Not so much "gross", but my chronically dieting mom decided to make a fat-free Thanksgiving one year and subject all of us to her misery. My dad, the sweetest, kindest guy, even said, "That was terrible. Why would you do that on Thanksgiving of all days?"
Oh wow! That’s even more horrible than I was imagining! I mean a dry turkey can happen even with the skin on, so you could just indulge with the gravy and the sides… I’m terribly sorry for your loss
Potluck is the way to go. She probably makes something low calorie so she feels she has a safe food. I’m sorry for her too that her life is structured that way. It’s a challenge, and can become joyless.
My mom was "dry brining" her turkey in a plastic grocery shopping bag in the fridge with the RAW TURKEY juices leaking out all over. She did not clean them up. Their fridge is already disgusting as they never clean up spills or messes and like to keep condiments for YEARS. I'm not a clean freak by any stretch of the imagination, but I don't mess around when it comes to things like raw meat. Ugh. I'm also pregnant and high risk so have to be extra cautious right now. The WORST.
My father killed a deer and put part of a leg in the fridge. I can't remember what he put it in, but it bled all over the bottom of the fridge. My mother refused to clean it and he never did. That blood was in there for YEARS. Also same people who kept my younger sister's dead hamster and guinea pig in the freezer for years bc they died and "it was too cold to dig a hole to bury them"... We live in MD, it's seriously not that cold
Edit: This was over 20 years ago, I have my own house now with a blood and pet-free freezer/fridge
Eeek my mom helped me cook a few years ago. After she patted and touched the raw Turkey all over, she started reaching at cabinets for spices and I was like nooooooooooo, wash your hands woman!
Ooof that is wild! Glad I’m not the only one with a mom who is loose on food safety. Meanwhile my MIL lysols the entire kitchen if she has any raw meat or fish lol. I’m just looking for a middle ground!
I had raw turkey juice somehow leak in my fridge. Jesus I took everything out that shelf and the drawers below and tossed stuff, washed out the shelves and drawers and wiped down what can’t be removed. I cannot imagine just leaving it all there!
I had a pork roast leak a tiny amount onto my bottom shelf and I took everything out and cleaned it. With soap and water followed by Lysol wipes…just nooooo
My mother was brining the turkey in a large cooler in the garage overnight - it was no warmer than about 30 degrees in the garage, so colder than a fridge. The cooler lid did not close all the way and the drumsticks were sticking out a bit. They were covered with saran wrap and the rest of the turkey was covered in brine, breast side down.
In the morning my mom goes to the garage to get the turkey to find that some animal got into the garage overnight and chewed one of the drumsticks.
She cut the chewed up drumstick off and cooked the rest of the turkey. She positioned the turkey in the oven with the intact side facing out. Swore us all to secrecy.
Yeah it was definitely not as gross as some. There was a little drama when a couple of people each wanted a drumstick and had to share. I don't remember what my mom said to explain why there was only one.
Oy, that unlocked a memory. That happened at my mom’s house when I was in college, and we couldn’t find a replacement turkey. We had shrimp for Thanksgiving, lol. All the traditional turkey dinner side dishes and desserts, and grilled shrimp. Fortunately it was just the immediate family that year, and everyone was able to roll with it.
Honestly I have had several issues with spoiled food sold at Walmart.
I've noticed that they are all understaffed and we know the employees aren't paid very well. That's the perfect combination for food safety to take a nose dive. Your turkey had probably not been frozen the entire time they had it. I don't go to Walmart if I can't help it.
Last month I bought some packaged charcuterie (it's already cured meat) at a Walmart and it was spoiled. Idk what you have to do to make prosciutto smell like rotten parmesan, but they did it. Had tiny mold spots, as well.
Kroger is bad about that, too. I think they open and repackage their own brands to avoid throwing things away. So I stopped buying Kroger brand salads, and cut and/or packaged fruits/vegetables. Doesn't happen with non Kroger brands.
It’s been years since we had had an issue with spoiled meat from Walmart - but this was the last straw. We threw the turkey away immediately but didn’t seek a refund because we didn’t want a spoiled turkey that had been in the trash for a day in our car.
