So have you ever decided for some reason you're gonna make a turkey breast or some turkey tenderloin? You know, it's healthy and it's been a while since you had turkey, and it's there at the store, so you get it?
And then you get home and you're cooking and then you think hey it's healthy, let's have some mashed potatoes with the turkey, that'll be good.
That's you on the slippery slope to Surprise Thanksgiving, which is where you keep tacking on thanksgiving type sides to a random Sunday turkey dinner, and SURPRISE! you're actually having a mini thanksgiving dinner.
At least, that's how it went in our household. It started years ago, when I picked up a half a split turkey breast to cook for just my wife and myself, before kids. I probably grabbed a butternut squash and some potatoes to mash, and had a chuckle about it.
Fast forward to last year, and I don't even try to fight it anymore; I plan ahead of time and have surprise thanksgiving for my family some time in October, usually. It doesn't sneak up on me anymore, but I do surprise the family with it.
It's just me getting to make only the thanksgiving foods we like, the way we like, no need to accommodate anyone but us. I like it.
It's pretty tough getting portions right, but it usually works just fine. You get through the leftovers and still have like a month plus before the real thanksgiving.
Talk about a fine tradition.