Thanksgiving - Critical Failure

Yesterday was Thanksgiving. I have been doing Thanksgiving dinners for over 25 years now and none came so close to critical failure.

I wrote down the menu a couple weeks ago. I figured out what supplies I needed in order to provide the massive feast. Dutifully I added the needed items to my shopping list. I scoured the food ads and made my required stops carefully crossing off the procured items. My turkey was purchased - I put it in the fridge so it could thaw completely before the 25th.

Early this week I confirmed with our one invited guest about the items she was to bring - yummy raspberry jello and veggie tray. Check - she was ready and prepared to make her contribution to our annual feast. (Thanks mom!)

Wednesday I made the stuffing and put it in the fridge. I made the pie crust for banana cream pie and a cherry pie. I also made a batch of rolls. This was insurance that if I got the timing off on Thursday I would have some already made up that we could heat up and serve.

I was ready on Thursday for the completion of my Thanksgiving Day kitchen duties. I had a large turkey - thawed and ready to roast. I put it in the oven at the appointed time. I started another batch of rolls that would be ready to cook as soon as the turkey reached roasting perfection. About one hour before the feasting was to begin I put together the green bean casserole. A few minutes later I put it as well as the previously prepared stuffing into the oven. The smells got my saliva flowing. Things looked and smelled wonderful! The turkey timer popped up - a little earlier than expected. That was good. The turkey came out and the rolls went - WAIT! NOOO! Hold the phone! Something isn't right. What have I forgotten? How can it be? DISASTER!

It was at that moment that I discovered that the mashed potatos had not been started! Oh Boy! Critical Failure! Massive Critical Failure! Sheesh! In my defense - Doug is usually our potato guy for our Sunday meals. So usually I tell him and he takes care of it. Today I forgot to tell him and I forgot all about them myself. OOPS!

Well Mom and Doug rolled up their sleeves and started peeling potatos. I got the pan on the stove and started the water to boil. In a matter of minutes the potatos were in the pan and cooking along. And in a few short minutes we had managed to save the day from being a total Thanksgiving - Critical Failure.

Actually - everything was fine. It was delicious. It was tasty. And we ate too much. And really the potatoes only added a few minutes to our wait. While they cooked we made gravy and got all the fixings on the table. And do you know what? Then I let the gravy boil over and the stink of burned food replaced the delicious smells described above. But I recoverd once again. The potatos were cooked and mashed and put on the table with the gravy and they tasted extra good this year - I'll try not to forget about them next year.

Now that Thanksgiving has been planned, prepared for, cooked, eaten, and left-overs stored I can breath a huge sigh of relief and take today off. NOT! Today is another holiday at our house. Isaac's Birthday. So today we will celebrate again and hope we don't suffer another Critical Failure.