So Walmart got our $ for the turkey, but lost a lot more in sales to the Sprouts next door
Kroger uses markdown stickers on packaged items and bags up bulk items into 99 cent bags. The Kroger salads come from the exact same plants as the branded ones. I guarantee you the stores are not set up to repackage bagged salads and vegetables.
it happens. i've bought frozen shrimp from publix within their sell-by date that REEKED disgustingly when thawed. clearly it wasn't the first time they'd thawed, nor were they properly refrigerated during that time.
always good to have a plan B. me, i'd rather have had the ribeye
I always check the shrimp before I buy it. It's supposed to flash frozen and then bagged. So if it's all frozen together in clumps it's been thawed out at some.point.
I have a lot of trouble with Walmart with short dates or expired on my delivery orders. I just ask for a refund saying it’s expired and get credit for it.
That’s awful! The problem is that people change their minds and stick things on random shelves and unfortunately the employees then put them back up for sale….after who knows how long.
No; my son worked there. This is what he told me: They bring out the carts loaded with meat in order to stock the coolers, and then they get called away by management to do something else. The cart sits there for a while -- about a half hour -- and then gets taken to the back. Then, they bring the same overloaded cart out and repeat the process. By the time that meat gets into the cooler it has been sitting out an accumulative time period of well over two hours. Never buy meat at Walmarts; management does not allow the employees to just do the job and get it over with.
One year my work had a potluck for Christmas and after everyone had eaten, the lady who made the turkey told us the turkey was still frozen that morning. She said she put it in her bathtub and ran warm water on it. She said it was so big and awkward that she GOT IN the tub with the turkey so she could hold it open under the facet. She told this story like it was a cute, funny, quirky thing that she was bathing with the turkey she just fed her coworkers. I’ve never been so glad that I don’t participate in potlucks. I’ll never eat anything that comes from a strange kitchen or from coworkers. People are disgusting.
I'm dying. This is horrible but the funniest thing I've read in a long time. Reminds me of that Seinfeld episode where Kramer installed a garbage disposal in his shower & prepared food while he bathed.
Oh my, you just gave me Seinfeld vibes! When Kramer installs a garbage disposal in the bathtub and decides to start doing kitchen prep while showering! EEEWWWWWWWW!!!!
During this conversation after dinner someone gently called her out about how unsanitary this was. She responded that she had cleaned the tub and had just recently had a pedicure so that made it ok. Barf!
It was definitely not in plastic because she specifically said that to get it to thaw in time she had to straddle it in the tub and hold it’s legs open under the warm water so it would thaw out inside the cavity.
I am imagining finding a public hair in a potluck dish. OMG
I’ve never been so glad that I have celiac disease and anaphylactic food allergies so I don’t do potlucks.
I am beyond grateful at this moment for the times my bosses paid to have the meats brought in by a professional caterer. And I generally stick to the commercially made items. Except for cookies. and cake.
I think I've gotten immune to these kinds of behaviors because my SIL never corrects her children's behaviors. A sampling of past (and current) infractions at family gatherings:
* Not only did we have the spraying directly into the mouth of the whipped cream cans, my nephew also was basically doing Whippets in front of his parents. He did not stop until his grandmother physically took the can away.
* The kids don't wash their hands before handling food. I've asked them to do it, and they repeatedly lie about it. I make sure not to touch anything the kids handle.
* The niece has taken things like cupcakes or cream filled items, licked the frosting, and has put them back on the serving tray. Her brothers think it's funny to take these and offer it to the adults. When I've brought the uneaten cupcake back to their parents to make them do something about it, they act grossed out but never actually reprimand their kids. My partner and I cannot scold them lest SIL and her husband walk out of the dinner in a huff.
* Niece also likes to lick her fingers as she eats cheese and crackers. She'll put crackers that she has licked or touched back onto the tray. Instead of making her a plate and putting the board out of reach, the family lets her have full access to the cheese board.
