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View Full Version : Thanksgiving day disaters, or any holiday for that matter!



Christie
11-21-2008, 07:45 AM
I was reading a post by Jan and it made me think of one of my oops on the holiday's. I thought it might be fun to share them all with each other. Be brave and let us know what your disasters are!

My very first year of making Thanksgiving dinner by myself my mom ended up in the hospital and wasn't there to help as planned. She insisted I could do it on my own and told me to make the dinner and not to cancel because of her so I did. Well I was cooking away and everything was going fine but the dressing wasn't cooking right. I had added so much broth to it that it couldn’t absorb it all. We ended up having very soggy, wet dressing.....I was so mad at myself and I still get made fun of because of it. The good thing is that the very next day it was perfect! LOL!!!!!

Vintagegal
11-21-2008, 07:50 AM
The Thanksgiving before DH and I were to be married, we were in charge of the pumpkin pies. I put the pie in the oven to bake, and came back to check to see if it was done. Our oven was broken, and the pie didn't cook. So, we ended up running around to the various Baker's Squares to see if they had extra pies. I didn't want to bring a store-bought pie. My pie had little maple leaves around the edge of the crust, and then it was ruined because of the broken oven. Great first impression, huh?

The first turkey I had ever roasted came out terribly, too. It didn't fully defrost in the center, so it was still raw.....even eight hours later. I attempted to cook a 24-lb turkey for just my boyfriend and me (this was during my stupid days in college). Why I felt we needed a 24-lb turkey is (now) beyond me. Anyway, we couldn't eat it and it ended up in the trash. Talk about a waste of so many things.

Aaaah......if we knew then, what we know now.....

iloveflipflops
11-21-2008, 09:22 AM
I remember our first thanksgiving. I had never cooked a turkey before and DH thought let's have EVERYONE over. I was cooking for 20 people. I was also meeting my MIL for the first time. I don't think we were married yet but I am not sure. Anyway, I forgot to take out the "stuff" that is inside the turkey. I cooked it all with it in and when I was cutting the turkey, my MIL came in and said "Sherri, didn't you know you are supposed to take the giblets out?" and so they still tease me to this day!!

I just make a turkey breast now and its much easier. lol

GrammaStamper
11-21-2008, 09:28 AM
Leaving the giblets inside the turkey is a mandatory lesson for first time turkey-cookers. I've done it ---- twice!

iloveflipflops
11-21-2008, 09:35 AM
That's good to know Barb.

I just remembered something else with that same Thanksgiving. I made my own gravy. The first time I made gravy. I had no idea what i was doing. My gravy came out light brown. Well, that is a big no-no to Charlie's mom. It must be brown gravy. She griped about that gravy the whole time and I just kept wanting to cry. LOL It tasted great!! And who cares if it was light brown. It was light brown because i used the liquid from the turkey ...

directmailscrapper
11-21-2008, 10:33 AM
When we were first married, Thanksgiving dinner was at Richard's grandmother's house with 30-40 people -- a traditional southern Maryland Thanksgiving dinner. The first year she decided NOT to host Tday dinner, my MIL had it at her house -- but with only Grandmother (Goggi), MIL, BIL, DH and me. Small group.

MIL had purchased a 20 lb bag of potatoes and asked if I would peel some for the mashed potatoes. We started chatting (hard to believe -- NOT!) and before I knew it, I had peeled an entire 20 lb bag of potatoes (for 5 people). The next logical thing to do, of course, was to put ALL of those potato peels down the garbage disposal AT THE SAME TIME. Needless to say, right in the middle of cooking Thanksgiving dinner, the sink backed up. My DH and BIL had to empty out everything below the kitchen sink, completely dismantle all of the plumbing work to get the now concreted potato skins out of the pipes and reassemble the plumbing before the women could reclaim the kitchen.

My MIL was one of the finest women every born -- and she and I laughed about this for years. I miss her! She died the year that Emily was born at age 63. Emily had been born, she was able to attend her baby shower, but she died before we were able to travel to adopt Emily. :-( I've always been sorry that Emily never knew her.

teabear
11-21-2008, 11:16 AM
A few years back, maybe 5 years ago I hosted Thanksgiving for the first time at this house when it was new. I went to get the potatos out of the garage to peel them about an hour before dinner and couldn't find them anywhere. It turns out hubby thought they were trash and threw them out a couple of days earlier on trash pick up day. I had to run around to the neighbors to borrow potatos. Everyone still laughs about the Thanksgiving trash potatos.

suzi_f
11-22-2008, 08:14 AM
I don't think I've had any real diasters, other than having the terminally late sil bring the rolls! BIG MISTAKE!!! The first T'giving that I did myself, my turkey wasn't completely thawed and the Butterball hotline didn't open til 6, CST. Got that taken care of but was completely grossed out 'cause there was one feather still stuck to the bird. Kinda reminded me that it was a living, breathing creature not too long ago. Then, I DID remember to pull the giblets out but truly gagged when I pulled out the neck!!! GROSS!!

I also assumed that the bread had to be stale 'cause that's how my MIL always did it. Well, my recipie was for MOIST bread stuffing; I never bothered to read the TITLE of the dang recipie. I added water/broth & it was fine.

HeatherJ
11-22-2008, 05:17 PM
I have always been fortunate to get invited to either my mom's or my in-laws for holiday meals, so my turkey cooking experience was nil. One year, we were hosting but MIL was staying here so I knew she would help. In order to eat at noon, we had to get up really early and get the bird in the oven. MIL said she would get up, but she didn't. I went ahead and did what I figured I should. I somehow remembered my mom putting water in the bottom of the roaster. So I did that, about 2 1/2 " worth, to be exact! When MIL got up to check on things (I guess the lovely smell did it) she opened the oven and yelled "who put the water in the turkey?" I replied that I did and then muttered under my breath that it was "the only one that got up who did." DH made a joke that I ruined Christmas. Well she felt bad about saying anything because she really is the sweetest person I have ever met. And she of course had to go overboard and say how moist it was, the water must be the secret! We still use the line that I ruined Chirstmas when we want a giggle.

Christie
11-22-2008, 05:25 PM
When I was 10 i remember my mom trying to take the turkey out of the oven. Well her grib slipped and she dropped the entire turkey down the front of her, hot juices and all. I remember her legs being beat red because she had shorts on. I don't remember much else about that day but I'm sure she just picked the turkey up, washed it up and served it to us! LOL!!!!!

ngreek
11-22-2008, 07:03 PM
I have had my share of Thanksgiving cooking Foibles...

#1 It was Thanksgiving my Freshman year of college. I was the one who did most of the cooking so I did the usual and cooked thanksgiving meal. Everyone ate and all was good. I left the houuse to go see friends and came back to the house as my mother was hunched over in her bed with pain... I thought I food poisoned her.... she went to the doctor the next day and then had emergency surgery.... I still thought I had food poisoned my mother. Even knowing she was having surgery.. Her appendix had real bad timing to make their prescence known. I am stilla sked to taste test everything in front of a witness to make sure I am not poisoning anyone.

#2 Again I was cooking the meal and someone decided to play a practical joke and see how long it would take to notice the oven was off.... well 5 hours later it was known

I will leave it at 2 I know I have more.... But they still let me cook the thanksgiving meal each year.
Nicole