For What It's Worth


Tuesday, November 28, 2017

thanksgiving dinner gone wrong

Most people have at least one Thanksgiving dinner gone wrong story. I’m lucky – at 52 years old – all my dinners have gone smoothly. Until now.

I start the day off right. It’s just my husband and I so I usually make a turkey breast. and the fixins. I bought a fancy brine and rub for my bird. I  set my timer for all the different stages (brining, roasting) so that everything will get done in time. I brine the turkey, chop all the veggies and set everything else up on the counter. Kevin is doing the dishes as we go. I’m ahead of schedule and my kitchen is spotless. I even have time for a nap!

I am killing it this Thanksgiving!

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I awake from my nap, start the oven, rinse the turkey, prepare my stuffing and notice just before it goes in the oven that my turkey breast is a  – leg and wing.



via GIPHY

Not only is that not enough for us we both HATE turkey leg and wing. And seriously! How do I not notice that I only have a turkey leg and wing and not a breast until that very last minute????


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We went to Walmart and they only had frozen turkeys. Winn-Dixie had fresh turkey but they were too big and would take about 4 hours to cook. Too late for that.

So, we ended up having a lovely Thanksgiving dinner of stuffing, brussels sprouts and canned cranberry sauce lol

IMG_20171121_110534_797IMG_20171123_152402_975


And this spectacular pie from Buttermilk Bakery. And with that pie do you really need anything else? I think not! I’m only a little bummed about missing out on the post T’Day turkey sandwiches – which I love more than the dinner. We had a good laugh over it though and at least I didn’t ruin a meal for dozens of guests so it ended up just being a funny story and nothing to cry over.



Did you have a nice Thanksgiving (if you celebrated) or do you have any holiday kitchen disaster stories?

44 comments:

  1. Aww, man. I'm sorry that happened, but it sounds like you made the most of it!! The rest of the meal looks amazing!

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    1. Yeah - we mostly laughed. It's more of a funny story tot ell than a disaster. And the sides were good at least!

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  2. THat's a sad story of missing out on turkey. I love the veg and everything which comes with a good roast but I'm sad you missed out on having turkey. At least you had that utterly amazing looking pay to comfort you. I am very jealous.

    I don't actually have any holiday cooking disasters, my mom takes on the family feeding responsibilities and as far as I remember we've had mostly smooth sailing.

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    1. Pie can almost make up for everything lol

      I just missed turkey leftovers :-(

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  3. Oh man that sucks, but that's not the worst thing that could have happened so give yourself a par on the back!

    I don't like turkey that much so I would have been perfectly content with all of the sides. šŸ˜

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    1. It wasn't TOO awful because we still had (good) food to eat and no company to disappoint but man I miss those leftovers damn it! I don't really care about hot turkey but I love turkey sandwiches.

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  4. Oh GOD I hate moments like these. I prepared for EVERYTHING, got it all set up and I'm happy as a clam... until I realize the key ingredient for a happy day is missing/all wrong. Although I have to admit I chuckled when you said your breast was actually wing and leg. I can totally see this happening to me. Which is why I generally stick to dessert ;)

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    1. I had the times set for all the stages and I was super relaxed. That was my first mistake. I'm not a good mulit-tasker int he kitchen so I should never get too cocky lol

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  5. Our was a lovely lunch/dinner. I had the turkey brining for a day. Then a couple hours I started cooking it. We had mashed potatoes, green beans, cranberry sauce . We were watching the last season of Lost with the kids. I had already seen it but seeing it again, it was different. So that was our thanksgiving day.

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  6. Oh sorry to hear that. This year’s thanksgiving will definitely be one of the most memorable ones in your life. You’ll remember that moment years from now. Glad to hear that at least you guys had a good laugh over it. šŸ˜

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  7. The minute I saw the title I thought "oh no". :) Glad to hear it wasn't worse though! Sounds like it kind of turned out all right- and that pie! Yum. That would definitely make things better.

    Glad you guys had a good one in spite of the snafu. Totally seems like something I would do, BTW- I hate it when I buy the wrong thing and only realize it at the last minute...

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  8. The sides and the dessert are the best parts anyway :)

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    1. They sure are! I only miss turkey leftovers :-(

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  9. LOL at the gifs.
    Seriously...you need stronger glasses! šŸ˜‚

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    1. I don't think that would have helped me lol

      I am a lost cause int he kitchen when it's more than one thing. I can do ONE thing really well - but never multiple things.

