Canadian Cooking for American Holiday in QUOTIDIEN

Though Canadian blood runs through these veins, I suck at cold weather. Once we drop below 50 degrees, I'm done for. One thing that hasn't changed, however, is this ingrained tradition of stocking up on ground pork and all appropriate spices to make Canadian Meat Pies (Tourtiere), once the leaves have all fallen, and it becomes cold enough outside to turn one's nose pink. Thanksgiving is a great kick-off time for this.

I do mine in batches of 4. Two get rice added - two get little potato cubes. Each family seems to have their own recipe - and each generation in OUR family seems to tweak the ingredients just enough to make the recipe their own. Of course, then comes to time-honored, dinner table debate about who has the 'realest' recipe. Given that my whole family is still in Quebec, my portion of the debate is done over the phone. Then again....with Maman, there really isn't much debate. I am simply WRONG. I use pre-made crust. GASP Yes, yes I do.

New to our holiday table, from last year, will be my apple/cranberry crisp. GIVE THANKS, my pretties - Mama slaved in an overheated kitchen (all of 20 minutes prep) to give you this dessert.

No sweet potato casserole. :pout: No one but me likes the stuff.

Turkey, of course. And stuffing. Speaking of which, I need to check out some recipes for great stuffing.