Thanksgiving

Two Thanksgivings- that is worth giving thanks and we have a lot to be thankful for at Gord’s!
We are the luckiest people because we celebrate two Thanksgivings: Canadian Thanksgiving in October and American Thanksgiving in November. The Canadian assures me that Martin Frobisher celebrated the first Thanksgiving in Canada before the pilgrims celebrated at Plymouth, a fact not widely known on this side of the border.

Memories of my first Canadian Thanksgiving include: weather worth walking in on a nice fall day, advertisements for after-Thanksgiving sales few to none…and my mother in law presenting the most beautiful vegetable combination. Fall colors, orange and green, and there they were on the plate. Bright orange squash surrounded by little green brussel sprouts. It was a sight-to-behold. Who would think one could fall in love with winter squash!

Since that time, we have eaten many plates of turkey, pork roast, vegetables, stuffing and potatoes on both sides of the border, with friends and family alike. We have toasted to friends and family who are here and those who celebrate far away or have passed away over the years. Each time I remind myself of all the “thanks”.
Everyone has a list. Here are my top four:

New Beginnings: There is a lot to say for tradition. I love it, but I am equally thankful for the ability to start something new. Whether it’s saying good bye to old clothes, old poor fitting relationships, jobs that don’t fit, passing on to a new phase in life from work to retirement or work to school, or a new project or business, it’s an opportunity to look at life differently and gain energy as something new starts. It takes courage, time, commitment, sometimes money… but most of all, courage, time and commitment. Those are not verbs, but they imply action and that is what it takes.

History: As much as I like new beginnings, I love knowing where those new starts came from. Our history includes work experiences in advertising, marketing and sales as well as families with a love of food. Both of us come from a pork-producing state (Iowa) or a pork-producing province (Ontario), even with ties to the meat packing industry. This has given us both the personal and business perspective on pork and peameal, which daily shapes our business.

Family: I cannot tell you all the new ideas, information, perspectives and opportunities that have come about because of family members. “You can’t live with ‘em, and you can’t live without ‘em ”. They’ve challenged us on our relationships with each other, supported what we do and challenged what we do, laughed and cried with us, spoken ill in one day, month or year, and then come back around the next day, month or year to speak well of us. Our business is better because of how family members intentionally or unintentionally contributed to it.

Technology: Here at Gord’s we use it every day for shipping, communication, purchasing, weights, measures and inventory control. The Gord’s Bacon family stretches from British Columbia to Ontario and from one coast to the other across the United States. Cell phones and the web keep us in touch. Our health is better because of technology used to monitor as well as for medical procedures. While some may wish for the good old days, I am glad for the technology today brings.

What’s been cookin’ in the Gordette kitchen:
·Appetizer: cracker (we’re into whole grain lately), with a little slice of leftover peameal and Trader Joe’s gouda with walnut…yum!

·Lunch: Lentil vegetable soup (recipe of your choice…I’ve made it for so long, I don’t even have a recipe any more…) with leftover peameal
·Breakfast: Scones…homemade…(I use the scone recipe from Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything) with leftover peameal added…these bear NO resemblance to the sugar-hyped scones served at various coffee emporiums…so good for breakfast
·Dinner: A roast peameal…on a v-shaped rack in a roasting pan…the cornmeal coating gets so crispy…yummmy

Happy Thanksgiving. Comments are always welcome at Gord’s. See you next month!
Gordette