It has long been my tradition to mock Thanksgiving. I’ve completely boycotted it, held Turkey Day on my own, enjoyed turkey TV dinners, and most recently become renown for “Thanksgiving in a box”, a tradition established with my mom wherein we cook the entire meal from prepackaged ingredients. So this year, I was stoked when Kristy and I were invited to a friend’s house for the eventful day. All we had to do was bring a pie. One can of my trusty Libbies pumpkin mix and we were done. Plus, it was somewhat of a mockery in itself because our friends are big football fans and there is a game at Invesco that day, so the party had to end by 1:00.

All was well until some of our friends asked what we were doing for Turkey Day. We’ve become known for hosting our version of Thanksgivng and apparently it’s more famous than we even knew. One friend was even using this as an opportunity to introduce us t his new boyfriend from out of state. With people traveling hundreds of miles we couldn’t back out. Of course, Thanksgiving In a Box is always an option, but we knew this year we had to up our game.

After some discussion, Kristy and I came to the conclusion there was no way we could eat a Thanksgiving dinner only to turn around and make another. After all, most people can barely eat one and with only half a day to cook, we weren’t keen on starting late either. Besides, the second half of Thanksgiving (for us non-football fans) should be dedicated to holiday libations, not sweating it out in the kitchen.

Enter, Mini-Thanksgiving. We set out to see if we could boil this silly holiday down to it’s core. Thanksgiving is all about the food, so we thought, what if you ould get all the tastes in one bite? Much like the well loved Thanksgiving Sandwich Jim and I used to enjoy, this meal would be all flavor, no dishes.

The core of the Thanksgiving meal, we decided, was 4 fold: Turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and potatoes. Of course every family has their variations. For some there are mashed potatoes and yams, others may require a specific gravy or bread recipe, and still more insist the wretched green bean casserole be included. However, no matter where you look, those four things show up in some capacity. So last night we set out to do a practice run on our new idea. With a little creativity, we were able to double down in some places and even give it a some snooty names, ushering in a new era of Thanksgiving mockery.

Main course: Roasted turkey and whipped sweet potato puree on mini-toast with a cranberry chutney and celery veloute sauce.

Drink pairing: A dirty martini (there are actually drink choices including spiced rum and cider and some cranberry thing we didn’t quite nail)

And for dessert: Organic pumpkin micro-pies with “synthetic vanilla foam” (read: Cool Whip). To drink, the Eggbeater from Mr. Boston (eggnog, coffee liquor and spiced rum).

So this year, I give thanks to all of you out there who have ever embraced an alternative Thanksgiving with me, anyone who’s taken the time to make a home cooked meal, and most importantly to all of my family who taught me cooking can be fun, easy and not require clean up.

We’ll let you know how it goes over on the real event Thursday!