Growing up, my family never did anything for Thanksgiving. I’m not sure if it’s related to cultural differences between Canadian & American Thanksgiving, but for me, it came and went without any fanfare. (By the way, in Canada, Thanksgiving is in mid-October and comes on a Monday.) It was only when I moved to Los Angeles that I realized what huge a deal Thanksgiving could be.

My fiancé and I have since developed our own Thanksgiving tradition – going to Joshua Tree National Park for 4-5 days. Part of the tradition involves fighting to get a camp spot with all the other people who have also made this an annual pilgrimage, and getting together with our friends Tom & Dara who live in San Francisco. One year, we felt especially ambitious, and decided to make a full-on Thanksgiving meal. Our menu included a roasted chicken (from scratch), stuffing, cranberry sauce, baked sweet potatoes and gravy. We pulled it off with our camp stove, a healthy campfire and our trusty Weber Smokey Joe Charcoal grill. We marinated the chicken all day while we climbed, and then roasted it on the grill for over 2 hours. Not only was it a delicious meal, it was an unforgettable Thanksgiving that continues to remind me I should be always be thankful for the great friendships and relationship I have in my life.

In the spirit of the Thanksgiving, we’ve been developing some camping-friendly Thanksgiving dishes to share with you. A couple weekends ago, we tested a giant smoked turkey leg covered in our famous Secret Weapon Spice Rub. We wrapped it in foil, and threw it on the fire grate until the skin was charred and crispy. It tasted great, and made us feel like we were at a theme park or frolicking at a medieval fair.

The official recipe that we’re going to post, however, is our Campfire Roasted Sweet Potatoes. We made these on our very first Dirty Gourmet camping trip over a year ago and we’ve been craving them ever since. This Campfire Roasted Sweet Potatoes recipe is a typical sweet potato casserole gone wild – doctored up with chipotles in adobo (yes, we are obsessed with them). The dish can get a little messy, but thats to be expected as part of the fun of camping.

This a a good opportunity for us to say we are thankful for you reading this blog and hope that you get as much out of it as we do. Whatever you may be doing for Thanksgiving, tell us what kind of traditions or meals you’ll be having. Happy Thanksgiving!