I understood Canadian Thanksgiving was coming up. I really did. There are pumpkins in the stores, turkeys in supermarket coolers and every time I look at a Pinterest board there's something made out of straw and burlap staring back at me.
Also, it's right there on the calendar. The problem is I didn't check the calendar. I just sort of based my knowledge of "thanksgiving is coming up" on the general idea that I feel stupid wearing shorts and flip flops into the grocery store, so it must be coming up soon.
What I didn't realize was it was coming up this weekend. I need to shove some bread crumbs up a turkey's ass and QUICK. I'm not really sure why we have turkey for Thanksgiving. I've never met anyone who really loves turkey. It's almost always dry, doesn't have a lot of flavour and takes all day to cook. It's like the fruitcake of the meat world.
But surround it with cranberry sauce, stuffing, mashed potatoes and an embarrassing amount of farting and waddling and there you have it. The annual Thanksgiving dinner.
Since I am the one who hosts my family's Thanksgiving dinner every year I need to get going on it. S.T.A.T.! (Start Thanksgiving Activities Todayish.)
The table is set. I have that much going for me. Well that and naturally curly hair. Huh. Now that I think of it, that's actually Frieda, the least popular character from the Charlie Brown cartoons.
This year I went with a rustic, dark, moody feeling. Warm and cozy. Like an autumn Thanksgiving should be.
The table has a rough burlap runner down the centre with a piece of hardwood on top of that. When dinner is served, the arrangement will get removed and all the dishes of food can go right on the board.
There's even more layering with cutting boards on top of the wood board. This one is my favourite from Cattails.
One of the things I'm most excited about is the fact that all of the food served will have been harvested from my garden. Everything. (aside from the poor Turkey) I'm serving a classic Thanksgiving dinner with side dishes that are slightly elevated. Just a little bit. For fun. Elevated as in "churched up". Not elevated as in levitating.
Ground cherries will be scattered on the table.
And there will be bowls and jars of my kosher dill pickles which turned out DELICIOUS. I've eaten 3 jars already myself. Which is all kinds of wrong but all kinds of right.
I'm expecting the black sea salt to be a hit. Mainly because it looks so good on the table. Weird little things like using black salt in a black dish are what bring the whole moody table together.
So if you're wondering about how to do your Thanksgiving table (either this weekend or next month) pick some sort of theme. It could be something as literal as classic American Thanksgiving, a crisp black and white theme, or something a bit more esoteric like a mood. If you aren't feeling all that imaginative, just open a magazine or look at a blog and copy it. That'll take all the guess work out and make it way easier. Which leaves more time for making more stuffing. You can never have enough stuffing. Ever.
Of course, if there are those out there who are frightened of black salt, there will also be white.
The dishes are round matte black dinner plates that I found at my local thrift store. I got the whole set including lunch plates and bowls for $9.
The salt dishes were on clearance at The Keeping Room, I bought the vintage cutlery (that I've been LOOKING FOR for ages) from a local reader! Thanks Cornelia!
Betty made the napkins, and half of the flowers in the arrangement are from my community garden plot. I planted the Amaranths in the spring specifically to use in my Thanksgiving arrangement. Normally I'd *think* about doing that and then promptly forget all about it. For some reason, I didn't. I suspect I forgot something much more important.
Well, like when Thanksgiving is, for instance.
This is one of two tables that will be set. The other one will be one room over, in my front hall, so the 12 or so people (it's up to 15 now) can fit comfortably. Plus the foyer is the perfect spot to sit people I don't really like. I'll tell them they're in the foyer because it's away from the mess of the kitchen and because they're my favourites I wanted to seat them there.
For your table to have an actual harvest feel, put food on it! Don't just put out pretty decorations and arrangements. And like I said, once the dinner is served the big arrangement in the centre will be moved away, and the food will make its way in on old, rustic stoneware and enamel platters.
The total cost of the arrangement was $27 for the ornamental cabbages and miniature red snapdragons. The lime green trailing flowers and the tall burgundy flowers are from my garden.
Every year I do this and every year it's the same. I think I can keep it together. I think that things will go smoothly. It will be a restful, warm and inviting Thanksgiving with my family close. We'll all enjoy the food, the kitchen will not become a disaster and the night will end with us crowding around the fireplace singing Frank Sinatra.
Instead, someone's fingernails will catch on fire, one of the kids will barf, my mother will forget her camera, everyone will get a stain on their shirt and the night will end not with song, but with us measuring the size of each others heads.
Happy Thanksgiving my fellow Canadians. I have my fingers crossed that your Thanksgiving will NOT be like the pleasant, fancifully perfect, imaginary version of mine.
Because the real thing is way more fun.
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Particularly LOVE the napkin placement, among other things.
