Don’t Let A Stolen Turkey Ruin Your Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is only a few weeks away. Are you ready? What are your traditions? What is your favorite Thanksgiving dish? This is my favorite holiday of the year. While I’m not a huge fan of the traditional thanksgiving meal what I love the most is that this day celebrates gratefulness. It’s not about what you serve or if you have a fancy table setting. It’s the moments created with friends and family. The laughter over failed new recipes or a bear stole your turkey. In our house there’s games and always the Annual Macy’s Day Parade.

Perhaps you thaw your turkey in a sealed cooler on the deck and a black bear steals it during the night! Ya’ll this happened to us last year. I have to tell you the quick story. My parent’s home backs up to a beautiful forest in the lovely PNW. Their community is know for black bears. My dad diligently put his frozen 25 pound turkey in a sealed cooler to defrost. Thanksgiving morning arrives and as we watch our annual Macy’s Day Parade dad discovers the cooler is gone! A giant turkey, all the Boursin cheese and the entire cooler has vanished. My always prepared father, immediately checks his security camera system and then his wildlife cameras. Look at what we found!

You know we named this bear The Pink Panther. Did you see how he silently sneaks back into the forest? You can’t imagine the belly laughter this little Thanksgiving snafu caused. My father was not going to let a bear steal his beloved turkey so off into the forest we set to find the remains of dinner. After about 15 minutes the royal blue cooler was discovered. Shredded and open. Every last bit of the Boursin cheese licked clean from the wrappers. A Thanksgiving miracle happened though, at the bottom of the cooler lay a semi-defrosted 25 pound turkey left completely unscathed. Apparently these black bears are vegetarians and prefer cheese over frozen raw turkey. What an amazing memory!

Let’s get to the planning! This year our family is breaking away from the normal family traditional Thanksgiving dinner and are working on a new menu with a Southwestern twist. The challenge is making sure our menu satisfies everyone’s Thanksgiving cravings and even though I would prefer fish tacos it’s fun to come up with ideas.

Our menu for 2022 is as follows. I’ve included links and resources used to put together our menu and subscribe to our mailing list to receive the full 2022 Southwest Thanksgiving Planner.

Our Family Thanksgiving Menu | Southwest Theme

Appetizers

• Hongos En Chipotle, made from scratch, recipe included
• Texas Trash, made from scratch, recipe included
• Shrimp Cocktail, Costco, recipe NOT included
• Rosemary Mixed Nuts, Trader Joe’s, recipe NOT included

Main Course

• SW BBQ Turkey, Dad’s secret SW recipe, BBQ outside, recipe NOT included
• Cornbread Chorizo Stuffing, adapted from Sunset magazine, recipe included
• Green Chili Cheese Grits, family recipe, recipe NOT included
• Chiles En Nogada, adapted from Barrio Café, Phoenix, recipe included
• Spicy Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Cotija Cheese, adapted from Sunset Magazine
• Elote Corn Casserole, adapted from  Salt & Baker, recipe included
• Fry Bread, recipe from A Desert Feast: Celebrating Tucson’s Culinary Heritage, recipe included

Dessert

• Pecan Pie, Elephants Delicatessen, recipe NOT included
• Pumpkin Pie, Costco, recipe NOT included
• Chocolate Pot-de-Creme, made from scratch, recipe NOT included

Menu Inspiration

I love to research Pinterest and the web to find incredible recipes and make them my own. The following links were used to put our SW menu together.

Sunset Magazine , SW Thanksgiving

Epicurious.com, Thanksgiving Coast to Coast

The El Paso Chile Company’s Texas Border Cookbook by W. Park Kerr and Norma Kerr

A Desert Feast: Celebrating Tucson’s Culinary Heritage by Carolyn Niethammer

Arizona’s Best Recipes: Featuring some of Arizona Highways favorite restaurants, by Kelly Vaughn

Other Inspirational Recipes

• Mexican Sweet Potatoes
• Green Chili Cheese Grits
• Texas Trash, The El Paso Chile Company’s Texa Border Cookbook
• Fry Bread, A Desert Feast: Celebrating Tucson’s Culinary Heritage by Carolyn Niethammer
• Mexican Corn Casserole, Salt & Baker
• Fry Bread Recipes from various Tribes, Sacred Springs PowWow

If you try any of these amazing recipes let me know how they turn out. Post a photo on our All Things Home LLC Facebook page!

To get your printable SW Thanksgiving Planner send your name and email and we will send you a 14-page pdf with all the recipes, shopping list and timeline. Happy cooking and have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Cheers!