NOVEMBER 2019 / SOUTHERNLIVING.COM
74
“IT’S ALMOST
LIKE BEING AT
CAMP,” SAYS
SHANNON
LATHAM OF THE
FIVE-DAY
CELEBRATION.
to do the same,” says Shannon,
who owns and runs the children’s
clothier Little English (littleenglish
.com) with her daughter, Dunn.
“Creating those memories is so
important, and for me, it starts with
the Thanksgiving table. I usually set
it two days ahead but always leave
several things to be done so that
all the girls in the family can help
finish it. My mother-in-law gave
me her mother’s linens, and we use
them every year. To see her lay her
hands on those pieces that were
given to her—and that she gave to
me—is just really special.”
Yes, they polish the silver and
set the table with china, but the
Lathams’ holiday festivities are far
from stuffy, thanks in part to an
unconventional turkey-cooking
method inspired by family travels.
“One year, my parents were
bringing their boat up the Tennes-
see-Tombigbee Waterway and
stopped in Columbus, Mississippi,”
says Shannon. “When they got off,
they saw a bunch of trash cans
sitting out in a big, open
field. They thought, ‘What
in the world?’ And
someone told them, ‘Oh,
you’ve docked just in
time! We’re having a
trash can-turkey cook-
off.’ My father loved it, so
he came back and told
everybody all about it.”
The next November,
Davant smoked a turkey in
an overturned metal trash
can warmed by a heaping
pile of hot coals. It was a
hit: His humbly cooked bird earned a prized place on the
buffet, right next to Shannon’s more conventional oven-
roasted turkey.
“It’s become kind of a competition between his trash
can turkey and my oven-roasted version to see whose is
the best,” she adds with a laugh. “The cook-off is spectacular
fun and sets the scene. It’s sort of like tailgating. We’re
waiting on it all day, watching it, stoking the coals, and
then the big reveal is really exciting too.”
Of course, the trash can method has its
drawbacks, says Shannon. The makeshift
20-gallon metal smoker is more open to the
elements and uses a wooden stake to hold
the bird. “One year, Davant’s turkey was so perfectly
cooked and tender that when he lifted the trash can to do the
reveal, we realized the turkey had fallen completely off the
stake. It was good to eat but not anything to look at. It was
in bits and pieces for sure!” she recalls.
But that’s just part of the fun, she says. For Shannon
and her family, Thanksgiving is about keeping cherished
traditions alive, trash can turkey and all. å
A Bloody Mary
bar on the porch
keeps folks out
of the kitchen.
