Thanksgiving Dinner Successes/Fails...

almachs0786

We spent Thanksgiving with my IL's for the first time this year due to some scheduling conflicts. It's the first one I've ever spent away from my moms side of the family and hopefully the last! Not because we didn't have a good time, but the food was just not good!
Oyster dressing with nearly raw oysters, runny pumpkin pie, over seasoned sweet potato balls (mine, idk what happened this time!), and so on. Not to mention that a lot of the traditional foods that I'm used to weren't there. However, the turkey was amazing!!
Anyway, did anyone else have any Thanksgiving dinner fails/ big successes? What was the best/worst dish you had?

and as always, GIFs welcome!



ETA: words

southernpeach89

I think our turkey was the best dish definitely! It was super tender and the gravy was perfect. I didn't make those, my mom did the turkey and my sister did the gravy.

I think the worst was probably either my sister's mac n cheese or my corn pudding. My corn pudding was a bit overcooked and my sister's mac n cheese was flavorless and crunchy. I think it's her recipe because it was the same as a couple years ago.

almachs0786

@southernpeach89‌ I can never make a big batch of macaroni come out right!

gonetothesea

I was in charge of macaroni and cheese this year as well.  I made it in a crockpot.  It was just okay. Nothing amazing.  I also made spice cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.  Those were pretty good.  This was the first year that my Gram didn't make the turkey (she's been having back pain issues, so she cut down on making food this year), so we bought a lemon pepper fried turkey from Beef 'O Brady's (a local wings and burgers place) and it was so good. I wish I could have fried turkey all the time!

JennyLynn6785

This was the second year we did Thanksgiving at my IL's (and since it was MIL's 50th, we HAD to!) but I wish we'd been with my family instead. My mom has such a nice picture of all my siblings and cousins together yesterday since everyone was actually present, except for me!

DH's family just doesn't do the spread my family does. They do baked potatoes, so I missed not having mashed potatoes. My family also always does rice, pearl onions in a white cream sauce, the green bean casserole, and homemade gravy -- none of which we had yesterday.

On the upside, my homemade cranberry sauce was a huge hit (thanks @bibliothecary‌!) as were my broccoli velveeta casserole, chocolate birthday cake, and butterbeer cupcakes. So it was a win for me.

bracingourselves

Dear bob I have had so many Thanksgiving meals elsewhere that were just awful. First, I don't get eating "dinner" at 2 o'clock. Second, I am not into eating reheated processed food balanced on my knee from a paper plate.

This year we went to my DH's aunt & uncle's house. It's nice to get out of cooking, but I was braced for the worst. It actually turned out to be quite good and I was super happy about it. I am so grateful, and they are just wonderful people.

I did drop my fudge and had to do an emergency re-molding. I obsessed about that stupid fudge all day and I'll probably never live that down lol.

gonetothesea

fuzzylogic said:

I was the veggie girl, and apparently will continue to be the veggie girl, as my brussels sprouts were a huge hit.

Seriously, I just roasted them with olive oil, S&P, people. I did nothing special. But apparently no one else in the family knows how to make them, so, veggie girl it is.

I LOVE roasted brussel sprouts. I would love to have your recipe!

Edit: I see that you just season them with olive oil and and salt and pepper. Duh. That sounds so simple and delicious! How long do you roast them?

bbyskittels

Dear bob I have had so many Thanksgiving meals elsewhere that were just awful. First, I don't get eating "dinner" at 2 o'clock. Second, I am not into eating reheated processed food balanced on my knee from a paper plate. This year we went to my DH's aunt & uncle's house. It's nice to get out of cooking, but I was braced for the worst. It actually turned out to be quite good and I was super happy about it. I am so greatful, and they are just wonderful people. I did drop my fudge and had to do an emergency re-molding. I obsessed about that stupid fudge all day and I'll probably never live that down lol.

Same. I offered to bring food and everyone was like "no, no they cook it all." What I should have said was, I've got the best Mac n cheese in this world, delicious green bean casserole, and I love pineapple casserole so I'm bringing them anyway. (The recipe comes out tasting like bojangles mac n cheese, no egg. I'm happy to share if anyone is interested.)

first attempt to gif....

almachs0786

gonetothesea said:

fuzzylogic said:

I was the veggie girl, and apparently will continue to be the veggie girl, as my brussels sprouts were a huge hit.

