In the past 16 years, I have written 874 (almost always on Tuesday) weekly blogs. But this week my pen is silent as I want to share a piece of writing my wonderful and witty cousin sent out after her Thanksgiving dinner last year. It is a cautionary tale.
So, here’s the story of our “interesting” Thanksgiving meal.
Since it was going to be just the five of us, I bought a 4 Ib pre-roasted turkey breast, which just needed to be heated for an hour or so in the oven. I made dressing, mashed and sweet potatoes the day before, and bought pre-made gravy. Our guests made green bean casserole and I had some candied carrots as well. The turkey directions said to put it on a shallow pan, and I decided to use a Pyrex 9×13 pan for it. I basted it with herbed butter and put it in a 350 oven, with the sweet and mashed potatoes in casserole pans above it. After the appointed hour, the turkey was barely breaking a sweat, so I turned the oven up to 400 and gave everything another 30 minutes. The other dishes were also taking their sweet time so I uncovered them to see if we could have dinner before we fainted from hunger. Finally, the turkey had heated up to 170, and the sides were ready as well. We took the turkey out of the oven and put it on top of the glass-topped stove. No big deal, eh? Done similar moves a million times. So imagine our surprise when at the very moment the dish hit the stovetop, the Pyrex baking dish shattered and lethal shards flew everywhere, into the oven, over the countertops, all over the floor. It was incredible that none of the three of us around the stove were hurt, thankfully. These splinters were razor-sharp and could easily have damaged our eyes, face or rest of the body. To say we were stunned was an understatement. It’s Pyrex, for Pete’s sake, that stuff never shatters, until it does. Don’t know why, don’t know how, but it did. So, to assess the damage to the dinner. Obviously, the turkey was a goner. Then the sides, which looked fine but had been in the line of fire. Off the menu! Rolls were cancelled too. Thankfully I had put the dressing into a slow cooker, as well as pre-made gravy and the green bean casserole was outside the combat zone, with the carrots. We were left with dressing, gravy, carrots and the ubiquitous green bean casserole. No turkey? No problem! We didn’t really miss it. But next year, I hope someone invites me to their house for Thanksgiving.
No more shattered Pyrex for my cousin this year. She has been invited out!
Wishing everyone a Pyrex-free Thanksgiving.
OMG.
talk about weird thanksgivings . . .
(back online)
evie