The countdown has begun to Thanksgiving! I love Thanksgiving, comfort food, family and of course football, but this day can sometimes be overwhelming. Trust me I’ve been there. Thanksgiving mishaps haunt us all.
No one wants to be the person who ruins the gravy or bakes the bird to a crisp. The first time I hosted Thanksgiving for my family the turkey was so dry no amount of gravy could save it, what a mess!
But year after year I became more confident in the kitchen, picked up a few tricks along the way and relaxed. I focused on what was really important; spending time with family, giving thanks and looking forward to the New Year. I am happy to report my bird gets tastier each year. I have also tried my hand at experimenting with new flavor combinations and brining to add a punch of flavor to my Thanksgiving bird.
Worried about having a Thanksgiving mishap? Fear not Chef Ingraham is here to guide us every step of the way to a successful Thanksgiving. He has partnered with Walmart to share trips, tricks and advice on how to ease into the days leading up to the big day! Visit Thanksgiving Mishaps to read Chef Ingraham daily posts.
Chef Richard Ingraham was raised in Miami and has been a food enthusiast since an early age. He trained at the Culinary Institute of Atlanta and his professional experiences have ranged from restaurant work to his current position as a private chef cooking for athletes and celebrities.
During the day Chef Ingraham is a private chef, but at night he’s a busy dad. He is passionate about the time he spends in the kitchen and he believes in creating simple, delicious, and affordable meals for family and friends.
In 2012, Chef Ingraham joined in First Lady Michelle Obama’s Chefs Move 2 Schools White House Initiative to encourage healthier eating habits among our country’s youth. He is excited about partnering with Walmart to help families create special Thanksgiving meals- mishap-free!
Have you had a Thanksgiving mishap? Share your mishap and be entered to win a $50.00 gift card from Walmart. Good Luck!
How to Enter: Giveaway ends Monday, Nov 12, 2012
Share your Thanksgiving Mishap in a comment below.
Like Sweet Life on Facebook
Follow Sweet Life on twitter
Open only to US residents
Winner will be chosen via random.org and contacted via email
Prize will be shipped by sponsor.
Good Luck!!
Sweet Life Disclosure ~ This is a sponsored post
My funny mishap…I cooked the turkey with the “bag of stuff” still inside…(neck, etc.)
tarter95 at hotmail dot com
Likes on fb, thanksgiving mishap we put the turkey in the oven our got o turn it on
My first thanksgiving I cooked was with my boyfriend invited to dinner and my apple pie filling was very watery but he was a nice boyfriend and ate it even though my family made fun of it
I follow on twitter@vivaciousgold
I like you on facebook
I likes you on facebook and I am now following on twitter. My most memorable Thanksgiving would be one I will never forget! I used to have this stray cat that hung aroung the neighborhood. Sometimes I would feed him he was nice and didnt hiss at the kids or anything. Well on Thanksgiving I am preping the turkey in the kitchen. I was ashing it in the sink when the door bell rings. It was my mom so I let her I and right pass me runs the stray cat in to the house . I dont think anything of it because I am use to seeign it around. I sit down for a few minutes to vist with my mom. I make my way back to the kitchen to start cookin and I find the stray eating my turkey completly raw! That was so gross. Only ham that year.. Turkey went to the cat.
liked you on fb
i undercooked a turkey and had to throw most of it away
my major mishap happened with the turkey. i wanted to make sure it was completely done but didn’t have a thermometer. what i ended up with was done…way done. so dry, it had to be doused with gravy. 🙂
i follow you on twitter!
I Follow Sweet Life on twitter as @neiddy_ruiz
Like Sweet Life on Facebook as Leidy Ruiz
The first year we hosted our Family Thanksgiving dinner at our home I was pregnant and just to look at the raw turkey was giving the most horrible nausea you could imagine, I tried to do my best to keep it to myself but lets just leave it at “I failed” Made a mess and my hubby had to take charge of the whole situation. We laugh now but back then I did not think it was funny at all.
