On Nov 26, 7:56*am, "jmcquown" > wrote:
> "JeanineAlyse" > wrote in message
>
> ...> On Nov 24, 5:26 pm, wrote:
> >> I was looking for something to put my mashed potatoes in that would
> >> keep them warm for the Thanksgiving Day potluck. I didn't make enough
> >> to warrant using the crock pot so I decided to use the tagine.
> >> Yippieee Skippieee.
> >> It made a very pretty serving dish too.
>
> > Oh, what a great share, Koko. *I have no tagine, but have decided for
> > the Thanksgiving dinner I will make for bad-cook friends next year I
> > will use all my Corningware and other nice oven-safe dishes to keep
> > everything inside a low-temp oven or stove-top
>
> (snip)
>
> > Wish me luck, I am determined to have these bad-cook people over next
> > year for a goosd, simple, old fashioned Thanksgiving dinner.
> > Theit kitchen is just as tiny as mine, they have two grown kids who
> > each work in restaurants, and thereby each of the four adults
> > contributed to the dinner I was invited to. *I brought only my then
> > too sour cranberry sauce to share; they provided a very dry spiral
> > sliced ham, a moisture-less turkey, watery and unsalted mashed spuds,
> > tasteless gravy, canned and unseasoned-undrained green beans
>
> (snipped before I barf LOL)> ...PickyHavingNoLeftoversButForAsliceOfCheesecake, ThankYou!
>
> Sorry to piggy back, Picky *I'm sure we've all had our share of bad or
> mediocre holiday dinners.
>
> When I was married (a million years ago) I had to go to four different
> houses for Thanksgiving. *I'm an equal opportunity critic *My mother made
> a pretty standard meal: *turkey with dressing (made from Pepperidge Farm
> seasoned bread cubes - not bad). *Mashed potatoes (made from a box of those
> mashed potato flakes). *Turkey gravy made from a packet of McCormick's or
> Durkee or something. *Canned green beans (but at least she drained them!).
> Dinner rolls (she always forgot to set the timer and burned the rolls), a
> chilled can of "cranberry sauce" that came out shaped like the can.
>
> Then we had to go to the (former) MIL's house for another meal. *She made
> cornbread "dressing" that was so runny it looked like vomit. *You could
> literally run a spoon through it and it would close back up, the opposite of
> parting the Red Sea. *I thought perhaps she'd made a mistake so I didn't say
> anything. *But it became apparent from comments she always made it like
> that. *"Isn't it great?!" *Being a polite guest I took a spoonful of
> dressing (which quickly spread out on my plate), and no, it wasn't great.
> LOL
>
> Then it was off to visit one of his aunt's who lived in an apartment with
> her two daughters, both of whom were probably in their 20's. *I don't
> remember much about that visit except the turkey had been cooked to death
> several times over. *It became apparent why when I walked in the door
> spotted all the beer cans in the trash. *Heh.
>
> Over the river and through the woods to [his] grandmother's house we went!
> His grandparents were lovely people. *Very gracious. *They lived in the
> country, had a vegetable garden and the food was delicious. *But by this
> time I was getting tired, although I politely nibbled.
>
> (Best Billy Mays voice) But wait! *There's more! *LOL *We still had to go to
> his uncle's house! *His wife didn't cook dinner. *She served "holiday
> platters" she'd bought at the deli counter. *There's a nice homey touch for
> ya! *Frankly, I didn't mind. *It was more like a cocktail party than a
> holiday dinner. *Hors d'oeuvres, different types of breads and sliced turkey
> and ham with accompaniments, a relish tray. *And wine and liquor. *Lots and
> lots of liquid refreshments. *By that time I needed it *We'd been going
> from house to house all day and I just wanted to go home.

Meal hopping is stupid, but at least your final stop was the one with
the decent food. You could have used the excuse of not wanting to get
filled up at your mother's, and just had a little turkey and
dressing. Then at the next two places, claim to be stuffed from
earlier in the day. You sure in Hell didn't have to eat the cornbread
slop, and at the aunt's you could just have a drink, saying that you'd
already had two meals, but wanted to come by because you enjoyed their
company. Have your only real meal at the grandparents' and just have
drinks at the cocktail party.

Next year, I'm making dinner, even if it's only for the 3 of us. If
my sister-in-law does another noon thing, we'll go, but just to visit,
showing up at about 1:00. We'll use the excuse of wanting to save our
turkey appetites for dinner.
>
> Jill

--Bryan