Putting gratitude on the table

And a recipe for a delicious tomato cranberry preserve perfect for your Thanksgiving table

How is Thanksgiving already here?

Didn’t we just enjoy the golden moments of September, have one more tomato, throw open the windows wide to capture a soft breeze, admire the late garden blooms? Have we really said goodbye to summer, hello to sweaters, start contemplating apple pies and butternut squash soup?

Wasn’t it only a few short months ago that we thought we’d be together again, borders open, possibilities endless? And still here we are, living in a kaleidoscope world, dipping our toes into the future, balancing on one foot and holding our breath.

And so perhaps Thanksgiving is actually perfectly timed.

Switching gears to gratitude

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how much I have to be thankful for, despite it all. And then I read something that gave me pause.

It's easy for us to look around the Thanksgiving dinner table and say that we are thankful. We're surrounded by family, friends, and food. In that time, we're currently experiencing that fuzzy feeling that comes with a holiday gathering. We wait for that one time a year in which we can focus on that thankful feeling. But where is the practice of that thankfulness? Where do we draw the line between a shallow feeling and an intentional way of life?

Tessa Masula, in Odyssey

Turning that warm and fuzzy feeling into action may be the most meaningful thing we try to do right now. As Masula goes on to say, it‘s not just about being thankful for what we have; it’s about living out that gratitude through actions we can take every day.

It could be as simple as listening intently, or practicing patience. It could be a thoughtful touch like a handwritten note, smiling more, distributing bear hugs liberally. Whatever it is, the point is not to funnel a year’s worth of thankfulness into one day; it’s to use that feeling as the jumping off point to build something even greater, through genuine actions and meaningful connections.

So when I sit down later today with dear ones to celebrate, and eat and give thanks, I’m also going to try and make that warm and fuzzy feeling of thanks morph into something deeper. As Charlie Brown said in Peanuts, what if, today, we were grateful for everything?

Tomato Cranberry Preserves

makes about two cups

Thanksgiving in Canada comes at the best possible time of year - close enough to harvest to make sense, far enough away from Christmas to get over our turkey comas and jump in for more.

I grew up with Ocean Spray cranberry sauce, one of my mother’s few concessions to “Canadian” food. Although I do still have a deep nostalgia for the uniform tube of jelly, with its distinctive tin can markings, nothing beats a homemade cranberry sauce for the holidays.

This was originally published in Bon Appetit. Using mostly pantry staples, it’s a quick and easy make ahead (or even day of) dish that won’t take your attention away from the main event. My version is versatile enough to go from the turkey to the tourtiere, with a pit stop on the roast chicken or the cheese platter. It can be made ahead and keeps well in the refrigerator for a week, or frozen for up to six months.

Ingredients

1 small red onion, chopped (1/2 cup)

1 (398 ml/14- to 16-ounce) can cherry tomatoes (if you can’t find cherry, use a can of whole tomatoes)

1 ½ cups (150 grams/5.25 ounces) fresh or frozen cranberries, coarsely chopped

2/3 cup (135 grams/4.7 ounces) dark brown sugar

1/4 cup (60 ml/4 ounces) cider vinegar

2 (4- by 1-inch) strips fresh orange zest

1 (4- by 1-inch) strip fresh lemon zest

Pinch dried hot red pepper flakes

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

Bring all ingredients to a boil in a 1-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, stirring frequently, until thickened, 30 to 35 minutes (the mixture will thicken even more as it cools). Cool preserves, taste and adjust for salt and then chill, covered, in the refrigerator a minimum of 4 hours. While you can you use the preserves right away, the extra chilling time allows the flavours to really develop. Store for a week in the refrigerator or freeze for up to six months.