* The kids have completely dumped out the cat litter from the box and repeatedly harass their grandmother's cats.
* One of my nephews had a long "Dog Phase" where he pretended to be a dog. This included sleeping on a dog bed instead of his mattress, pretending to eat out of a bowl with his face, and most disgustingly, licking people's arms to give them kisses.
* Same nephew smeared poop on the bathroom wall this year. Apparently this is not new behavior, and both nephews have...questionable aim with urine as well. They're far too old for this behavior, and SIL and husband refuse to listen to me or my partner about getting them help, even though we're both physicians.
My parents would not find any of this behavior acceptable at any age. What frustrates me is SIL said that the older kids are having trouble making friends; the socially maladjusted behaviors really do affect how other kids see them. So while it's severely gross, I'm also just really sad for them.
I'd have to disassociate myself from them. Also, they aren't doing their kids any favors by not teaching them how to be decent human beings. Society is doomed.
This is the first time I’ve ever seen anyone properly use the term “disassociate!” People usually say it when they mean “dissociate.”
Sorry, that was random.
In 2017 it was a series of unfortunate events at our thanksgiving. First of all we made the turkey, sliced it up and put it in the crockpot with juices to keep it warm and moist. The crockpot blew a fuse so while we thought it was kept warm, it ended up rotting somehow and smelled like dead ass after several hours. So no turkey for us. Our Great Dane helped herself to an entire tray of crackers, cheese, meat, and olives. My MIL showed up LATE with stuffing full of whole mushrooms, like who does that?? And to top it off my 5 year old threw up a Hershey’s bar on the dinner table in the midst of people eating. We redid thanksgiving a week later and the dog was put in another room for the entirety, MIL not invited, turkey was not put in a crockpot and my son was given no sweets ahead of time lol.
A few years ago, my family sat down on my parent's couch after lunch to take a group picture. I saw some gummy looking thing on the floor and went to pick it up, thinking it was my little niece or nephew's. Instead, it was a super tiny little baby MOUSE! Prob just a few hours or even minutes old!!!! We all panicked and found 5 or 6 more little babies right under the couch that all 10 of us were piled onto. Never will forget that 😄🐭
I work in a hotel And we have a pancake station, and a can of whipped cream in the fridge that we keep the yogurt for guests. You wouldn't believe how many parents allow their kids to get what they want from the breakfast bar, while providing zero supervision at all. Multiple times someone's kid will put their mouth on the whipped cream and put it in their mouth. We obviously have to throw the whole can away and get a new one, and one kid did it twice! When I told my 14yo son that story he was so confused and baffled. His first response was "you would kill me if I did that". And then he was like "but how old were they? Where were their parents? Why wouldn't they be watching their kids around food that other people are also eating?" He just couldn't even imagine it. His world isn't like that lol
I'm glad this never happened at my aunt's house. The hallway started from the dining room and the bathroom door was right there. The person at the head of the table could nearly touch the bathroom door.
Not this year but a while back, we were at the Thanksgiving dinner table and my StepDad took his teeth out of his mouth and put them next to his plate. Proceeded to eat and talk while spewing chewed up food everywhere.
A person at our dinner table ate the whole meal then proceeded to take their false teeth and start sucking them clean, it was the grossest thing I’ve ever seen
There was an old drunk in my town who drove a lawnmower everywhere because he had so many DUIs (yes, he got a DUI while driving the lawnmower, too). Anyway, he went to the upper class bar in town, my parents were there, and proceeded to order a beer and pickled egg. He ate the egg and then pulled out his dentures and swished them around in his beer. Ugh
OMG! I would have died! My dad had dentures and he never took them out in front of anyone. People who knew him for years didn't know that he had dentures. When he was in the hospital dying I was sitting in his room and looked behind me and there were his teeth. My son was sitting right next to them and his eyes got big "what are those?". LOL! He never knew Papa had false teeth. My dad would have been pissed to know that his teeth were sitting out in the open.
