Happy Un-Turkey Day!

As Thanksgiving fast approaches and Christmas begins to peek its head around the corner, turkey, stuffing and the traditional green bean casserole come to mind. Built into all Americans is a sense of obligation when it comes to tradition. Following traditions helps us feel safe and part of something bigger then ourselves, we feel a connection to those past and future; by continuing a tradition you are carrying something important on to the next generation. However, there are traditions to hold sacred because they mean something special and there are traditions we blindly repeat because it seems like the thing to do. Take Thanksgiving dinner for example; talk to co-workers, friends, neighbors and most of them will tell you that they plan to feast on turkey, dressing and very likely, green bean casserole. But upon closer examination, I have found that many of the people I have interviewed on this topic have admitted... they don’t even like turkey!

Why else would there be so many recipes for how to use up Thanksgiving leftovers? If people really liked turkey, there would be none to dispose of the day after.. you don’t here of leftover cheeseburger recipes or leftover fajita recipes, and that’s because people actually enjoy eating those foods. Until a few years ago, my family would buy the turkey because it was tradition and eat it for days on end, wishing for a bottom to the seemingly endless platter of turkey. That is until we had an epiphany.

What if -gasp- we didn’t make turkey just because?? What a revelation! Free from the poultry chains we flew and into enchiladas, fajitas, and cheeseburgers- as our own way of celebrating “Turkey Day”. We eat something that we actually enjoy and no longer have to figure out what to do with all of the leftovers (which are only leftover because no one wanted to eat them in the first place). So this year, I command you to take a stand against doing something just because. If you like turkey, by all means, continue your tradition of enjoying it on Thanksgiving, for the rest of you-- break free! Eat something delicious, you won’t regret it!