What a holiday. I'm either becoming quite calm in my middle age, or I'm delusional.
Everything was going so well. On Wednesday night, I made the sweet potato casserole and a bourbon chocolate pecan pie. I also prepped the veggie tray and chopped up the onions and green peppers I'd need for the dressing.
I woke up early Thursday morning and made cranberry sauce and a pumpkin gooey butter cake. I prepped the turkey and got it in the oven by 10 am. At 18 pounds and unstuffed, it should have taken a little more than three hours to roast.
My dad and stepmother's flight was due in at noon. Our plan was to have everything ready to go and Sera put down for her nap before Jim left to pick them up at the airport. My dad called around 10 to let us know the flight was delayed by 18 minutes. I pulled up the flight information and kept it refreshed on the laptop. They ended up delayed an hour. No biggie.
I made the dressing and peeled the potatoes. Just as the garbage disposal churned up the last of the peels, brown nasty water starting coming back up the drain. Jim got the plunger and started working on it. Unfortunately the only thing this did was increase the amount of water in the sink. He went online and found a website for our garbage disposal. He followed their directions. Nada. While Jim was working on this, I checked my thermometer to see how the turkey was doing. I have one where you stick a probe in the meat and it's attached to a digital device and alarm. I noticed that the turkey temperature had dropped almost 20 degrees.
I opened the oven door, and it was not hot. I turned the oven off and restarted it. It heated back up, so I breathed a big sigh of relief. I told Jim I'd just cover that side of the sink with a sheet pan, and took Sera up for her nap. We were running later than our original schedule, but still on time according to the new arrival time.
When Jim left, I cleaned up from my morning cooking, took a shower, and dressed. When I went back downstairs to the kitchen, the oven had shut off again. This time it had completely turned itself off. I prepped asparagus for roasting as our veggie and crossed my fingers.
You'd think by now I'd be in a panic, but I wasn't. My thoughts were that if nothing else, we had all the side dishes. I also thought that if worse came to worst, we'd get some gas for the grill and throw the turkey on the grill.
Jim arrives with my dad and Nora. I pull out the veggie tray, and Jim gets Sera up for her nap. And the oven shuts off AGAIN! I finally pull the turkey out of the oven around 3:00. Only two hours later than it should have been. The skin never really browned, but how could it when the oven kept shutting off? I was pretty sure I'd cooked it to temp via my thermometer, but was also sure it would be a dry mess.
I got the sweet potatoes and dressing in the oven and put the potatoes on to boil. Went to check on the oven about 20 minutes later, and it was off again. Turned it back on, got everything heated, made the gravy, made the mashed potatoes, and Jim started to carve the turkey. When he started carving, Jim thought he was seeing pink. I just poured the rest of the stock into the roasting pan where I'd just poured out the gravy and told him to toss the slices in. I'd poach them 'til they were done. Luckily, it was a false alarm.
At 4:00 pm, the five of us finally sat down to eat. Only two hours later than I had planned with our revised schedule.
There were two miracles that occurred. One, I never freaked. And the turkey was actually moist.
Everything was going so well. On Wednesday night, I made the sweet potato casserole and a bourbon chocolate pecan pie. I also prepped the veggie tray and chopped up the onions and green peppers I'd need for the dressing.
I woke up early Thursday morning and made cranberry sauce and a pumpkin gooey butter cake. I prepped the turkey and got it in the oven by 10 am. At 18 pounds and unstuffed, it should have taken a little more than three hours to roast.
My dad and stepmother's flight was due in at noon. Our plan was to have everything ready to go and Sera put down for her nap before Jim left to pick them up at the airport. My dad called around 10 to let us know the flight was delayed by 18 minutes. I pulled up the flight information and kept it refreshed on the laptop. They ended up delayed an hour. No biggie.
I made the dressing and peeled the potatoes. Just as the garbage disposal churned up the last of the peels, brown nasty water starting coming back up the drain. Jim got the plunger and started working on it. Unfortunately the only thing this did was increase the amount of water in the sink. He went online and found a website for our garbage disposal. He followed their directions. Nada. While Jim was working on this, I checked my thermometer to see how the turkey was doing. I have one where you stick a probe in the meat and it's attached to a digital device and alarm. I noticed that the turkey temperature had dropped almost 20 degrees.
I opened the oven door, and it was not hot. I turned the oven off and restarted it. It heated back up, so I breathed a big sigh of relief. I told Jim I'd just cover that side of the sink with a sheet pan, and took Sera up for her nap. We were running later than our original schedule, but still on time according to the new arrival time.
When Jim left, I cleaned up from my morning cooking, took a shower, and dressed. When I went back downstairs to the kitchen, the oven had shut off again. This time it had completely turned itself off. I prepped asparagus for roasting as our veggie and crossed my fingers.
You'd think by now I'd be in a panic, but I wasn't. My thoughts were that if nothing else, we had all the side dishes. I also thought that if worse came to worst, we'd get some gas for the grill and throw the turkey on the grill.
Jim arrives with my dad and Nora. I pull out the veggie tray, and Jim gets Sera up for her nap. And the oven shuts off AGAIN! I finally pull the turkey out of the oven around 3:00. Only two hours later than it should have been. The skin never really browned, but how could it when the oven kept shutting off? I was pretty sure I'd cooked it to temp via my thermometer, but was also sure it would be a dry mess.
I got the sweet potatoes and dressing in the oven and put the potatoes on to boil. Went to check on the oven about 20 minutes later, and it was off again. Turned it back on, got everything heated, made the gravy, made the mashed potatoes, and Jim started to carve the turkey. When he started carving, Jim thought he was seeing pink. I just poured the rest of the stock into the roasting pan where I'd just poured out the gravy and told him to toss the slices in. I'd poach them 'til they were done. Luckily, it was a false alarm.
At 4:00 pm, the five of us finally sat down to eat. Only two hours later than I had planned with our revised schedule.
There were two miracles that occurred. One, I never freaked. And the turkey was actually moist.
4 Comments:
"pumpkin gooey butter cake"
I think I need this recipe.
Yikes!! Does all this mean that you & Jim are in the market for a new oven now?
Your menu sounds just yummy!
Wow, I would have been a mess! I am so impressed that you didn't freak. Actually, while I was reading it I freaked for you, so you are covered. :)
So, how's the oven? Repair or new? Same thing with the disposal?
Oh, and I'm with katesais, that recipe sounds divine (and really really bad for you, lol!)
Cheers, Kiy
Yikes! Is the the same oven? I remember how stubborn it is... remember those pasties that took until 10pm to cook properly? And the lemon cake that never baked! Sheesh! Lol.
Glad you guys had a good dinner after all. Mmmm.... pumpkin cake!
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