Ok, so I'm a little bit early with the Thanksgiving greatings. Canadian Thanksgiving isn't until Monday, which to many Americans I'm sure seems really early. But here in Canada we've been celebrating Thanksgiving on the second Monday of October since 1957 (we've observed a day of Thanksgiving since 1867 but until 1957 it jumped around a lot). When you consider that Thanksgiving is a means of celebrating the annual harvest it does make a lot of sense that we celebrate it early. What better way to give thanks to a wonderful harvest than to eat?

What is it that inspires your gratitude this year?

Notwithstanding the falling dollar, desis -- our local lingo to describe people from the Indian sub-continent in America -- have a lot to be thankful for this season. After all, all those Masters and PhDs we came over for are serving most of us pretty well. Many of us – with or without the U.S. degrees --- have good jobs, while a few of us have been inspired enough to become successful entrepreneurs and academics. A good many of us are probably going to settle here and raise our children as Americans.

From Megan at Megan's Minute.

As a Canadian, American Thanksgiving always seemed so...big. It seems like such a bigger event than our own harvest festival Thanksgiving held more than a month earlier. When I was a kid the difference in dates was so very confusing. I remember reading a book where a character talked about Christmas decorations coming out right after Thanksgiving and my response was, "What? Before Halloween???" Needless to say I've since learned a lot more about American Thanksgiving (I still don't get the football association, but then I don't really get football). What better way to celebrate it than to point out some Thanksgiving books?

One thing many people love about holidays is the way it gives you a temporary green light to eat things you might normally avoid. Personally, I try not to eat sugar, but when it's a special occasion, I'll definitely have a piece of pie or cheesecake. For Thanksgiving, the traditional dessert is pumpkin pie, so of course we'll start with some tips on making that. Then if you'd like to try something new on the plate next to your slice of pie, here are lots of other delicious possibilities. If you have a favorite Thanksgiving dessert recipe that would make a good addition to the list, please leave your link in the comments.

Thanksgiving Dinner for a Small Table For Canadian Thanksgiving back in October, Leslie from the Ottawa food blog Definitely Not Martha cooked dinner for a small group. Lucky for anyone doing the same, she's blogged the entire menu, start(er) to finish, riffing traditional flavors with her own sense of style.