by Marsha WardI’ll never forget the Thanksgiving of 2001. After almost 30 years of preparing turkey dinner with all the trimmings, I had learned a trick or two. For example, I was accustomed to cooking the dressed turkey all night in a slow oven. That year was no different. I stuffed my bird, wrestled it into the roasting pan, covered it with tented foil, and hefted it into the oven about nine p.m. I turned the oven on, then left to check my email.
Time flies when I’m on my computer, and along about midnight I decided to go to bed. First, though, I went to check the turkey. As I crossed through the family room, I wondered why I didn’t smell the roasting bird. When I opened the oven door, I found the answer.
I didn’t need the potholders I used to slide out the oven rack. Sticking my hand into the oven, I discovered there was no heat. I checked the controls. I had the function knob turned to “bake,” all right. The thermostat? It hadn’t even made it to “warm!”
OK, Marsha, and then what did you do? You've never left me cliff-hanging quite so uncertainly before, even at the end of a gripping chapter, because I could always sneak a look at the next one. Pretty clever. Maybe you're just checking to see how many read the blob.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, my daughter had new ovens installed that are so push-button that I am never quite sure how to operate it. I've put things in to bake that never made it--until Kat came to the rescue. I can empathize, but who came to your rescue?
You're funny, Marsha. What did you do?
ReplyDeleteOur foster daughter called us one Thanksgiving after she cooked her first turkey. It was her turn to host the dinner for her husband's family. She was excited because she had seen me roast turkey's many times and knew "exactly" what to do. I always use oven bags, and she loved the easy cooking and cleanup...except as her turkey baked, the house filled with acrid fumes. Yeah...she used a regular plastic bag to cook the bird in. She never noticed I used "special" oven bags. They had to go out to eat because the house was unbearable for a number of hours.
Hahahaha! You ladies make me crack up.
ReplyDeleteRemember, this was only midnight. I turned the temperature dial on (albeit a bit higher than the 250 degrees I normally set it to) and the turkey cooked during the rest of the night.
Thanksgiving Dinner was saved!
Oh, Kari...that is too funny! I cleaned my oven one night and the smell and smoke was so bad we all slept out on the trampoline for the rest of the night. My kids even had friends over to spend the night...kind of interesting with 9 people on a trampoline. Needless to say, we didn't get much sleep, but we had a lot of fun.
ReplyDeleteOh, and by the way Marsha, I too was worried about how you managed to save Thanksgiving. I like slow cooking mine too.
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