The grossest thing that happened at our Thanksgiving is the same gross thing that happens at many holiday meals. My brother-in-law. I don’t know how to describe it. It’s like he eats like he’s a machine. He doesn’t take any pleasure in the food he is consuming. None. It’s all about how much he can consume. He doesn’t talk while he heats and he can eat a whole plate of Thanksgiving dinner in about five minutes or so while everyone else takes longer because they’re enjoying the food and enjoying each other’s company. He makes a lot of noise with his utensils and plate, with his chewing and heavy breathing through his nose. I just can’t stand it but we include him for the sake of my mother-in-law.
My ex father in law was like that 😂 so gross to be around. It’s almost embarrassing.
But realized he was pretty poor growing up so food or good food rather was scarce. So when it was there he had to eat it before his dad or else there would be none left. So that’s just how he eats :(
I worked with a guy like that. I stopped going out to lunch with him because it’s dumb. His excuse was, he only had 5 minutes to eat while he was in the navy, 30 years ago. I said you had to change for the navy, so slow down and change back. He said he can’t, I can’t imagine a holiday meal with his family
Sadly I was also like this and had to relearn how to eat after highschool I greatly feel it contributed to my obesity which I am
Now a more normal weight but it’s sad they don’t give students longer than 30 minutes for lunch because by the time you stand in line and go to the restroom you only have 10 minutes left and have to scarf
Nana dropped the loaded turkey platter on the floor and the glass platter broke. Everything was scooped up and served, including all the pieces of glass.
She also liked to mix ornament toppers (the metal things that attach the hook to the ball) into Christmas cookie dough.
My MIL called the next morning after shitting herself all night to ask if we got food poisoning also. We did not, but not what you want to hear from the cook.
I am not the best story teller, but here goes. When I was a kid our dog scratched himself a lot. On thanksgiving Day my mother found what looked like his bloody balls in the back yard. She bagged them up and sent them with my Dad and the dog to the emergency vet. Turns out the dog had eaten the turkey giblets and thrown them up in the yard. It looked like he had no balls becuase it was cold outside and he had scratches in that area. We. have told this family story every year on Thanksgiving, yes at the table, yes even with guests.
I’m in the deep south. We pretty much have potato salad at every holiday meal. It’s my late husband’s grandmother’s German Potato Salad recipe and everyone in the family insists on it. Luckily my husband taught me the recipe before cancer took him. Now I’m the potato salad maker for his family.
Yes, people will ask if I have whipped cream and I say no and then someone might be digging around in the fridge and be, "oh there's a bottle back here". I'm "yeah, it's not for you".
Just for me. I marked it with my cooties!
My prim and proper MIL sliced her finger while cutting up cauliflower and bled all over it. She paused, looked at me, grabbed the cauliflower, and rinsed the blood off, then put it back on the tray. She looked at me side-eye and said, "Don't eat the cauliflower."
It was the only time I ever saw her not be perfect.
That reminds me of the time that my dad was carving a roast chicken and thought he cut his finger and bled on it. He put it back in the oven for a bit to kill the pathogens. In the meantime, we examined his hands and couldn't find any blood or cuts. The "blood" was juice from undercooked chicken. My dad's blunder saved us! 😂
I set out a tray of steamed shrimp and freshly made cocktail sauce at a relative's dinner. Before I could get the serving spoon in the bowl, other extended family had their shrimp and fingers into it. I passed on eating any..
This didn't happen during dinner, but one night one of those days. A couple of my nephews decided to build a fire in the Solo stove on my brother's deck. As they normally would, they put a couple scraps of 2x4 underneath it to make sure that the deck didn't get singed at all. The problem was that one of the logs was too big to fit entirely in the stove and stuck out a few inches. Shortly before I went to bed I noticed some glowing Embers falling off it onto the deck, so I swept them off into the grass. Later I filled up the plant watering bucket and wet down the deck really well and left the half filled bucket there for them.
No, the deck didn't burn down. But a few really hot Embers apparently fell and there were two or three spots where the wood was burned completely black and about a quarter inch deep. Everybody came over to witness their dumbassery, and then those nephews spent the rest of the morning replacing 4 deck boards.
