Non Traditional Thanksgiving Dinners
Traditional ways to serve Thanksgiving turkey dinner will make many family members and guests happy. That’s how it has been for more than two centuries, and not many people would have any plans to change it.However, just for this year, have you thought about doing your turkey dinner in a non-traditional way. The Pilgrim fathers would probably frown on any wild plan to make drastic changes, but just maybe you could consider something entirely new, different and just a bit offbeat.1. Grilled turkey pieces for a picnic in the park. If weather permits, everyone shows up at the picnic area in the park or by the riverbank. The host hauls the grill to the chosen spot, along with enough cut-up turkey legs, thighs, breasts and other parts to feed everyone. Each guest or couple brings a different home-made dish, including prepared vegetables, salad, dinner rolls and pie or cake dessert.2. Serving turkey burgers requires the same scenario of group participation in a picnic-style dinner. However, instead of turkey pieces, the host prepares the ground turkey ingredients at home and cooks the patties on the grill. For those guests who are vegetarians and vegans, the host also provides delicious meatless turkey burgers made with tofu or other veggie ingredients.3. For inside or outside Thanksgiving dining, prepare the turkey in the deep fry way. Hardware stores sell large cans where you can immerse the turkey in boiling oil. The fryers come two styles, propane and electric. The immersed in hot oil turkeyis ready in just five minutes, crackly and crispy skin on the outside, with tender and moist flesh inside. This is a fun way to cook your turkey, but it also has fire and burn hazards that can be dangerous for kids.4. Let’s camp out for Thanksgiving. Pick a forest trail and backpack to your dinner. When you reach a nice quiet spot near a lake or stream, light a small campfire (if allowed) and eat your special hikers’ banquet from your knapsack. It’ll consist of turkey jerky, trail mix and fresh or dried fruit. Of course, you can just pretend and camp out in backyard. The kids will love it, and for a treat, everyone toast turkey hot dogs on the fire embers.5. For a way to honor those now serving in combat, and family members past and present who have served, prepare a real GI Thanksgiving Day meal. Since it is so unexpected, it may be more considerate to serve this one as brunch or lunch. The real traditional turkey dinner can be celebrated hours later in the evening.
Here's the non-traditional idea. The older veterans may remember the K Rations of World War II and Korea. Today, the field rations are called Meals Ready to Eat. There are no turkey-based meals, but some similar ones are chicken with noodles, chicken and dumplings, chicken pesto and pasta, and for those with spicy taste, buffalo chicken. Many MRE packages come with their own instant heating element, while others can be heated in boiling water.The MREs can be purchased at a surplus or army-navy store for about $5 a serving. Be sure to check the date, and get MREs that were packaged no more than 12 months ago.There are many ways to plan, prepare and serve non-traditional Thanksgiving dinners. If your meal will be a wildly humorous experiment, and you’ve invited traditional-minded guests, just make sure they can also enjoy a traditional dinner.
