As the curtain falls on 2023, ushering in the season of cherished holidays, my wife and I sat down and put pen to paper to plan out our Thanksgiving feast. Departing from the conventional turkey and customary sides found on most American tables, my family, though we’ve embraced that tradition before, leans towards a different culinary adventure. Naturally, I, being the enthusiast that I am, proposed crafting a mouthwatering BBQ spectacle paired with my take on a delectable banana pudding recipe. Fortunately, my proposal met with approval, and the shopping list began to take shape.

In a bid to memorialize this special occasion, I find myself here, penning down the tale and sharing glimpses captured in photos. Join me as I recount the flavors, the aromas, and the joy that permeated our unconventional Thanksgiving celebration.

The Full Menu

With my kids getting older and leaving the nest, I figure there might be a limited number of times left where we’re all living close enough to be able to get together on Thanksgiving, so might as well go big while everyone can enjoy it. Here’s what I was in charge of:

• Beef Brisket
• Pulled Pork with Hog Sauce (and a South Carolina mustard bbq sauce)
• Pork Spare Ribs
• Jalapeno Cheddar Sausage
• Rhodes Yeast Dinner Rolls (easy to toss in the oven)
• Cinnamon roll banana pudding (my first attempt)

Some other items that made the menu that I didn’t have to prepare

• Mac & Cheese w/ panko topping
• Mashed Potatoes (mix of red & Yukon gold)
• Fruit Salad
• Sweet Potato Casserole
• Peppermint Chocolate Cheesecake
• Artichoke Dip (Bread bowl hollowed and used for dipping bread pieces and filled with an artichoke dip)
• Veggie Tray with Ranch dip

Some of these dishes don’t take that long at all to prepare, while others (like some of the meats) take several hours - at least with the way I do them. So I had to plan out a schedule in advance. Two of my kids had accepted invites to their partner’s Thanksgiving dinners also, so we planned to eat around noon in order to have plenty of time to both eat and play a few games before they had to hit the road to attend their “Round Two” gatherings.

Saved by the local grocer

The bread rolls we bought require about 3 hours of sitting out in order for the dough to rise, which we experimented with the day before to get a feel for the time required. Then, on Thanksgiving morning we entirely forgot to set the rolls out in time. Luckily my daughter was able to run out to a nearby grocery store that was open until the afternoon and grab a package for us. Should have set a reminder timer for the rolls! Lesson learned for next time.

Jesse, it’s time to cook.

The brisket went on first since it needs a long time to cook, plus I can easily hot hold it for a long time in the oven. While the brisket was going I made the hog sauce and the mustard BBQ sauce. Once the brisket was out of the smoker the pork butt went in. I set the smoker to 300 degrees, and put it in to cook around 11 pm, setting an alarm to get up and check on it around 4 am. Then I trimmed and rubbed the ribs to be tossed on early in the morning around 5 am. The sausages would go on last around 9am because they really only need a couple hours or so to cook. While I enjoyed all the BBQ I cooked, I wish I wouldn’t have had to hold the brisket for so long, since it ended up drying out a little bit by the time we sat down to eat. I typically only have to hold it for around 4-6 hours, and this time it was more like 13-14 hours. The ribs turned out great, though I might have left them cook just a little too long since they were a challenge to cut since they were so tender and falling off the bone a bit. The sausage turned out probably the best of everything, which isn’t saying much with how easy they are to cook. The pulled pork was good and will make for some good leftover pulled pork sandwiches.

The Cinnamon Roll Banana Pudding

I got this idea from a BBQ restaurant in Fort Worth where I had some of their banana pudding. I don’t think they actually used cinnamon roll dough (probably just something like short cake) but at first I thought it was cinnamon roll dough which is what sparked the idea. You could definitely use short cake or maybe bundt cake if you’re not a big cinnamon roll fan like I am. This turned out pretty delicious though. All I had to do for the cinnamon rolls was buy a tube of the Pillsbury “Grands” cinnamon rolls (if you’re feeling ambitious make your own cinnamon rolls). After they came out of the oven I put them on a cooling rack then eventually into a Ziplock bag to stay fresh (no frosting applied). I cut off the “top” of each roll to make them flat on top, similar to what cake decorators do for their cake rounds. Then I added the banana pudding to cover the top, sliced some fresh banana coins on to the pudding, then covered that with a nilla wafer + honey graham cracker crumble (mixing in melted better) that I made in a food processor and some (optional) whipped cream. I wasn’t the only one who found this to taste great, so I’m glad the execution came together.

The Best BBQ?

The best BBQ is the kind you get to share with people. While I wouldn’t say this was the best stuff I’ve ever cooked, it was still delicious and I got to share it with family which made it that much better. I also learned a couple of lessons during this cook that I will take forward with me into my next BBQ cook. It’s always nice to get some more experience along the way with each cook so you get just a little better each time. If you read all the way to the end here then thanks! Feel free to leave a comment about your Thanksgiving meal below.