Canadian Thanksgiving

Monday October 13
This is our first Thanksgiving here in Canada, though we frequently used to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving back in the States, when Holt's parents would come down and visit us for it. If you're ever asked why it's timed so differently from the US version, say "due to the earlier harvest."

We invited Fanny over for the feast, and were debating whether to roast and serve an enormous turkey for only three people when we found a packet of four cute little quail we'd bought from Lakeland Meats. Thus we arrived at our theme: traditional Thanksgiving, but tiny. And thanks to the still-warm weather, we were able to serve the harvest meal out on the patio.

We started with Henry of Pelham's sparkling rosé and snacks of goat-cheese-chive-and-smoked-trout spread on Holt's olive oil bread. Then the main course: Holt had baked three small individual nests of cornbread stuffing spiked with celery, onion, and red bell pepper, and atop each was a quail like a tiny turkey, which had been simmered in red wine according to a recipe we got from A Year in Niagara. Alongside went baby roasted beets, eensy new potatoes, and tiny pearl onions, not to mention a butternut squash casserole that Fanny brought and a regular-size bottle of Featherstone cabernet franc.
And for dessert, there was Fanny's warm apple tart, Holt's miniature fresh pumpkin pies baked in a muffin tin, and a tiny bottle of Vineland Estates Icewine.
We were pleased with how charming and consistent it was, how overstuffed we didn't feel, and how good it all tasted.