Dang it Jan! If you haven't opened that bottle of wine yet, get to it. You need to have an enjoyable meal, not burn the heck outta your mouth. Don't make me come eat, I mean, er um, make me come down there and help in the kitchen. Take care and hug your family.

Much love,
Robin

P.S. LF told me last night "FINALLY! A tub I can swim in!!!" upon seeing and getting into our new bathtub. Keep on smilin'

Jan, just think of it as carrying on the tradition of T'Day disasters...LOL at your descripton of Neal's reaction to the timer..josh

Josh, I guess since he can't see very well his ears are
tuned in to the sounds coming out of the kitchen.
He darn near panics now if anything buzzes, dings, or
rings.

We just got back from another grocery store run. I also
finally got the rest of the light fixtures and took them
by the house.

It is a mad house out there. Women like me
rushing in to grab that last ingredient off the shelf.
Oh! darn! I forgot the celery, sheesh.

I'm not only trying to get things ready for dinner tomorrow
but also for breakfast the next morning. You don't even
want to think about what the kitchen will look like
when I'm through in there.

Here's to family traditions. I'm thinking about the
stories my kids and grands will be telling on me for years
to come.

Jan, I love your cooking stories--I'll be going out this year to a son's house, and only have to make the garlic mashed potatoes and green salad. Nice.

I just finished baking pumpkin squares, making the
strawberry nut salad and the dressing without doing
TOO much damage.

p.s. Did ya'll know you can't reheat boiled eggs in the microwave?

Despite my admission in another thread that I occasionally cook with 30-year-old spices, I'm a decent-to-good cook...really. But boiling eggs is a delicate subject for me, because I have a bad habit of walking away and forgetting about them. I have ruined at least two pots, set one on fire and caused half a dozen eggs to explode onto the 10' ceiling due to my sheer inattention (I'm assuming the microwave is just a faster way to explode your eggs??). These days I pretty much make myself stand there and watch them.

My only Thanksgiving dinner disaster wasn't even really for my dinner. My first year out of college, my roommate was hosting dinner for her family. She left the turkey to thaw in the sink. We had three cats between us. At least one of them got hungry for white meat during the night. We attempted some skin grafts to the savaged breast, but I believe she carved from the kitchen that year.

Ah yes the cat disasters. I remember a Thanksgiving when a mad cat race ended up with someones hairy butt smack dab in the middle of the pumpkin pie.

p.s. Did ya'll know you can't reheat boiled eggs in the microwave? - Janis

I occasionally cook with 30-year-old spices
We had three cats....she carved from the kitchen that year
-Dirtdiver

OMG, it's great to know I'm in good company. Thanks for your confessions! I am only making some take-alongs to the meal at my daughter's house. I thought I was making such great time today as I kept looking at the clock and it was only nine thirty. I dawned on me that I've been looking at the clock all morning and it's been nine thirty each time. LOL. Not a disaster, but it would've been had I not noticed.

Question, does anyone know the answer? This year the turkey's legs were bound together with a plastic tether. My DD asks me does this need to be taken out and replaced by wire or twine, or is it oven-proof? I dunno! It doesn't say on the label. I can't find it on line. I asks my husband the retired butcher. When he retired, they were still wire. He calls his brother, who is still butchering. He doesn't know, either.

For goodness sakes. If the meat packing industry is going to change the routine and start sticking plastic into carcasses, shouldn't this information be in everyone's faces?

Suzy,

The plastic thing is to help pick it up. Seems like I saw usage in the instructions. I also think it can stay on while cooking.

LOL,

I had dinner at my home for the four of us, my parents and one of my brothers. I rolled over on cooking a turkey. Said "Nope, we're having a ham!"

I had no idea spiral-sliced bone-in hams were so expensive! Commiserated with another woman over the ham case at the grocery store. We both had no idea!!! I said I needed to thank my MIL who has one cooked for most of our visits.

Our mishap concerned the crescent rolls. Ham has to come out and rest 15 minutes. Rolls take 13 minutes...no brainer right? Ham out, pop rolls in and all is ready at the same time.

Sooooooo I pop the rolls in and wait, and wait, and wait. They've puffed up but they're not getting brown. Then DH says "Did you turn the oven back on ?"

What? Why was the oven turned off? He turned it off since he didn't know when the rolls we're going in. ;^P

Eeeesh!

All turned out fine. I may never roast another turkey.

When I was 19 and newly married we were living in San Antonio as my husband was in the Air Force. It was the first time away from home and we were both terribly poor and homesick. We didn't even have telephone to call home! I didn't know anything about cooking and it was silly to cook a turkey just for the two of us, so we went to the enlisted man's mess hall where they were serving to the families. It was dreadful. The food was good (thanks military cooks) but we felt so alone sitting under those fluorescent lights.

The next year my cooking skills hadn't improved much but I was determined to cook a small turkey. I didn't prepare any stuffing (??) just popped the bird into the oven. It roasted for awhile but began to smell odd. When the turkey was done I found bags of "stuff" inside. What's this??? Had no clue they tucked the neck, gizzard, etc. inside!!

janis g---

Here's a hint I picked up watching a cooking show one boring day. Put your eggs in a pot, cover with cold water and bring to a rapid boil. Take off the burner and put a lid on the pot. Let stand for as long as you like for hard boiled and time them for less hard. When you get ready to peel, crack the end with the air pocket, get a teaspoon and insert teaspoon bowl side down into cracked end under the membrane. Slide spoon around the egg and peel comes off beautifully. I actually thought she was blowing smoke but when I tried it, it worked. My old Betty Crocker also says to never "boil" eggs. Always take off the heat and time for doneness desired. Hard boiled can be allowed to cool down in the pot. Soft to medium boiled will need to be timed and that is a learning process. I know, the cook books say 3 minute, etc., but my conception of a soft cooked egg takes a varying number of minutes depending on any number of things. I found out a long time ago that I can better judge the doneness of a poached egg than a boiled one so I never bother with soft to medium cooked eggs.

You seldom have this problem with eggs purchased in supermarkets, but with farm fresh eggs you need to let them get just a little age on them in order for them to peel cleanly, no matter what technique you use. I have to explain to my egg customers to get eggs a week or two early if they are wanting to hard boil them.....or good luck.

Granny T taught me to make hard boiled eggs: put the eggs in a deep pot and cover with cold water, set on a high fire. Wipe down the kitchen cabinets and counters, until the water comes to a boil. Put a lid on the pan and turn the fire off, go out to the outhouse. Pull weeds from two garden rows on your way back. [We don't have an outhouse, but cleaning the inside of the refrig takes about the same length of time.] Wash hands and then dump the hot water from the eggs on the compost pile. Cover eggs again with icy cold water. Shake pan to crack shells, replace the water with more cold water; shake again. Peel eggs.

A perfect hardboiled egg [no greenish yolk] actually sits in the hot water 16 minutes. Pris ~ I'd try your spoon trick, but I just don't have a problem slipping the shells off.

To keep the yolk centered, prop the eggs so they are standing on the small end. One thing I learned as a result of standing the freshly peeled eggs back in the egg carton -- be sure the carton is foam, NOT cardboard. Cardboard sticks to the eggs better than glue.