Seriously, I just roasted them with olive oil, S&P, people. I did nothing special. But apparently no one else in the family knows how to make them, so, veggie girl it is.

I LOVE roasted brussel sprouts. I would love to have your recipe!

Edit: I see that you just season them with olive oil and and salt and pepper. Duh. That sounds so simple and delicious! How long do you roast them?

--QBF--

You should both try brussels sprouts panfried with chorizo! Obviously not nearly as healthy (but it is Paleo-friendly), but so worth it! Here's the recipe...

https://www.ibreatheimhungry.com/2012/01/caramelized-brussels-sprouts-chorizo-2.html

almachs0786

@hobbesgal‌ that stuffing sounds delish!!

bracingourselves

@bbyskittels‌ I cook fresh for myself and DH every night. I would never even dream of serving cold nonsense from a can to my GUESTS. I am so with you. I brought cranberry relish cause it's the bomb and I wanted it, so by gum I was going to eat it and not play Russian roulette with my toppings lol.

Pineapple casserole, you say? I'm intrigued. Tell me more!

jjones4782

I made Thanksgiving dinner, as usual, and everything came out great! I made the stuffing different this year and everyone liked it. I added green apple and raisins to it. I was really proud of myself for planning ahead. I did all of my Thanksgiving grocery shopping a week before. It made everything so much easier. I hate crowds.

I think the fail was the fact that DH had me up with him all night with a high fever. So I was exhausted in the morning, but around 8:30 and a big cup of coffee I felt like a semi-normal human being. Of course he slept the whole day so I had to do everything without help. But, the in-laws were gone by 3p. So, I guess it worked out anyway.

Remylove1011

DH and I hosted my family for the first Thanksgiving in our new home. So we have family in from all over staying with us (10 people total). Dinner actually went really well! Everything was a hit which was a nice!! My pies went over  well even though they spilled over the side a bit while cooking! 

gonetothesea

@almachs0786‌ and @hovenb‌ those both sound awesome! I will have to try them out, for sure.

SpartanChick88

My fails actually turned into wins.

DD and I made a brine for the turkey on Wednesday.  She stirred   It was amazing!  We had the salt and sugar dissolved and all the other stuff was in the bowl - peppercorns, garlic, onions - lots of goodies.  I put the bag in a bowl, put the turkey in the bag and dumped the bowl of brine ... ... all over the floor, counter, phone!! (it's fine, thank you Otterbox).  Fortunately, it wasn't a huge amount of brine.  So I regrouped, put the bowl in the sink and poured.  Filled the rest of the bag with water and... it started to leak.  I transferred everything to another bag and popped it into the bottom drawer of the fridge.  By the time DH got home it was leaking out the bottom of the fridge.  I was able to transfer everything into a stock pot and put it in the garage.  In the end it turned out AMAZING - we fried it - so it was worth the hassle.

I also forgot to get cream for my Hoosier pie and had to send DH to Publix where I had called to make sure they had it since Teeter was out of all forms of cream. 

I was NOT on my game this year but everything came out so good. 

We did have two people bring green bean casserole, which DH and I can't stand.  Both had one scoop taken out of them... I felt kinda bad

divinemsbee

hovenb said:

I wouldn't necessarily call this a fail, but I swear, it is impossible to have all of the food warm and ready at the same time. Even with crockpots, I can't keep everything warm!  I need like 5 ovens.

My success would be the turkey.  Use Pioneer Woman's brine and Alton Brown's instructions on cooking the bird.  First turkey attempt for me.

All day every day. I actually combined Alton's brine with the PW one, but his turkey cooking directions are on point. It makes a picture worthy bird that is moist and delicious.

Everything came out really well, I used the Bon Appetit gravy recipe from this month's magazine and it was delicious.

The only 'fail' was that H didn't eat anything all day really (we ate at around 4 since we weren't in a hurry) but started drinking earlier. He was passed out in bed by 7pm.

NEgirl824

I love reading all the stories! I would say I had a pretty successful Thanksgiving! I hosted my parents and my in-laws. We almost had to reschedule to saturday, but the roads were clear enough from the snow for my parents to drive the two and a half hours. I cooked the entire meal and everything came out perfect and right on time to be hot to serve. My mother made the pies and they were also very good. After everyone left DH and I fell asleep on the sofa and woke up at 4am still on the sofa! We were both up late the night before because he had to work and I snow blowed the driveway after DD was in bed. I am also hosting christmas so I am looking forward to that.

bbyskittels

bracingourselves exactly-I loooove cooking, especially fresh!

