No turkey for me, I'm sticking to sweet potatoes

This Thanksgiving I am boycotting turkey. Big words, I know. This is a pretty melodramatic story, I'll admit. So I have spent years trying to convince my mom to buy an organic and/or free-range turkey for Thanksgiving dinner. This year she decided to order a non-frozen, free-range bird from a local meat market. I was really excited about this, so much so that I would drop this in conversation. Anyway, on Sunday she called and I asked, "so you ordered the turkey from the meat market right?" I should have known something was up when she paused, and sort of sighed, and then said, "no, I got one at the grocery store a few days ago. I just thought it would be easier." There was some discussion and raising of voices and then, here is the real kicker, she says "Wait, I compromised with you! I bought you the brown free-range organic eggs that you like!" What? This is a compromise? I think for a few seconds I even briefly wondered if she realized that eggs come from chickens and not turkeys and thus this was not even close to a compromise. So after all this, I made my declaration. I am boycotting the turkey.

Like I said, pretty melodramatic. I'm sure that my mom just rolled her eyes, knowing my tendencies with meat (I was a vegetarian for many years). Plus, I don't even really like Thanksgiving turkey actually. I get all hyped up for it every year, and then every year I take a single bite, remember how dry and bland it is, and immediately regret wasting that valuable real estate on my plate.

I know, it isn't like this boycott will have any real effect on the world, the environment, the turkey industry, or my family. We are having a small Thanksgiving with my grandparents (I am the only child of an only child). My mom will roll her eyes at me again, probably reliving the horrible years when she would have to make separate dinners for her meat-loving husband and vegetarian daughter. My grandma will be beside herself that I am not getting enough to eat, despite the 12 other dishes. My grandpa will probably disregard the fact that I'm not eating turkey and then argue with me about how because he has a Second Amendment right to carry a gun he could go shoot a turkey for us (a major point of contention between me and my NRA card-carrying grandfather). My dad will not have any idea that I'm not eating turkey, even if I specifically tell him, and just be really happy there is more for him.

So I decided to eat my turkey on Monday this week and made a really delicious white chili. Accompanied with goat cheese and almond green beans and a fresh French baguette with roasted garlic, it was better than any frozen grocery store bird. I was planning on including the recipe in this post, but I am home at my parent's in Indiana and the recipe is in my recipe box in Chicago, so maybe later.

In any case, Happy Thanksgiving, whether yours is filled with turkey or not!