"“It Made My Brother Cry”: Your Worst Thanksgiving Disasters"

[minoanmiss]

https://www.seriouseats.com/2020/11/thanksgiving-disasters.html

For all our culinary train wreck needs.

Comments

[pensnest]

Ha! After reading that lot I am reminded of the Camp Sparkle Christmas Dinner, held in June a couple of years ago.

There was a nice, big oven in the rented house, and it happily accommodated the boned, stuffed turkey... but there was no working thermostat. We had discovered this on the evening prior to our grand, multicultural Christmas dinner, because one of our number had baked a fruit cake, which emerged from the oven encased in a prison of charcoal. When we prized off the outer inch or so, the cake within was fine....

This did not bode well for the turkey, and even less well for the mince pies. Happily I did not have to cope with roast potatoes as I think the Germans had taken on the starch component(s) of the meal and were cooking them on the stove. So. We had, happily, a meat thermometer with a long wire, and basically used it as an oven thermometer - we could keep the dial outside the oven. Every time the oven got Way Too Hot, we turned it off for a while, and when the thermometer had sunk quite a bit, turned the oven on again. It made for a rather tense afternoon.

But, the turkey turned out really well, we had an amazing feast, and even the mince tart worked! Phew!

[minoanmiss]

That is impressive management of a flawed resource.

Mere kitchen accidents are so trivial...

[stranger]

I'm reminded of tales of *deep-frying* the Thanksgiving turkey, which generally included stuff like singeing eyebrows off, hot oil cascading 15 feet high, *strongly* recommending doing the deep-frying *outdoors* and at least 20 feet from any tents or buildings, even *more strongly* recommending a fire extinguisher as essential equipment... and still this is apparently considered a method for achieving delicious turkey. (I think brining is probably easier.)

Alternatively, I'm reminded of the Thanksgiving recommendations that went like: Invite people you like, or love. Have lots of food. Home-made gourmet is fine. Store-bought standard is okay. The goals are a tasty and filling meal, celebrating abundance and good company. And pie is a great thing.

Re: Mere kitchen accidents are so trivial...

[minoanmiss]

Ahahahhaha your description of turkey frying is glorious. Good Eats has a whole episode on the subject.