My Thanksgiving meal was a flop

[Anonymous]

OP I am sorry that all the hard work to prepare a wonderful meal didn’t pay off well. If I were you I would keep it simple next time and also be assured that all the love you put in the preparation is not wasted. You loved ones know it and even if they didn’t eat much of the meal they appreciated how much love and work you put into it. Hugs

[Anonymous]

OP, let me give you some tips as an experienced home cook. I've been a vegetarian for years but the kids still love my turkey. Something to consider is brining the turkey for several hours before baking. Another thing to consider is stuffing only a turkey breast. I do not make a traditional stuffing. I add cooked and spiced ground pork, onions, green apples and Grand Marnier. I soak apples in sugar before baking to drain out some of the excess liquid and never use cornstarch or anything but whole-fat butter. I also think you should delegate so that you can focus to produce better results.

[Anonymous]

No less critical, make sure to exact a penalty for your loved ones' ingratitude. Rage at them and then inform them that next year's event will be catered and stick to it. People who do all the baking or decorating of buying of gifts every. single. year. end up getting taken for granted. Train them now.

[Anonymous]

I think a flop does a family good. People realize it isn’t the end of the world, everyone has a good story, and you get some pizza.

[Anonymous]

My homemade pecan pie was under baked and was a soupy mess. Disgusting!!!!

[Anonymous]

Make your stuffing in a crock pot, add turkey drippings while the bird rests. Dry brine your turkey and simply stuff the cavity with a quartered onion and a quartered lemon. Tent with foil during the last hour of cooking, and do not baste. Buy gravy from Wegmans.

Make cranberry sauce and a pecan pie the day before. Buy a pumpkin or apple pie. Get the green beans in the steam bag.

Just scale back and make it simple but GOOD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It could have been worse. Around 1985 when microwaves were pretty new, my aunt talked my mom into cooking the turkey in the microwave.

Ha ha ha

My dad bought my mom a big Amana in 1980, and I remember the book that came with it with all the instructions about cooking things like turkeys and sprinkling them with paprika to make them look browned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I bought an expensive turkey at WF not fresh. Not edible.

I returned it. They were nice about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It could have been worse. Around 1985 when microwaves were pretty new, my aunt talked my mom into cooking the turkey in the microwave.

Ha ha ha

My dad bought my mom a big Amana in 1980, and I remember the book that came with it with all the instructions about cooking things like turkeys and sprinkling them with paprika to make them look browned.

We got our first microwave around 1980 as well. Big as a freaking house. My sister and I came home from school through the back door/kitchen and as we're taking our coats off in the hall, my Dad says "well, what did you think?". "think about what?" He couldn't believe we didn't see it. Me either, that thing took up 25% of the counter space easily!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Turkey is not an easy thing to cook (any hunk of meat that large is going to be harder). Stuffing actually placed inside a large bird is also a bad idea because og basic temp issues and because honestly the only thing that should be inside a bird is an onion and lemon. By making stuffed turkey traditional we are basically setting people up for failure.

My mom makes a terrific stuffed turkey and always has. (Well, except the one year the oven broke and we had to slice the half-cooked turkey up and microwave it ....)

She stuffs the hell out of it and roasts it breast down, even though the books say to roast breast up. The breast doesn't get dry. Roast it to 170-175, and done. The stuffing from inside the bird is so superior to the leftovers that get cooked unstuffed.

I like the method of piling the stuffing into a heap in a roasting pan, and laying a spatchcocked turkey on top. When the turkey is done, pull it out to rest, and put the stuffing back in the oven to finish cooking.

All the goodness of turkey drippings in the stuffing, none of the overcooked bird or food poisoning from undercooked stuffing.

They only downside is that there are no drippings left for the gravy.

[Anonymous]

Fois Gras is disgusting ethically and taste-wise. And in stuffing that sounds like a culinary crime.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Fois Gras is disgusting ethically and taste-wise. And in stuffing that sounds like a culinary crime.

And a non traditional American/ Thanksgiving food.

Odd.

[Anonymous]

My suggestion is to reduce the number of from scratch recipes and focus on ne thing until you’ve got it.

1. It’s always dicey to expect something to turn out when you make it for the first time for an event. You should make these dishes a few times throughout the year to understand what works and doesn’t.
2. Recipes are evil. People can’t cook because recipes focus on ingredients not techniques. Heat, timing, salt, fat and acid are all really important. Heat is really tricky and makes a difference depending on your pans and appliances. Restaurants use far more fat and salt t get the great taste than recipes usually tell you to use.
3. Whenever I make something new, I always Google fails or troubleshooting. These ages will give you a run down on what can go wrong with a pie r turkey and insight into techniques.
4. Read the notes or comments on recipe sites. I’m amazed at how many people will give a recipe five stars but in their comment share that they changed five things.

[Anonymous]

I read somewhere that this year's pumpkin crop was crappy and I think that's true because my pie was the same as every other year but it tasted less rich and pumpkin-y.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It could have been worse. Around 1985 when microwaves were pretty new, my aunt talked my mom into cooking the turkey in the microwave.

Ha ha ha

My dad bought my mom a big Amana in 1980, and I remember the book that came with it with all the instructions about cooking things like turkeys and sprinkling them with paprika to make them look browned.

We got our first microwave around 1980 as well. Big as a freaking house. My sister and I came home from school through the back door/kitchen and as we're taking our coats off in the hall, my Dad says "well, what did you think?". "think about what?" He couldn't believe we didn't see it. Me either, that thing took up 25% of the counter space easily!!!

HAHA I remember my dad putting the good china with the silver rim in the microwave and it sparking and starting a fire, then we had to go to Sears and buy all new microwave safe plates and stuff.