Not glazed the roast duck so much (skin didn't crisp well).

Cooked the potatoes longer (didn't mash very creamy).

Not cooked the sous vide duck so long (texture was too soft).

Lot of things I didn't do well this year.

I overcooked the Turkey. I make a turkey once a year, so I went looking for a refresher recipe. When I researched, it said 325 for 3 and a half hours for a 16 pound Turkey. I usually have a probe thermometer that will alert me when the white meat is 160 degrees. That's when i take it out. It was broken this year so when I checked it after 2 and a half hours with a regular meat thermometer, it was already 180+. It was okay. I made a lot of gravy...

I ordered a new probe thermometer when I got home.

I burned the dressing. I make a sausage stuffing, although I haven't stuffed the bird in I-don't-know-how-many years now. I have achieved making this recipe for 30 years. And yet this year, I managed to burn the bottom of it in the oven. SMH.

And, now that John Liu brings it up, I have *never* been happy with my mashed potatoes. Another achievable thing that I would like to do differently.

Strange incident with the turkey. Took it out after 13 minutes a pound at 350 degrees (10.5 pound turkey). Stuck a thermometer in the thigh and the temperature did not reach 165. I put it back in for another 10 minutes and it still wouldn't reach 165. At that point, I tried the breast and it was way above 165 and definitely getting too cooked. So I took the whole turkey out of the oven and it did appear to be completely cooked and the white meat somewhat overcooked. Was it equipment failure? I just don't know.

Everything else was perfect!

With only a breast and 3 sides (same every year) it's pretty easy to get it right. I roast the breast at 425 for 30 minutes, then reduce temp to 325. It cooks for about 14-15 minutes per pound.

I messed up my cornbread dressing — dressing I’ve been making perfectly over 20 years! I doubled the recipe, so had three 9x13 dishes of it ... but overfilled two of them. They were just too moist and dense to me, although everyone said they were great. Just being nice, I think. :)

Amylou, I had almost the exact experience. My turkey was still a little frozen after 3 days to defrost. I put it in water to thaw a little, but was rushed for time. Also had a 16 pound turkey, cooked 3 1/2 hr at 325. I did not bother checking it early, thinking I would be lucky for it to be done. When I took it out it registered 192. A little dry, but my husband prefers it that way so at least he was happy. Everything else turned out pretty well, and everyone else just drowned the turkey in gravy.

I was pretty happy with everything this year, it all came together at the right time and turned out as I'd planned. I did use a food mill this year to mash the potatoes and they were the best ever, just stirred in some hot milk and a stick of melted butter and they were perfect, creamy and smooth and buttery and delicious. I was happy and my granddaughter Madison ate four helpings and passed up dessert in favor of more potatoes, LOL.

I even got the turkey out of the oven 45 minutes before the meal began, so it had time to "rest" and Elery didn't scorch his hands trying to slice turkey right fromt he oven.

Annie

I was a guest and didn't cook, so i won't pass judgement on the cooking of others...everyone contributed, but I do regret not making a pecan pie, because no one else did.

I made Southern style green beans the day before and found them in the microwave ready to reheat while serving dessert.

I was a guest as well but everyone who was invited brought sides or desserts or something to share so can safely evaluate the end result :-) My sister hosted and did the turkey....a 21 pounder that was cooked to perfection with in-bird gluten-free cornbread sausage dressing. Due to some dietary restrictions (no gluten, dairy free, vegetarian) we had more sides than were really necessary including a panoply of roasted root vegetables that hardly got touched at all. Just wanted to make sure everyone could eat their fill :-)

One of the sides brought were Costco mashed potatoes, which we were assured by the bringee were delicious. And they were, which I find remarkable for a preprepared mashed potato!!

Left the pan of dressing in the oven too long and it was rather overdone. I had the timer set, but I did not take the pan out when it went off, and of course lost track of time.

Also didn't realize the pan of dressing would not quite fit into my mother's small oven, so the door did not shut completely.

Everything turned out great for my Canadian turkey day. The only thing that I would change is I would make the cabbage rolls even if I'm making them again for Christmas. I missed them!

We had vegetarian Thanksgiving on Thursday and turkey Thanksgiving on Friday. Mostly it went really well. There were only two non-perfect things on Friday. I wish I'd put more thought into the non-starchy vegetables for Friday. Just put one of my son's in charge of a salad with cucumber, tomato and lettuce and had simply cooked carrots. Should have done my roasted green beans with ginger and garlic. I made half batches of plain and raspberry amaretti but forgot to halve the amount of raspberry powder so the raspberry ones were good but not the best texture.

I took the easy route with the turkey this year and opted for Costco's smoked turkey. Didn't take much work at all however it did taste more like ham than turkey. Mashed taters were perfect, a mix of yellow and white potatoes mixed with potato water that had been set aside, butter salt and pepper. Wild rice & fruited dressing always a hit.

No problems. Everything came out perfect. The only mistake I made was leaving my heavy rubber gloves at home. Might have lost my fingerprints carving the brisket.

My family does potluck as we all love to cook. I was bringing Sunset Magazine's artichoke nibbles (a quiche-like crustless starter made with chopped marinated artichoke hearts). I've made it for decades....but this time my grocery delivery sent me a different brand of cheddar than I usually use, and I didn't taste-test it before grating and using it.

Big mistake - it was much saltier than my usual brand. It came out okay, but reminded me that I should be more careful when not using my usual brands of food ingredients.

Also I would have carved the turkey more nicely.

Does anyone do it the way Jamie Oliver does? He lets it rest for 1.5 hours!

I'm usually serving it a half an hour to 45 minutes after I've taken it out of the oven.

https://youtu.be/-8abWfjWek4

I see that you need to let a turkey rest. But 1½ hours? Isn't the meat ice cold when it is served? Yuck. It's like eating leftovers.