Pineapple casserole is really good as a regular side - but it is fantabulous with ham. My Mom insists I never recommend the recipe without recommending ham. 

The recipe I use looks to be identical to good ole paula deen. Definitely use ritz crackers, and you use however much better you like for the topping - more isn't always to me. And plus, it's Paula Deen. 

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/pineapple-casserole-recipe.html

mustloveerica

I hosted my first thanksgiving. All of my food turned out amazing and everyone had a blast. Then my kitchen faucet broke and started spraying water everywhere. I had to wash dishes in the bathroom sink. Something was bound to go wrong.

And we spent all day today trying to fix it ourselves. Finally gave in and called a plumber and he says it can't be fixed so I guess we will be buying a new faucet tomorrow :-(

bouncinsol

hobbesgal said:

Our gluten-free apple sausage stuffing was banging. The vegetarian mushroom gravy notsomuch.

I would also love that recipe! We did a pot luck at my mom's and everyone's dishes came out really well, so no real fails thank goodness!

indogbeersiveonlyhadone

It was my first Thanksgiving home with my family in 13 years because I've been in the army. I was asked to bring a desert.... I decided I'd make this double decker chocolate cake with peanut butter filling. Long story short I should have done a dry run on this because when I baked it the filling kept oozing out of the cake, it wouldn't "stick right" and once I actually got to my families house it looked like the leaning tower of piza and no one would eat it. EPIC fail on my part however all I can do is laugh. Also, my "newly saved" Uncle decided to stand up and say "I'm going to do a prayer for everyone before we eat because you are all sinners and need the good Lord in your lives" ummmmmmmmmmm......?????..awkward..... Throat clear..... Cough..... WTF face...... Thank you??? Let us pray... I took several swigs of my beer before we started praying...

jjones4782

@Chad5285‌ I don't go into Walmart much. Last time I was there I saw at least 5 packages of meat sitting in front of various registers. I can't blame the people working at Walmart for not taking care of the situation, with the crappy wages and wage theft that goes on there. I just wouldn't buy anything with an expiration date.

WestIsleFlower

Just DH and I for Thanksgiving this year so it was really relaxing The only fail was that DH did the Thanksgiving shopping and got yams instead of regular potatoes... we had mashed yams and they were tasty. So it actually wasn't much of a fail Thanks everyone for sharing recipes!!

chipsfordinner

Our host made sugar free apple tart for dessert so I might as well have been eating broccoli...or paper mache. Where is the pumpkin pie?! Blasphemy!

KatzKiss

I asked my MIL for weeks what I could bring/make. On Monday she told me to bring stuff to make a salad. Boring. I like to cook. But I decided if I had to just do a salad, I would make a good one. Since she is a gardener and a vegetarian, I asked her on Monday if she could tell me what veggies she had so I didn't buy the same things. I never heard back so I bought everything. She had every single vegetable, cruton, dressing, cheese that I bought. Forty bucks down the drain. Oh, and she did get my email, just didn't respond. WTF!

briannaescplan

This was my first Thanksgiving cookinh ever. We had turkey breast, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes, sausage stuffing and cheese biscuits. I am proud to say, I succeeded greatly at Thanksgiving dinner and got an A+ from FI. (I am not usually a good cook) and I actually had fun, too!

KatzKiss

@Brewgirl1980‌ I'm definitely going to find a way to fit "this is drier than my vag after an eight day stretch of ED sex" into a conversation as soon as possible.

sister13

We just had thanksgiving at home, just me and DH. I bribed it with molasses brown sugar salt, sage and peppercorns. Then, I did Martha Stewart's method with cheesecloth soaked in butter and wine. Only during the last basting did I realize I cooked it upside down, but I know some recommend that to keep the breast moist and it was delicious!

The turkey took way longer than expected, and DH was so anxious and hungry that I didn't have time to make gravy properly but everything else was amazing, the stuffing (sausage sage) in particular was especially good! So many leftovers to eat this week which is one reason I like to cook!