I follow you on Twitter.
I follow you on FB.
A few years ago it was too windy for Bobby to smoke the turkey on the grill so we had to move it inside. (Kept blowing out the flame.) The turkey pan wouldn’t fit into my oven, so I had to run down and get a couple of cheap aluminum pan. A few hours later as we were pulling it from the oven to check it, some of the fat spilled from the pan and ignited in the gas oven. B had to use the fire extinguisher to put it out. Well, the turkey wasn’t done! So we ended up putting it back on the grill, which, it turned out was now out of propane. So my BIL had to go to his house and get the propane off of his grill. The turkey finally got done, we managed to get the smoke from the house by opening the house and turning on fan. It was a trip! 🙂
our family dog ate the turkey off the table before we even got to it!! i follow on twitter @desmoinesdealin & facebook
like on facebook: michelle barrett
We dropped the oil we have for frying the turkey (peanut oil) which gives it more flavor and we had to substitute with vegetable oil which was okay but tasted like fried chicken
tbarrettno1 at gmail dot com
I follow you on twitter @amylou61
One Thanksgiving I accidentally put Cumin in the Pumpkin pie, mitaking it for Cloves. Now whenever I bake pumpkin pie, my family always teases me, saying “Make sure you don’t put cumin in it”.
My very first Thanksgiving away from my family and I decided to recreate it with a few friends. I didn’t understand the defrost instructions so it didn’t defrost totally, but that didn’t stop me from trying to cook that bird anyways…. what a big mistake. I then burned the candied yams, over salted the collard greens and forgot to purchase the durkees for the green bean casarole…. Me and my friends still laugh at this today…every Thanksgiving for the last 20 years they remember one more detail and call me about it. Now I remember to serve WINE and lots of it before Thanksgiving every year!
I “LIKE” Sweet Life on fb (Nicole Larsen)
My biggest mishap was that I didn’t have all the food done on time. To fix that problem, I do as much preparation that I possibly can the night before and I also have everything (cans, bowls, etc) set out for the next day!
I am a facebook fan of yours. Thanks for the chance to enter.
I had not made a turkey before and underestimated the turkey so we had to wait 2 more hours until it was done. I had everything else done so I had to reheat everything constantly. Thanks for the chance to enter.
Follow Sweet Life on twitter
Like Sweet Life on Facebook
Forgot to defrost the bird in advance, had to serve deli turkey breast to guests.
I follow you on Twitter
Follow Sweet Life on twitter.
I Like Sweet Life on Facebook.
I like you on fb
One year I accidentally cooked the turkey upside down. My husband couldn’t figure out what was going on when he tried to carve it! It actually ended up being delicious and I have seen recipes that tell you to do it on purpose!
I don’t recall having any mishaps, I guess that’s a good thing.
[email protected]
I like Sweet Life on facebook (Elena Istomina)
Follow you on Twitter @ElenaIstomina
I started to cook the turkey before it was completely defrosted and when I cut it the turkey was still raw inside
I Like sweet life as June Lisle on Facebook
One mishap was when squash soup was served before we could have the main meal. A lot of us knew it tasted terrible but we smiled and ate it anyway. Thanksgiving isn’t the best time to experiment.
I follow you on twitter, @shopgurl
I like you on facebook, Evelyn D
Yes. Once I overcooked my turkey and it was so dry. It was like a straw. Everybody was complaining about it. It was horrible
Great post! I’m so excited about Thanksgiving.
love the post! 🙂
My one mishap, was the one most people experience: I overcooked a turkey. Even drowning it in gravy, did not help it.
jslbrown_03 at yahoo dot com
I like you on Facebook as Mary Happymommy.
Years ago my mother forgot to refrigerate some cream puffs she had bought for Thanksgiving dessert. My husband and I ate some and were throwing up for 3 days straight! Always read refrigeration/storage instructions. We learned that the hard way.