Happy Thanksgiving! Your table is beautiful and your menu sounds fantastic. I love that so much of it is homegrown. It seems weird to me that it isn't still summer. Here in Houston, TX it was already 81 degrees (f) at 7:40 this morning when I sent my son off to school in shorts and a t-shirt. We'll be heading north for US Thanksgiving in a month, so I'll get some Autumn then. My 78 year old mother has decided that she is done cooking Thanksgiving, so I'll drive two days with a bored 7 year-old and an i-pad obsessed husband to have Thanksgiving dinner in a restaurant. Oh well, it should be all about family, not food. I just feel bad for all the folks who have to work that day.
Absolutely gorgeous, no surprise, and I'm sure it'll be delicious as well. My big, heartfelt wish after it's all over is for you to have a long, luxurious NAP.
Happy Thanksgivuing, Karen (That's the Canadian spelling with that "u" in there)
LOL!! That comment got a genuine laugh out loud from me. Firstly … I went to go to bed and my cat had thrown up ALL over my sheets. In the exact spot that I lay, and right up by my head so I couldn't pretend I didn't see it. Plus of course the "u" in Thanksgivuing. :) ~ karen
When I saw the title of this post I thought OMG, she's getting ready for Thanksgiving already?!!! Then I remembered where you live. So yes, you're not over a month early, you're late.
Every time I see a picture of your dining room I lust after that painting. And my husband is a painter - I should get him to paint something like that for me! He's more than capable of it.
I got my first newsletter today and really enjoyed it. The only problem is that there are no comments, which are (almost) as entertaining as your posts are.
If some one needs to be updated with newest technologies then he must be visit this web site and be up to date everyday.
Hi Karen,
You've become such a good photographer!!!!!! The lighting and the colors ........soooo soooothing!
Absolutely GORGEOUS , absolutely everything!!!
Your table- your decorating , the black dishes , the photography , the menu ...EVERYTHING... and esp. the silverware ;)
Wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving Karen :)
PS would you come decorate my place -please , plz, plzzz?
Karen your home is lovely. Happy thanksgiving!
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Happy Thanksgiving to a most entertaining yet kind and thoughtful person who happens to be a blogger! With all the nasty cyber tolls out there you have managed to garner a following of kind and thoughtful people. Not only do I enjoy your postings, but also the unselfish and caring comments of your followers. No one really wants to see you go from posting 5 days a week to 3 yet everyone supports and respects your decision. Stay 'true' Karen Bertelsen
Very well said Linda!! I agree
Just had the best Turkey dinner .....mmmmm.
I cannot imagine the time that goes into your dinner and presentation. So lovely!!
Love all these! Thanks for the menu, and these moody colors def work for the season. Happy Thanksgiving, Karen and family!
Please oh please share more of your recipes! The pumpkin pie from scratch, the sugar cookies, the swiss chard...oh heck, a list with links to all of them would be mighty helpful.Thanks in advance. Your decor is beautiful, btw - happy thanksgiving!
It's all very beautiful. I love that you grew all the food. I bet the bread & rolls are amazing.
This is warm and colorful and all kinds of fabulous. Well done Karen.
Thanks Toni! I plan to take a few pictures during the actual dinner to show the flip side. The debauchery. :) ~ karen!
Karen, I hate to pester you about this so persistently, but... I think my friends might kill me if I don't shut up about my theories on why your family (and some of the commentor's families) measure heads for the holidays! Seriously! Is it a Canadian tradition? Google has been terribly unhelpful in my hours of searching. It's driving me insane. PLEASE. Pretty please? I'm begging you!
Hahahahahaha... Ehahaha. Heh. (That's me, laughing maniacally, because I can't figure this out and I'm seriously going insane from it.)
Hi Jasper! Sorry for the delayed response. Measuring heads is not a Canadian Thanksgiving thing, lol. It's just something that happened here one Thanksgiving for some reason. I have NO idea why. :) ~ karen
Everything looks gorgeous. I love the dark look and feel. I'm in Thanksgiving denial, so we are foregoing the extravaganza this year and wandering the land. Leaving it for Christmas. Or... I might do it for American Thanksgiving. Mebbe. :-D
Happy Thanksgiving to our Canadian cousins!
Hope you have a great family holiday!
I hate to disagree, but I really love turkey. The key to moist, enjoyable turkey is to brine it. Honestly, it's the easiest way to to juicy turkey, & I don't even baste them anymore. Except for last year's 45 pounder (20 kg) - I thought I should hedge my bets on that monster!
Karen, the table is beautiful! You . Are . Awesome!!! Have a lovely Thanksgiving!
Also love the salt dishes. So glad you said where to get them!
The table is gorgeous! Now that I've used the pumpkins from my centrepiece to make real pumpkin purée, I need to come up with a new plan!