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Monday, October 11, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving and a Beaver Up-date


One of the things I love about Thanksgiving dinner is the pumpkin pie.  I forgot to take a photo of the pie before dinner - I mean, really, who can concentrate on taking photos at a time like that - so this is what was left of the second pie.  There were 8 of us for dinner so we consumed a lot of pie.


Pumpkin pies can vary a lot, but this is the recipe we have made for years and is definitely tried and true (adapted from Better Homes and Gardens).

Ingredients:
3 cups (796 ml tin) pure pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
6 eggs
2 1/2 cups skim milk
12 oz (385 ml tin) evaporated low-fat milk

Method:
1.  Blend all ingredients together 
2.  Pour into unbaked pie shells (makes 2 pies) and bake at 400F for 50 minutes 
3.  Pies are done when a knife comes out clean and when the centre is not liquid when gently shaken
4.  Let cool and serve with whipped cream

If there is any leftover filling we make pumpkin pudding, which is just as yummy as the pumpkin pie and, in actual fact, better for you since there is no fattening crust.  Apart from sugar, pumpkin pudding is chock full of good things like milk, eggs, and beta-carotene laden pumpkin.


My mom put together a centerpiece for Thanksgiving weekend with mini gourds on two mats she made a few years ago using pine needles and rushes.  


I'm sure you are all waiting with baited breath for an up-date on the beaver situation.  On Saturday, I was helping my mother get dinner ready and she said I had better get my camera as the beaver always come by at this time of night.  Apparently, every evening at 6:40-6:45 they swim from their lodge in the marsh to the south of our cottage to the bay just north of us.  I grabbed my camera and just as I stepped outside there they were.   

Here is Beaver #1


Then I noticed Beaver #2


Yep, the cheeky little chap was sitting on our rocks (the blue in the foreground is our canoe) chewing on sticks.  Here's a close-up (although the photo isn't the best with the low light conditions).


And finally after a few minutes, Beaver #3 swam by:


I'm not sure why 3 beavers are living together, but far be it from me to ask.  Couldn't you almost hear them singing - Heigh Ho!  Heigh Ho! It's off to work we go!

Happy Thanksgiving to all the Canadian readers.  Did you all enjoy a big turkey dinner? 

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Just a reminder to put your name in for my giveaway to win two Anthropologie mugs.  See details here.


17 comments:

  1. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours! We had a wonderful dinner (although on Saturday) with family. Way too much food, but delicious. We are blessed.
    The first photo of your cottage is so pretty it could be a postcard.

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  2. Happy Thanksgiving! I love the pumpkin pudding idea. Those are great pictures of Ontario at Thanksgiving. Thanks for sharing with all of our friends who don't get to experience it first hand.

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  3. I love pumpkin pie, too. Happy Thanksgiving to you. Cute beavers.

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  4. Happy Thanksgiving to you, too. I went along for the ride with my neighbour as she delivered turkey dinner in the field while the men were combining wheat. Oh so Canadian, eh!

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  5. I love the pink cast on the water of the beaver shots. Pumpkin pie is my favorite and we were all stuffed after our dinner. Have a great week.

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  6. What a beautiful lake that is. Sounds like you had a fabulous thanksgiving.

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  7. We had two big dinner's....one on Sunday at my in-law's, and one here on Monday. We also live on a lake with beavers swimming about. Two summers ago, my son became very ill, and after blood work was determined he had "Beaver Fever", which you can get from ingesting contaminated water. (a lot of swimming that summer) The first thing the Dr., asked me was if there were beavers in our lake?! I had never heard of it before....and our lake is relatively small. Pretty pics. Happy Thanksgiving t you as well.

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  8. Congraulations on your 200 followers! That's so exciting. I like the "pumpkin pudding" idea, since I'm not much of a crust eater. I'm soooo looking forward to Thanksgiving here in the states! Cheers :-)

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  9. Oh that cottage is just the ideal Canadian Thanksgiving location. Those beavers are darn cute, even though they probably create havoc.
    Im definitely adopting your pumpkin pie recipe and in fact I'm going to make some of that filling as the pudding very soon. Thanks for sharing the recipe.

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  10. Oh! How beautifully Canadian - I love the photos of the beavers!!

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  11. pie looks delicious. your weekend looks similar to mine - up north, tucked away, lots of fall colours and even more delicous food. hope you enjoyed. where is your cottage?

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  12. Grace, I love pumpkin pie and always make it with real pumpkin puree...nothing better! Good eye on the beaver front..that must have been fun. It is such a great feeling when you get just the picture you want!

    Belated Happy Thanksgiving!

    Jeanne xx

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  13. Happy late Thanksgiving Grace! I've been under the weather...I think i overdid it cooking for everyone!

    Love the photo of the beaver it is soooo cute!!!!

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  14. So pretty, I love the lake, I don't think I have ever seen Beavers in person!
    Your pumpking pie looks amazing....Yummmy!

    Have a wonderful weekend!
    XO

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  15. Oh, delicious! my oh my! Pumpkin pie just happens to be my favorite pie of all... must enter your giveaway, too, it's lovely!

    Hope you're having a great week,
    xo

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  16. What fabulous pics Grace!! Always love looking through them!

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  17. The first picture of this post is sooo wonderful! I love your 'cottage' posts and I really wish that we had a cottage too! [big sigh] But then a cottage for us here would probably mean no more 6 week vacations to Nova Scotia and that I could NOT live without! Keep the cottage posts coming and I will live vicariously through you, my friend! Angie xo

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