Holiday Cooking Mishaps?

[jglass]

What was your worst holiday cooking mishap?

For me it was the year Jon and I decided to have a goose for Thanksgiving
It was so bad his Dads dog wouldnt eat it lol. That was about 9 years ago. Thankfully my cooking has gotten better. I wouldnt try another goose ever. Way to fatty bleh! I had to keep emptying the fat from the roasting pan I had the goose in. It was awful.
I love a 6-7 pound duck for just the two of us.

A friend of my husband who is also blind ordered one of those pre-made Thanksgiving dinners from Krogers (I think). He took a cab to the store to pick it up and when it got it all home the turkey and ham were still frozen. They were supposed to have been cooked ready to eat. His wife is also legally blind and their only child was like 9 at the time.

[ricksrealpitbbq]

Back after I was first married living in Texas we decided to make a turkey without removing the giblets and neck from the inside cavity


We never knew, but learned real quick LOL

[jpshaw]

Back after I was first married living in Texas we decided to make a turkey without removing the giblets and neck from the inside cavity


We never knew, but learned real quick LOL

We did that. Plastic wrap and all. The whole turkey had the smell of plastic.

[jglass]

I saw a lady on tv who used to work the butterball hotline and she said tons of people forget to remove the giblets.

[Mama Mangia]

Many don't remove the package in the cavity - if the paper wrap gets baked - it's not so bad - if the plastic gets baked and starts to melt - you have to chuck the turkey because of the poisons from the plastic that have leeched into the turkey.

My turkey rememberance: OldFashionedHomeCooking: BAD TURKEYS

[CanMan]

Family gathering many years ago for Thanksgiving. My Aunt made a reservation with a store to get the largest fresh turkey they had. When they picked it up they learned it was over 25 lbs. At home all the usual preparations were done to it and I remember the ladies commented about it hanging out over the sides of the roasting pan and laughingly commented "what if it doesn't fit in the oven?" Nobody laughed and they immediately took the bird over to the oven....it did not fit!

After the tears, etc., the roasting pan was put on blocks to keep it just off the lower burner, a leg and wing was cut off so the bird could be tilted sideways, which was enough to get everything in the oven and the door closed. Dinner was about 3 hours late and some people got their favorite burnt pieces, but it was a success in the end and gave the family something to talk about for many years.

Moral: If you reserve a bird, make sure you specify a maximum size/weight.

[Cook Chatty Cathy]

That is too funny CanMan!!! I feel for them, but reading it post traumatic ordeal it sounds funny!

I made a Ginger Bread House one year, it was GREAT so pretty we took pictures of it! No sooner had I put the camera away walked back into the kitchen to admire it some more and the darn thing collapsed...right before my admiring eyes My neice who loved my cooking was delighted, all she wanted to do was eat it anyway so that was the perfect opportunity for her to cut loose on her some gingerbread

[jpshaw]

After hearing all of this I think I will do a meatloaf. Just shape that sucker like a turkey. Everyone is stuck on the football on TV so they would probably never know.

[CanMan]

Meatloaf is good. I could never get my meatloaf to hold a shape to make a turkey, but I could do it in SPAM perhaps.....Turkey SPAM?

[jpshaw]

I'm not going to stand it up but just on its side. Now that spam looks like the plan now. Just get one of those cookie cutter thingies shaped like a turkey and whack off a turkey shape on each slice. Throw in a coupla "Moon Pies" a few RC Colas and dinner is done

Something tells me that if my wife reads this I won't be allowed near the kitchen on Thanksgiving.