Wow, those are awesome stories. We've been fairly lucky, aside from the obligatory dog-having stories where the golden retriever takes the top layer off the pumpkin pie, or the labrachow is discovered head-first in the garbage with the turkey carcass.
But we know never to let my oldest brother cook a holiday dinner again. He's a restauranteur. The last time it happened, Christmas dinner was three hours late, and every. single. pot. in the kitchen had to be cleaned. Everything was very tasty, but by the time we ate, it could have been day-old pizza for all I cared.
My sister & I have it all pretty much wired, now; we've been joint-hosting for about seventeen years. We don't experiment (except with breads or desserts which are prepared in advance), we count backwards from when we want the turkey out, and we always cook some stuffing in the turkey (but without egg). That stuffing is always gone by the end of the meal, because it's the best.
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But we know never to let my oldest brother cook a holiday dinner again. He's a restauranteur. The last time it happened, Christmas dinner was three hours late, and every. single. pot. in the kitchen had to be cleaned. Everything was very tasty, but by the time we ate, it could have been day-old pizza for all I cared.
My sister & I have it all pretty much wired, now; we've been joint-hosting for about seventeen years. We don't experiment (except with breads or desserts which are prepared in advance), we count backwards from when we want the turkey out, and we always cook some stuffing in the turkey (but without egg). That stuffing is always gone by the end of the meal, because it's the best.