I want to thank you...

today is official Canadian Thanksgiving! I've been away from home for plenty of thanksgivings by now, but it's especially different in a place that doesn't even have the holiday (and doesn't give you a long weekend...puh). lucky for me there are plenty of Canadians around here to show the Europeans how to enjoy a feed. 

a few friends of ours hosted a thanksgiving potluck on saturday. the food was deee-licious, and we all sat around the living room enjoying our wine/ thanksgiving hurricanes and watching the X Factor. it was great fun- much better than eating turkey alone in our apartment while Brando watches football...

(no, that has never happened, but it has been a very real possibility.)

five Canadians, an Irishman, an American, and one Scot sit down to dinner... it's like the beginning of a joke!

cranberry sauce, stuffing, veggies. yummmm.

Sarah carvin' the bird. 

my contribution to the evening- bread pudding. one of my favourite things in the world!

the women working hard while the men look on. :)

delicious. not too bad for displaced Canadians...

managed to catch everybody in mid-chew. at least it looks like everyone enjoyed their food!

no scoff is complete without a hot beverage.

Tighearnach enjoying some apple crisp for dessert.

first Thanksgiving as an old married couple (officially, anyways...). not too shabby.

I love a good turkey dinner! if it's one thing Newfoundlanders know, it's how to enjoy a wicked 'ol cooked dinner on every occasion possible. Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, even regular old sundays- although that usually calls for a smaller chicken instead of a turkey. point is, Newfoundland Thanksgiving is the BEST. 

there are three special components that are essential in making Newfoundland turkey dinners the best; I don't know if all are specifically only Newfie additions, but I've yet to meet outsiders who include them. 

one is salt meat, which is exactly what it sounds like; chunks of beef preserved in salt and boiled. sounds gross, but it's amazing. honest. and it flavours yer veggies right up.

the second is sailor's duff (other people may have a different name for this, or not have a clue what I'm talking about, but my family always makes it and it's one of my favourites!). that's a pudding made with molasses that you can either serve with dinner and gravy, or as desert with custard. it sounds as though no food could ever function this way, but again, it is amazing. and when I say pudding, I mean more like the bread pudding photo above than a jello-pudding-cup pudding.

the third is what I made for the pot luck- bread pudding. it's super easy and SUPER delicious, so I thought I'd share a recipe. so you mainlanders can get a taste of Newfie cookin'.

note that my family(read; my mom) doesn't exactly use measurements when cooking, so some of these are estimates. but I promise you cannot mess it up. 

you need:

a loaf of soft white bread

a cup of sugar

a cup of flour

finely chopped onion (to taste- I usually use a whole small one)

about 1/2 cup melted butter/margarine

cinnamon 

water

directions:

- tear the loaf of bread into small pieces and put them in a large bowl. 

- add the flour, sugar, and onion, and mix ingredients together. 

- pour in the melted butter, then add about half a cup of water. mix everything together, then start squishing the mixture together with your hands (yes, your hands! it's fun!) add a little water at a time until everything sticks together kind of like a big lump of cookie dough. 

- sprinkle in flour to soak up extra water if the mixture gets too sticky (you can also rub it on your hands to keep the dough from sticking to them).

- form the mixture into a loaf and sprinkle with as much cinnamon as you want!

- here's where it's a little strange; wrap the pudding tightly in tin foil. make sure there are no holes or openings; try rolling edges together like you would a doggie bag. just any way to make sure water doesn't easily seep in, because the cooking involves water...

- place the wrapped pudding in about an inch of boiling water in a pot. most of the pudding should be out of the water- it has to steam, not boil. (the way this is usually done is to place the wrapped pudding on top of a pot of boiling vegetables, which is convenient if you're making a big meal!)

- steam for 22-25 minutes, then unwrap. YUMMY TIME.

note: this makes a huge pudding, so you might want to split it into two loaves. :)

you can experiment by adding your own twists to the recipe. some people use grated apple instead of onion, or you can just use a different type of onion, or nothing at all! you can add ginger or nutmeg, or drizzle a little extra butter on top. either way, bread pudding is always welcome in my belly. 

happy Thanksgiving! 

playing: raise it up- Florence + the machine