With the Holidays coming,wondered how many of us have had a cooking disaster.Speaking of the Holidays reminds me of my sis in laws turkey for Thanksgiving.Bro stands at head of table to carve & pulls out a yucky bag with the innards still in it. Kind of spoiled our appetites :-)

Then there was a time when I was making lemon meringue pie while also visiting with un expected company.Was so glad they'd left before the pie was done, cause I'd left out the corn starch & had crust with lemonade in it.Had to toss it ...no pie :oops:

I have a cute story about my mom. She comes from a large family and is the oldest. Her father, my grandfather, used to love her baking. Well, one day she made a beautiful chocolate cake. She was so proud of that cake!! Grandpa was a coal miner who worked hard every day of his life and really appreciated my mom's yummy desserts. After dinner that evening, she cut him a nice big piece of chocolate cake. He took a big bite, started chewing, and my mom said he had a "funny look" on his face. He asked her what she had used to make her cake. She said, "Why, chocolate and eggs and flour and sugar." He then asked her if she was sure she had used sugar. She said, "Of course I used sugar." Well, come to find out she hadn't used sugar--she had used salt!!!! :lol: :lol: She's never made that mistake again!!!! She loves to tell that story.

not really cooking, but...
DH used to have breakfast started when I got up in the morning. He would pour me a glass of OJ, and if we were having eggs he would separate them so he got mostly whites and I got the yolks. You guessed it, one sleepy morning I reached for my glass of OJ and on tasting it discovered it was egg yolks. YUCK!!!

Oh, oh!!! I have another story about Mom!! When she and my father were first married, she wanted to surprise him by making him one of his his favorite desserts. It was for Fried Pies and was what my grandmother (his mother) used to make. My mom asked my grandma how she made them. Grandma told her how, and Mom worked so hard to replicate those little pies. Dinner was over and my dad asked my mom what was for dessert. She said, "I made a surprise!" She went in and got him one of those nice, fresh and still warm Fried Pies. He was so surprised that his new bride had made it for him. He took a bite and told her how yummy the crust was. He took another bite and another bite and another bite and then looked at the pie. He said, "Honey, what did you put inside the pies?" She said she hadn't put anything inside them and that my grandma hadn't told her to put anything inside them. :lol: :lol: :lol: Grandma had only given her the recipe for the crust and just assumed that Mom would know to put in a filling!! Mom and never eaten one of Grandma's Fried Pies, and Mom made only "regular" pies and made cakes. Grandma absolutely LOVED my mom and didn't do it on purpose. She felt just terrible about it because she knew Mom had worked so hard on those little pies. To this day my dad will tell that story! BTW: Mom and Dad divorced almost 30 years ago. Mom went on to make many, many more Fried Pies. Each time she made them she was sure to include a filling!!! :lol: :lol:

My SIL and her family came over one year and they first needed to shower because a tree root had made their bathrooms unusable. She was really bummed and kept looking at her watch. I asked what that was about (we were waiting for her husband to come by later) but she said she was waiting for noon so she could have a glass of wine. I told her it was Thanksgiving and we could start giving thanks to the God of the grape anytime she wanted. OMG we got shnookered and sort of forgot to cook the rest of the dinner. Her husband (a real butt-head) was not amused. I couldn't stop laughing.

Bout the worse disaster I had at the holidays was the year I caught the oven on fire. I had made candied sweet potatoes. Being in a last minute rush, I just dumped the marsh mellows on top and closed the oven. I was finishing up the last minute preparations when we smelled the smoke. When I opened the oven the marsh mellows were on fire. Of course Mom grabbed the camera and caught me bending over the oven door and the fire. She still drags out the picture, and has to remind me of the fire every year she spends the holidays with me.

A Story about Thanksgiving...

Once a lady named Pat decided to cook a huge turkey for her new families' Thanksgiving. She had bought the biggest turkey she could find, put it in the oven, and during the prep time for pies, she discovered that she had forgotten a vital part of the desserts so hurried to the store to get it.

While she was gone, her loving hubby had downed a few too many and thought of a brilliant trick to play on her, so he took out the stuffing and restuffed it with a Cornish hen. He closed it back up and put it back in the oven and looked innocent when she got back.

During the carving of the turkey in front of all the family and inlaws, dear Hubby pulled out the Cornish hen instead of a bunch of sage stuffing, and the wife's mother started crying and said screamed out "Patricia, you've killed and cooked a pregnant Mother turkey" and continued crying, in spite of being told turkeys do not get pregnant!!
(yup, she was blonde)

[quote=momymom]Bout the worse disaster I had at the holidays was the year I caught the oven on fire. I had made candied sweet potatoes. Being in a last minute rush, I just dumped the marsh mellows on top and closed the oven. I was finishing up the last minute preparations when we smelled the smoke. When I opened the oven the marsh mellows were on fire.
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This must be the most often burned food ever. My dear daughter-in-law did this and was she embarrassed!! She and my son are
part time chefs and do a lot of cooking for groups.

As for myself, I am usually a good cook, BUT for whatever reason, I simply can not cook beans without burning them, and I can not make good German Potato Salad. When it's my turn to bring them, my friends gently suggest that I get them at Save Mart.

Then there was the year we went home for Christmas. DH's family had decided to have dinner at my BIL's house. My Mil said she would make the turkey. Normally I make the turkey. I've had to many dried out birds over the years. Everyone pitched in for the meal. Upon arrival my MIL took me aside and told me the following. She had taken a FROZEN 20 + lb turkey, but it in the oven the night before and baked it for 24 hours. I don't know if she knew how dangerous that was. I descretely told every one not to eat it. My MIL couldn't understand why no one wanted the leftover bird. It had been carved, so she didn't realize no one had eaten any. Luckily my BIL had bought a honey ham, so we did have meat for the meal. I was horrified!!! I never let her cook the bird again!!! Always told her it was my job.

Cooked the turkey 24 hours?

Okay, here is the gold medal for worst dinner. I'm handing it to you from California!

Did anyone ever let her know this in later years? I'll bet she was mortified if they did.