giving thanks

Today was Canadian Thanksgiving, or as I like to call it, Real Thanksgiving Because Ours Came First, You American Copycats. And on this wonderful day, we Canucks like to express our gratitude for living in a noble country free of war, deep-fried Twinkies and Bill O'Reilly by chugging a few brewskis, slapping on the ol' snowshoes and braving the icy weather to bring home a few moose hides to hang in the igloo while we watch hockey and pop free prescription medication.

This year, however, I eschewed tradition and decided to cook myself a small yet arfully prepared meal of Cornish gamehen and asparagus. Experienced cooks may notice that the bird in the photo above is actually upside-down. This is because if you cook your poultry breast-side down, the juices settle into that meat while cooking and it results in a plumper, juicier bird. This is something I did entirely on purpose, and not all an excuse I read up on after it was already done.

I don't have any family in BC and while my lovely friend Mere invited me to spend Sunday evening with her own family, I ended up having to decline due to a horrible migraine. So Monday I was feeling rather mopey and missing my family quite a bit, even my brother. Somewhere - probably a Hallmark card - I had read that doing something nice for others was a good way to cheer yourself and decided to set aside my natural instinct to wallow in chocolate and self-pity and perform a good deed. While the gamehen was defrosting in the sink (not in my armpit as some Twitter comedians suggested), I hopped online to Kiva.org and within a few minutes, had completed the loans of three applicants in the Philippines, Nicaragua, and Mozambique. Now Jennifer will be able to repair bicycles for her rental business, Reynaldo will buy more wood for his carpentry services, and Armando will add more products to his food stand.

  
 photo from kiva.org

If you haven't donated to Kiva before, please consider doing so. It's wonderful to read about the applicants you're helping, and when your loan money is returned, you can send it back out to help more people. It is truly the gift that keeps on giving. I posted about it in the Etsy forums and three other people made donations as well.

I may have eaten alone this weekend, but it tasted better than ever.

Comments

[Directory Surrender]

Nice blog post. Deserving of appreciation. Thanks.