It was truly the stuff of nightmares. A potential turkey of a Thanksgiving.
We almost had just one main course item at last year’s Thanksgiving dinner for nine. The turkey. Who’s fault was it? Mine. To be fair, I was cooking in a strange kitchen.
I’d flown east for the Thanksgiving family reunion. It seemed the most sensible thing to do as both of my children were within hours of each other across the country.
My 19-year-old daughter took the train up and joined me in the downtown two bedroom condo I’d rented for the weekend. Nevermind that perhaps I’d misread the online map while booking. Her 18-year-old brother’s campus dorm was not the easy two block walk I’d envisioned but a slightly longer one of seventeen.
I was elated that the condo kitchen was ideal for hosting Thanksgiving dinner though. Well equipped with modern appliances and stocked with most of the necessary pots and pans, I knew we could easily host more. My son came up with a guest list of six friends who’d stayed in town. Most had never experienced a Thanksgiving meal as they had grown up in Europe so I set about creating a menu heavy in tradition. Turkey, mashed potatoes, brussel sprouts, stuffing, gravy and our family favourite broccoli rice casserole.
With no rental car and the closest appropriate grocery story three blocks away, it was easier to purchase the ingredients over several days rather than lug them all home in one go. By Saturday we’d acquired everything we needed and the fridge was happily full. I was especially pleased with the turkey. Frozen, yes, but a decent size. Smug Mommy clearly had everything under control.
Potential Turkey of a Thanksgiving
I should have been on guard. The prep on the day of the party was surprisingly easy and I was noticeably free of my usual pre-party angst. I wasn’t the only one to notice.
“Mom, this is far less stressful than normal.”
My daughter was right. And we still had three hours before the guests were due to arrive. The key reason? I didn’t have to clean. The condo was spotless. Normally I’d be running around like a mad woman, dusting, vacuuming, sorting, and hiding extraneous crap under available beds. Today all we had to do was prep the food.
It was such a treat to be ready, relaxed and waiting with wine in hand for my boy and his six friends to arrive.
The evening unfolded as planned. More wine was poured, the appies passed about and the fully cooked turkey was soon “resting” under tented foil. Time to pop the broccoli rice casserole into the oven, make the gravy and brown the mashed potatoes.
But hang on. Something was wrong. The preheated oven was colder than cold. My gentle taps on the temperature gauge became urgent stabs. Nothing. There was no light, no heat and no response. The oven was dead. Dread rolled over me in relentless waves. I still had to cook all of the side dishes. If I couldn’t, there’d only be turkey. Better yet, two of our guests were vegetarians. There’d be nothing for them in the main course department. Of course. Just typikel.
Willing myself to stay calm, I staggered into the living room where the other eight diners were swilling wine and thoroughly enjoying themselves. Eager, hungry faces met my approach.
“All ready Mom? Can we come to the table?”
Uh no, most decidedly not.
All eight rose to their feet to console and offer a variety of help.
“Is the oven on?”
“Where’s the fuse box?”
“No worries, the two of us will just eat dessert.”
After ten fruitless minutes the hungry guests retreated to what remained of the appies. As I began to shovel the casserole into smaller containers more suitable for the impossibly small microwave, a thought popped in my head.
That toaster I’d unplugged to make more room on the counter. Was it attached to anything?
Yes. A power bar. Reaching down, I inspected the bar. There was a second cord attached to it. I gingerly plugged the toaster back in and tapped on the oven gauge.
A miracle. Lights, heat and noise. We were back in business.
Thanksgiving indeed.
Enough about me and my potential turkey of a Thanksgiving. I’m curious about you. Have you ever suffered an oven failure or a cooking mishap? Or do your festive meals always turn out with the ease of a Martha Stewart or a Jamie Oliver? If you’d care to share, I’d love to hear.
19 Responses
Oh my! It always pays to retrace your steps and follow the cord. Sounds like you had the best turkey dinner ever with terrific guests. No doubt they’ll be hoping this is somewhat of a Canadian Thanksgiving tradition! Long live the French Canadian Butterball Dindon and Farce.
Yes – it would be fun to turn it into a tradition! Minus the cord episode of course … !
OOPS! Dinde et la farce…turkey and stuffing!
Was wondering a weensy bit … thanks for clearing it up! Bien!
I felt the knot in the pit of my stomach when the oven didn’t come on. Eeek! Good for you for figuring it out!
Yes – it was quite something Linda. Those minutes felt like an hour. So glad I figured it out.
Delightful, Kelly! I’ve had many a transfixing moment in my kitchen over the years, but NEVER an oven that wouldn’t turn on! Good thing all your guests were young, willing and dauntless!
They were so helpful and more than keen to just order in pizza if need be.
What a lovely bunch of hungry college students you had there, Kelly! Whew… crisis averted! I seriously laughed out loud while reading as well as nodded my head in sympathy. My mom had a similar experience back in June during a family vacation in a new condo. The oven conked out half way through the roasting of a lovely round steak with mushroom gravy. Pizza it was, for us. I’m so, so happy that you got your holiday celebration back on track as intended.
Thanks Stacey! I am smiling here contemplating the lovely round steak with mushroom gravy. So like me. Good on her to rise above it and order in the pizza. What a great family story for you all.
That is so totally something I would do!! Looks like y’all a Thanksgiving redux! ;)-Ashley
It really is lovely to hear from you and others that I’m not alone in this department!
Now that’s a true Thanksgiving twist–working together to find power. Great story, Kelly. Noted how much your kids enjoy and go with the flow of it. I can tell you’re a mom who’s seen a lot of challenges with a can-do, let’s work-with-this attitude. Your telling reminds me that it’s not what happens but how we respond. So good.
I recall an unusual Thanksgiving growing up. Turkey in the oven. Oven broken (unbeknownst to mom). Birdless dinner. Veggies and salads for all. Family returns for second Thanksgiving the next day, bird and all. An iconic story to share.
Birdless dinner! I love it! Oh boy. The fact that your mom would do a repeat complete with Turkey the next day is just lovely. Thank you for sharing that – makes me feel I’d be quite at home in your family.
What a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration! I’m with you, cleaning is the worst and most stressful part of party preparations! I’m impressed that the condo rental was so well equipped and had everything you needed (including a working oven as it turned out) for your dinner. I always loved hosting the college friends of my kids. It’s such a great way to get to know them and I always found these “kids” to be interesting and engaging. Kelly’s Thanksgiving Celebration – SUCCESS!
Exactly Mo – these guys were just that – “interesting and engaging.” It was just great getting to know them. THey had me in stitches for most of the night. Yes, also about the condo. I couldn’t believe it when I realized I only had to buy the turkey roasting pan. Amazing. I told M and H that we should just rent a place whenever we want to give a dinner party from now on. No advance cleaning required. Lovely.
It turned into a lovely holiday with a great story to be told for years to come – what could be better.
Hi Patti! Thanks for stopping by and commenting. Yes, it was a lovely holiday. You are so right – it did turn into a great story to be told for years to come. The best part really was that neither of my kids were phased. It’s “normal-land” for that to happen around me. As Meredith said – “I knew it would all work out somehow. It always does.”