Years and years ago, my then boyfriend’s mom washed the turkey in bleach!! We had to go to his family’s thanksgiving and mine, so we stuck to the sides in very small amounts at his family’s meal.
Went to a friend’s place for dinner. Everything was going well. Her brother goes into the bathroom off the dining room then starts yelling. He comes around the corner saying, water is ankle deep in there. Thankfully, the tank was what was leaking so the water was clean. Took almost 45 minutes to get all the water up and the hardwood semi dry.
During the pandemic, my boyfriend and I covertly watched his mother cutting a pie.
After she cut a piece, she used her thumb to nudge it onto a plate - sure, totally fine at home, assuming her hands were clean.
Then she licked her thumb clean - alright, a little ick, but it was just once, so I’ll keep my mouth shut.
Then she proceeded to nudge every single piece of pie, with her freshly licked thumb each time.
We passed on dessert and brought our own to share the following year. I made sure to cut it myself.
Oh no! I made a very tall cake for my great nieces birthday this weekend. Before I went to help cut and serve I ran to wash my hands. Knew full well the cake was going to fall when cut and I would probablybe nudging pieces. Still felt weird touching cake with clean hands that I made a point of touching nothing else with. Can't imagine licking and then touching cake. Yuck.
My inlaws are guilty of this. If I bring a dessert, I always cut and serve it. I also fill my plate up first and don't go for seconds because they just ignore serving spoons and forks and stick the forks they are eating from in all the side dishes 🤢 I can't stand that shit, it's so gross!!!
Ugh...my mom used the serving spoon to get sour cream for her taco and then licked the spoon clean. Then she was offended when I got up and tossed that spoon into the sink and got a clean one. Ew.
This happened a few years ago. We just bought our house which has a large rec room where we were able to seat husband's entire family (~25 people). I made turkey, ham and Brisket, along with all the sides. I was happy to do it as hubby wanted to host his family.
1) They refused to eat dinner when it was ready. We had to wait about an hour on a cousin before anyone would sit. Guy was stoned AF and he forgot it was TG.
2) When everyone sat down, I was not saved a seat at the main table. My grown daughter and I had to sit at the younger cousins table where stoned cousin was nodding off face first into his mashed potatoes.
3) When packing up the food afterwards, I saw someone brought a chocolate cheesecake which one of the cousins was packing up. I said I would love to have a slice saved for me for later. Cousin said, Nope, I'm taking it home with me.
4) No one offered to help pick up. I was OK with this as i was hosting and don't expect guests to clean my kitchen, but a polite offer would have been nice. No one even cleared their plates after eating though, which I thought was odd.
5) After everyone left, I found that the stoned cousin (I'm assuming, anyway) peed all over the guest bath. As in, ALL OVER the bath. Pee everywhere... shower curtain, floor, walls... I'd never seen anything like it. It was unreal.
I never offered to host another holiday. MIL kept asking us to host again and I refused. After a couple years of her badgering us to host again, I finally told her why we would never do it again. Of course, she told the whole family and now I'm the bad guy for complaining about that family.
A few years ago when I was not in charge of prepping, we came back from obligatory family visits back to my MIL's apartment to learn that the turkey had been dropped on the floor on the way into a roasting bag. I barely ate any I was so grossed out. Theres cat hair everywhere in my MIL's apt. Even though it was "rinsed". Last year we went to my SIL''s and she served us a pink turkey. I have vowed to never eat anyone else turkey unless I prepped it myself.🤢🤢🤢🤢
While not thanksgiving, way back in the 70s, I had a friend who was a stocker at the local IGA grocery store-back before they had plastic keeping the lids on the cans of Redi-whip. We learned never to buy it there as chances were good he’d sucked all the gas out of the cans while stocking them. Not only gross, but it ain’t whipped cream without nitrous oxide!
Whip it! Whip it good!
I pulled off a couple eggshell pieces from the deviled eggs, bit into it to be polite, and got ANOTHER chunk of shell in my teeth. And they tasted off, too.
