What's for Thanksgiving Dinner?

written by

Sue King

posted on

October 11, 2019

It is hard to believe that Thanksgiving is only a couple days away. Canadian Thanksgiving that is! 

It is our custom to come together with family at this time of year to express our thankfulness for the abundance of our blessings. Some years it can be hard to see those blessings, but they are always there if we would just take the time to look for them. We may not be rich financially or materially, but we are rich in relationships with our family. We have always had enough food on our table and clothes on our backs. A warm, dry place to live. A country where we are relatively free to live a quiet and peaceful life. Healthy bodies to pursue activities that make our heart sing.



In our area the produce of our gardens are all gathered in and stored for winter use. The winter feed for the animals is ready. Sometimes, but not usually all the firewood is stockpiled for the upcoming cold months. There is wool and fabric aplenty to keep my hands busy on those cold winter evenings.

Quite often I have a hard time deciding what we will serve for Thanksgiving. Do you have a hard time deciding what to serve for your celebration meal? Are you short on time and energy, but still want a memorable dinner that everyone will love? 

As a busy farm wife and mom my meals have to be simple, but healthy. When it comes to holiday meals simplicity still reigns. But, I do want them to be more special than our everyday meals. And, above all else they have to taste good. 

At our house we are kind of non-traditional when it comes to what we are going to serve.   One year everyone was tired from a busy fall season so we lit a bonfire and had a wiener roast complete with smores.  

The one predictable element of our meal will be that the food is raised on our farm. If it is the traditional turkey it will be one of our pasture raised birds. Ham will be from our forest raised pork. And the veggies will be from our garden. 

This year Thanksgiving dinner will be roast leg of lamb accompanied by hasselback potatoes and roasted root veggies. 

I like to keep meals simple by preparing as many items in advance as possible. Thanksgiving dinner is no different. 

I will prepare the seasonings for the leg of lamb the day before. On celebration day my thawed meat will be scored in a crosshatch pattern then the seasoning mixture will be rubbed all over the leg of lamb, letting it sit at room temperature soaking up all the delicious flavours of the garlic, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, rosemary, thyme, coriander, sea salt and black pepper before roasting.  

By bringing it up to room temperature before roasting it cooks faster and more evenly. 

Next, I place the leg of lamb on a rack in my roasting pan, adding a little water to the pan. I place the hasselback potatoes around the roast. Then cover loosely with foil and pop it into the oven allowing it to roast to perfection. 

The recipe for this amazing Roasted Leg of Lamb is here.

As you can see it is so simple, yet will make an impression on your holiday guests. 

To purchase our locally-raised, grass-fed leg of lamb for your holiday feast come visit us at the Grande Prairie Farmers Market.

Are you looking for more lamb recipes? When you subscribe to our blog you will receive a free recipe booklet “The Busy Cooks Guide to Preparing Amazing Lamb” along with interesting articles and news from the farm.


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