The Working Mom by Kay LunaTurkey-day disasters
Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009 8:24 amHey, why don’t they tell you to look in BOTH ends of the frozen turkey before you cook it (or do they, and I just ignored it???!!!)? Ha!
Because I nearly cooked a plastic bag full of giblets (eeeuuuwwwww!!!) the last time I attempted to cook a turkey for the holidays. Therefore, that was the last time I ever attempted such a thing. TEEHEE!
Thank goodness, my mother-in-law was there as I got ready to put the turkey into the oven, and she happened to check inside the bird and found the bag. Disaster averted.
But I remember one year when we couldn’t avoid disaster. That was the year when the oven’s pilot light blew out and Mom couldn’t relight it — and we couldn’t think of anyone to call for help. So, she pulled out the electric skillet. Oh, yes, I said ELECTRIC SKILLET. And that’s where she cooked our Thanksgiving turkey. Yeah. Not so good. Ha!
So, what’s YOUR biggest turkey-cooking/Thanksgiving Day meal disaster (or near-disaster)????
November 3rd, 2009 at 2:02 pm
I changed my name to protect the innocent in this one…
When I was growing up, holiday festivities were always at Noon at my aunt and uncle’s house. We all showed up around 11 or so just so the kids could play, etc. Well, they had an 800 phone number for their business, and it happened to be one or two digits off of the Butterball hotline.
Yeah, you can guess where this is going. They got calls constantly from people needing advice as to how to cook the turkey. My dad answered one lady, who asked if you should wash the turkey before cooking it, that yes you should. He continued that his preferred method of washing the turkey is in the dishwasher. Yep, thats my dad.
For the most part, though, we gave truthful answers to those looking to make a happy holiday.
November 3rd, 2009 at 2:11 pm
we had kind of a potluck thanksgiving one year with all the extended family (about 80 people). i brought a giant fruit salad and placed it on the table with all the food already on it. well apparently that one bowl was one too many. I’m sure you know what happened next. the entire table went down and i was just standing there mortified with everyone looking on in horror. luckily the turkey wasn’t on it and enough food was salvagable…i still have nightmares about it though lol
November 3rd, 2009 at 5:10 pm
This is a little off the beaten path and may not qualify for a Turkey Day disaster but—
I was at Mister Turkey, oops Mister Thanksgivings big feast. I asked him if my sweetheart and I could sing a little tune I’d written that I sang as I rang the bell for the Salvation Army the year before. I told him that people loved the little ditty and that my sweetheart (Shirley Johanson) had a beautiful voice. Fearful fool that he was, he said the band might not like us sitting in, or something of the sort.
So we sang it at our table to the great delight of the people around us,
here’s the lyric, you’ll just have to imagine the melody
Have a Happy Turkey Day
Have a Happy Turkey Day
a Happy Turkey Day
whatever weather may come your way
Have a Happy Turkey Day
it may rain or it may snow
the cold north wind may blow
but whatever weather may come your way
have a Happy Turkey Day
But don’t forget that Turkey Day
is called Thanksgiving too
So don’t forget to give some thanks
for what’s been given you
Have a Happy Turkey Day…
November 4th, 2009 at 5:58 am
I remember one year when the kids were small, we were in a rush to get to church for the Thanksgiving Day service. Well, I set the oven time bake controls all wrong that morning and we came home to cold unbaked turkey. Needless to say, we ate very late that day. ……and then my son announced that my cranberry salad “wasn’t like grandma’s”. Talk about adding a little salt to the already open wound.
November 4th, 2009 at 2:13 pm
Kay, the giblets have a purpose, too. You put them in the blender with a little stock or drippings and puree them, then add to the gravy that you’re making on the stove. I have done this for years. The secret is not telling people who might go ‘eeeeewwwww’ why your gravy tastes so fantastic.
I have found that people who have food prejudices will usually appreciate foods such as liver and anchovies more if you serve it to them and they don’t know it.
November 4th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
I gave my self food poisoning one year…and I have cooked the giblets bag, no harm, no foul. I’ve done it with chicken, too.
November 4th, 2009 at 3:33 pm
One year the garbage disposal spewed out and the sink pipe broke because I put too many potato peels down the drain. Whoops! Since then I always peel into the garbage can.
November 5th, 2009 at 1:16 pm
Actually, the giblets usually end up in the stuffing at my house! I agree with Joe, though, don’t tell anyone what you did with them, and you avoid any problems. I didn’t find out about them being in the stuffing until the past couple of years, and by then, I had been eating them for 25 years so got over it pretty quick
November 6th, 2009 at 6:22 am
I have a great Turkey Day Disaster Story. When I lived in a semi-rural area I owned two Boxers… Jake and Gypsie. Well, one Thanksgiving Day I let them outside for a ‘potty’ break. Jake came right back but Gypsie did not. 10 minutes later, here she comes dragging a cooked and stuffed turkey wrapped in foil with her. I took it away from her but I was mortified. I thought she had gotten into someones garbage. Two days later… my neighbor told me that on Thanksgiving Day, she set her turkey out to cool on the back outdoor porch and when she came back, it was gone!!! They had frozen pizza instead. I was feeling rather guilty at the time but now… 15 years later… we laugh every Thanksgiving about it.