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  10. One of those times. But hey who need brussel sprouts ;)

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  11. Oh no! I'm sorry about that - but yeah, it's good there weren't a TON of you. haha And seriously, you really only need the pie. ;)

    -Lauren
    www.shootingstarsmag.net

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    1. THAT would have been worse. It's ok to ruin my meal but not 20 other peoples meal lol

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  12. Oh you should have made the wing and leg into sandwiches! LOL! We had smoked turkey and I found out my large boy pup is addicted to it! :) Small monster pup is addicted to everything yet so that was no surprise there. Yep, it was just the parentals and my pups for Thanksgiving. Kind of nice. :) Now give me some of that pie!

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    1. It's so gross and stringy. We tried to eat it but blech!

      The pie was perfect though!

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  13. LOL, I've made a few mistakes over the years so I can laugh. My pie crust was hard as a rock this year and I have no idea why since I always use the same recipe. Oh well, the inside tasted good. :)

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    1. Oh I hate when that happens. You think that one thing you do all the time will go smoothly and then it doesn't.

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  14. Aw man that's terrible! But at least you guys had a good laugh over it. And look at the bright side, you didn't poison anyone with undercooked meat, or burn down the house like I would have done had I been left in charge of making the dinner.

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    1. We really did. i was almost crying from laughing so hard.

      And yes, no-one was poisoned so I'll count that as a win lol

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  15. Most people lost cool especially when its relating food but I'm glad despite everything you guys still able to enjoy your dinner. And ohhh, those pie looks so yum!

    xx
    Vanessa @ Blushing Geek

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    1. I get stressed when I have to cook more than one thing but I had this timed out and planned so perfectly. I had factored in getting the wrong turkey lol

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  16. Oh my gosh Karen, so sorry that you missed out on you post thanksgiving turkey sandwiches, but at least you only had to prep for two people and the you still had a nice day! That photo is also making me crave all the pies now!

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  17. OMG. HAHAHAHAHA! This is TOTALLY something I would do myself. You have to laugh though and thank god you both have a good sense of humor about these things. Also at least you didn't have to feed other hungry mouths, right? :) also the Swedish Chef always makes me happy. Fun to see him bouncing around in here. That pie looks delicious! I was a bit disappointed in my pumpkin pie this year (maybe because I used a vegan evaporated milk made of coconuts?!) anyway it was horrible but not nearly as bad as the tofurkey which almost got me banned from my holiday table FOR LIFE :) LOL

    hope you had a very happy Thanksgiving! XOXO

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    1. We did have a nice day in spite of the whole debacle lol

      I've made a few tofu pumpkin pies that were quite good. I've never had tofurkey but I've made veggie loaves so I would probably go with that and shape it into a turkey shape of something lol

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  18. It happens. My Thanksgiving was alright. I had a bad cold and felt terrible but dinner turned out good.

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    1. No fun being sick on the holidays but at least the meal was good.

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  19. Oh oops. lol I've not had a Thanksgiving disaster yet thankfully. But still the bits you had looked tasty!

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    1. It was bound to happen eventually. It was because I got cocky lol

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  20. That pie looks delicious! I would definitely have skipped over the turkey anyways and gone straight to that ;)

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    1. We may have started in on it the night before lol

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  21. Same - I wish we had discussed this. I ordered a fancy organic turkey from a local farm and was all excited. When I opened it, I saw that it had a pop-up timer. For some reason I used the timer (in my defense I was also watching the clock, and based on the turkey's weight, the timer popped at a seemingly appropriate time) But the breast meat was dry. One of my kids, who has never roasted anything ever, says "everyone knows you are supposed to use a meat thermometer, not the pop up timer). Maybe it's all that Food Network I'm always watching. In any case, next year I am NOT using the pop up timer.
    PS If I had a leg only I'd have just eaten the sides - they are the best part anyway.
    Jen Ryland Reviews

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    1. Oh no! I have done the timer thing and ended up overcooking too.

      I don't really care about the turkey fresh out of the oven. I wanted my leftovers! *sobs* lol

      The sides were REALLY good though so I survived.

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  22. We don't celebrate Thanksgiving in Australia but gosh Karen, you really made the most of what could have been a disastrous situation. I'm still laughing at the Swedish Chef. Do Americans only have turkey at Thanksgiving or is it Christmas day as well?

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    1. It's either ham or turkey for Christmas. Growing up, I always had turkey for both but my husband had ham for Christmas and turkey for T'giving.

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  23. I don't Thanksgivings at all, such a foreign concept to me but I love turkey leg and the leftovers make a great sandwich!

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  24. Oh my goodness. You poor thing. It sounds like you guys made the most of it, but still. I say you guys have a redo Thanksgiving.

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  25. Lol! I haven't had a turkey dinner go wrong, yet, but I have had a dinner end up being super late because I timed everything wrong. And this wasn't just for my husband and I, we had friends over! Embarrassing. At least you got pie! :)

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