Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian friends! May we all have a reason to be thankful throughout the year.

Thanksgiving Day, Jour de l'Action de grâce, is an annual Canadian holiday to give thanks at the end of the harvest season for the year's bounty and crops. Canadians have been celebrating this holiday on the second Monday in October  since 1957, at which time the Canadian Parliament proclaimed: 

"A Day of General Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed – to be observed on the 2nd Monday in October."

I am often mindful of my blessings throughout the year, but I like the idea of recognizing a special day marked to contemplate and thank for the bounties of the Earth, and appreciate them with grateful hearts. The best place to experience such abundance at its peak is my favorite market in town where  Autumn's warm, rustic colors are generously  spilled, as if haphazardly yet upon closer examination, with such magnificance and ease of the brush that has guided the master's hand.

This year, we were surprised with record-reaching warm weather during the Thanksgiving weekend. Plenty of  sunshine and blue skies pulled Montreallers outdoors.  It's a good thing that digital photography is not budget-breaking and gives the sense that one has splurged on everything that is captured in pixels to take home. I have the bounties of October 2011 at my fingertips stored in a memory card, as well as my memory.  What I find worthy of sharing the most are pumpkins. Always the pumpkins.

I'm invariably amazed by the colors, shapes, and the various sizes of gourds, pumpkins, and winter squash that are displayed.

Decorative pumpkins gourds above and below

Friendly guardians of each mountain of pumpkins welcome the visitor. 

These unassuming gourds (above) make the most delicious candied pumpkins. We call them "bal kabak" in Turkish, which translates to "honey pumpkin" or "sugar pumpkin".

Pumpkins and pimentos

These are called "turban" pumpkins, named because they look like the  turbans worn by the Ottomans.

Rocks?  Nope, these are called Amber Pumpkins. Under their hard, metallic grey skin, they hide a rich amber color and a naturally sweet flesh.  "But how does one peel them?" I asked.  The vendor smiled impishly. "That's the easiest part," he replied. "Just drop it on a hard surface; it will split. Then you can steam or bake it.  C'est vraiment delicieux!"

How is that for size - for a pumpkin?

Montreal's Atwater Market - the place to enjoy a beautiful October day.

Au revoir, à la prochaine !

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All photos are taken by Füsun Atalay ~ Montreal, QC

Füsun Atalay ~ Copyright © Will of my Own - 2011