanksgiving dinner, a cherished family recipe for The Very Best Apple Crisp ever.

4 cups/1000 ml sliced apples
1 cup/250 ml white sugar
1 cup/250 ml water
3/4 cup/175 ml all-purpose flour
1/2 cup/124 ml butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon

1.  Place apples in a greased 8"x8"/2 litre baking dish and sprinkle them with cinnamon and pour the water over top.
2.  In a bowl, cream together sugar and butter.  Stir in flour.  Sprinkle over apples.
3.  Bake for 30 - 40 minutes at 350 Fahrenheit or 180 Celsius.
4.  Serve hot with vanilla ice cream.



So tell me, is the Canadian menu much different from the American menu?  Are there any Thanksgiving dishes that are essential for your dinner?
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