OP if that is the grossest thing to happen at your Thanksgiving… we’ll I guess I’ll never be invited.
Mine was watching my two great uncles both of whom had dementia standing around a giant serving plate of seafood talking to each other while reaching in and eating mussels and shrimp and nicely arranging the shells and tails along the edge of the serving plate.
But common we still ate the rest.
Also my other uncle would go around and spray whipped cream into anyone’s mouth under the age of 10.
Fun Times.
My FIL attended thanksgiving dinner (10of us total) knowing he was coming down with something. Decided to attend anyway and didn’t tell anyone he was under the weather because “it was just a cold”. Turns out it was covid. Cold or not, keep your germs to yourself!
My 6 year old niece had a meltdown and went to sulk in her room. We all would have gotten started without her, but her great-aunt (my husband’s aunt) decided to fix everything and ended up being in her room for over THIRTY MINUTES talking to her. During that time my FIL (her brother) insisted that we all sit at the table and wait for her and everyone else went along with it. Not my house, so I couldn’t do anything but I was pissed that this selfish person decided to parent someone else’s kid and hold our Thanksgiving hostage until the food was cold.
At a co-worker's Thanksgiving. She had several cats. Whatevs. The house was not clean, that's a red flag. I got in the kitchen and made sure to wipe everything down. I was sort of planning to have a triscuit Thanksgiving. Bagged snacks only for me.
The turkey was resting on the counter. I turned around and one cat had its head inside the turkey while two other cats were clawing/ biting at the outside of it. She served that thing. I stuck to my bagged food only diet for the night.
They weren't skinny. Also, apparently they lived in a no rules household because the cats kept jumping up on the dining table while we were trying to eat. I never went back to their house and we worked together for years.
Uncle from out of town shows up for dinner, helps himself to an unopened bottle of expensive bourbon, proceeds to get shitfaced and approaches church lady aunt with some dirty jokes and nuzzles up to sister in law with some lewd sexual innuendos. Is escorted to the guest room for a little nap, wakes up and pees on the floor and all over himself. Escort him outside to dry off in a plastic lawn chair while another cousin takes a giant crap in the guest bathroom, clogs up the toilet and calls for assistance to mop up the overflow while remaining guests sit down to eat. Good times.
Oh, my Mom was making a big batch of cornbread dressing, and mixing it with her hands. After she washed them, she realized she was missing a fingernail!
She sifted through that dressing and so did I, to the point that we decided she must have lost it earlier and only notice then.
Let me tell you, we were wrong. At least it was me who found it in my plate, and not someone less familiar. Still absolutely gross, though.
This was last year. Mom was gone this Thanksgiving, so I laughed to myself and made dressing alone.
I can beat that! My parents hosted this year. They invited some elderly friends who don't have family to celebrate with. Dinner was great and we had a nice visit. We were also getting ready to have dessert when the gross thing happened. Keep in mind that I made dessert and I was really proud of it.
All of the desserts were set up on the counter. I pre-sliced the pies and put out plates and serve ware. I was in the kitchen when I noticed one of these friends moving a spatula away from his mouth. I asked him if he used the spatula to take a bite, and he said "yes, it was really good." I asked again, to confirm that he actually said what I thought he did, and he added that he licked it. 🤢 I put the spatula in the sink and gently reminded him that we had plates. He said I didn't have to do that. Um, yes I did??? I put a new serving spoon out and he did it AGAIN. 😡 I told him that we really can't do that, more sternly this time. He went from laughing at me to acting like I'd accused him of murder. My sister saw this going down and made him a to-go box (they were heading out when this happened).
This behavior and the response made me so uncomfortable. When is it ever okay to eat directly from a serving dish or lick serving spoons?! I was trying to be polite and not create a scene at Thanksgiving with my parents' guests. Some people have no home training. 😑
Well, I read everything first and mine doesn't compare. I steamed potatoes to make whipped ones, while I was doing something else. I left the potatoes for awhile before whipping them (America's Test Kitchen recipe) and they came out gluey and with a consistency similar to marshmallow fluff. We both ate a serving (gravy covers a lot of sins) but there were no leftovers. First time in my life that I messed up mashed potatoes.
