Thanksgiving Day Troubleshooting Tips

Hosting the Thanksgiving feast for family and friends creates a great deal of pressure. The food has to be perfect, the house in order and guests made comfortable. No wonder, of all the holidays, Thanksgiving is rife with stories of disaster.

It would be nice to say there should be an article written on how to avoid the disasters. However, that's unlikely, since those disasters can be as varied as all the individuals hosting Thanksgiving dinner. So, perhaps a better approach is to provide advice on how to solve some of the disasters that can arise.

Most disasters revolve around the Thanksgiving meal, especially the main course, turkey. This poultry, in my opinion, is just about the perfect food, but when anything has to thaw for several hours before it can be cooked, and then cooked for several hours, there's plenty that can go wrong.

One Web site, allrecipes.com, provides a guide to some of the most common problems that can occur while preparing a Thanksgiving feast, what likely caused a problem and tips on Thanksgiving troubleshooting. Problems such as the turkey not being defrosted, burning while cooking or becoming dry are covered, as well as what to do so the guests don't suspect anything. For instance, for the problems above in order, you can put the turkey in the sink and run cold water over it to speed up the thawing process (about a half hour per pound), turn it over while cooking and then cut some of the burnt meat out and provide extra gravy for dry meat.

Foodnetwork.com also provides a complete menu for a quick and easy Thanksgiving meal and tips for preparing a great meal.

A video at foxnews.com shows ways to overcome disaster and starts out by saying aluminum foil, flour or cornstarch, a sieve, chicken broth, a casserole dish, cheese grater, butter, cheese and cans of whipped cream are necessary to overcome just about any Turkey Day disaster. The video provides many of the same Thanksgiving troubleshooting tips as the allrecipes.com article, but is more entertaining since it features an inept man dressed as a Pilgrim trying to cook the meal. There are also different tips for thinning thick gravy and moistening dry turkey (that's where the chicken broth and casserole dish come in handy). Also, soggy stuffing can be saved by spreading it on a cookie sheet and baking it uncovered for about 15 minutes at 350 degrees. Just about any dessert can be saved by placing the good parts in parfait glasses and alternating with layers of whipped cream.

Other problems on the site cover sticky mashed potatoes, burnt rolls, lumpy gravy and soggy pie crust.

While disaster, by its nature, cannot be completely avoided, a look at some Web sites where people have posted their past disasters might help remind you to take extra care and what to look for while preparing the meal so you don't have to troubleshoot on Thanksgiving Day.

For instance, at askville.amazon.com, a woman related how her husband failed to dry the turkey properly before trying to deep fry it. The flames nearly set their garage roof on fire.

Even the Weather Channel gets in on the action with its Web site counting down the top 10 Thanksgiving disasters provided to it by readers. One woman tells how her mother forgot to turn the oven on twice for Thanksgiving dinner, and how because of that she checks it every year. Another story warns about turning your back on a Great Dane after the turkey has been carved.

Of course, there is one sure fire way to avoid any Thanksgiving disasters, and it's the one to which I subscribe: don't host Thanksgiving dinner. Turkey tastes great, but it's even better when somebody else has prepared it.

And remember, it may not seem funny now, but a Thanksgiving disaster is something everybody can look back on later and laugh about, even if it takes a few years.

For more Thanksgiving troubleshooting tips, see the links below, and have a great Thanksgiving.

Sources:

http://allrecipes.com/HowTo/Thanksgiving-Disaster-Savers/detail.aspx>

http://video.foxnews.com/11663219/solve-thanksgiving-disasters/?category_id=949437d0db05ed5f5b9954dc049d70b0c12f2749

http://www.foodnetwork.com/dx/turkey-day-disasters/index.html

http://askville.amazon.com/Thanksgiving-disasters/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=29180620>

http://www.weather.com/activities/homeandgarden/holidays/specialtopics/ivillage_thanksdisasters_2009.html?page=5&scheme=article-vert-plain.css>

http://www.weather.com/activities/homeandgarden/holidays/specialtopics/ivillage_thanksdisasters_2009.html?page=9&scheme=article-vert-plain.css>