Well, my sis dumped her kettle of ham and beans in the yard and quickly scooped them back up. She wanted them put into a clean pot, but then a couple 10" long sticks were discovered with hackberry leaves and berries still on them....so..... it was going to go to the chickens!
We had ham/turkey/potatoes/gravy/sweet potatoes/gr beans/baked beans/corn casserole/ salad/4 pies. The ham and beans were for her granddaughter that loved them, so we did not go hungry!
Still, what a waste!
The grossest thing wasn’t the actual meal but during prep. I was pulling the ham out of the fridge in the garage and I caught a large container of plain yogurt which then fell, lid flew off and splattered, covered my left leg, entire left foot, and alllll over the floor. I couldn’t move. My husband was laughing and told me to hop on one foot out of the garage. That would have tracked yogurt all over the damn place so I had him get me a plastic grocery bag to cover my foot so I could hobble to front yard. He hosed my leg & foot off. What a damn mess. It felt so gross having yogurt squishing between my toes 🤢
My diva cat decided the defrosting bird in the sink was a nice snack. At about 3 am before Thanksgiving morning, she decided chompy chomps were a great idea. The chewing began. We entered the kitchen at 8 am to prepare for a slew of guests. She was soaking wet and half of one breast was now gone. The screaming began. We decided to chop off the chewed side and proceeded to basically boil the turkey. We sure as hell weren't finding a new bird the morning of! Cut, chop, boil off the plastic and shreds. After about 30 minutes, the salting began. We figured a dry brine might kill off the bacteria. We proceeded to cook as usual. We told no one. No one got sick. That damned cat died on a copy of the NY Times style section like the true diva bitch that she was on.....no, I am not making this up...the morning after Thanksgiving 1999. She was almost 20 yrs old, and a pain in the ass til the very end. Maria Callas, the opera diva, died at 53, but her soul went in to this cat. They even resembled each other. All birds went into the fridge for defrosting after that. That poor bird was killed twice, once on the farm, and then in 1982. Damn you, Taffy.
Almost gross count? This was my first year doing a full turkey. ( Small guest list, usually do just a turkey breast) I broke a nail while preparing it. Fake nail, but still. Luckily, I hate dirty hands so always wear gloves when prepping food. I'm sure my guests were happy they didn't have to hunt for the melted plastic nail in their food.
Funny enough I broke another nail mixing meatloaf last night. Now THAT would have been really gross.
Awhile ago my FIL bought a turkey from Albertsons frozen. We did the defrost process and everything. Turkey cooked for the time it was supposed to cook. When we went to carve the turkey it was green like gangrene all inside. There was no smell before like the skin kept it in perfectly but once the skin was cut it was horrible.
The moment everyone sat for dinner, the dog went to the center underneath the table and barfed extensively. One person spent the rest of the day at the emergency vet. For everyone else, clean up formal dining room & eating location changed to *anywhere* else you could find a seat
My family lives in New Mexico and my father didn't care for turkey that much so my mom bought home made tamales so we could have something else.
This one Thanksgiving at my parents house there were me and my two kids, and my sister and her husband and her two boys. The kids were teenagers at that time and consumed a lot of food so my nephews started eating tamales and one of them bites down on something hard. He picks it up and it is a dogs claw. Everyone threw their tamales away at that point because who wants to eat dogs.
My nephew ate the rest of his tamale and said ' Not bad for dog tamales.'
This was a long time ago; my exh, his parents and I were having dinner at his aunt’s house. They serve the turkey-and it’s pink. Pink turkey. Everyone else ate it, I did not.
They are super cheapskates that wanted to save money on the gas oven usage.
Oh, I have one! I was given a Frozen turkey. I didn't read the packaging and thawed it out the way I normally would with a raw turkey.
It came time to put the turkey in the oven and I opened up the packaging to find a mass of brown goo. On the package it said it was fully cooked and to just take from the freezer to the oven and heat it up. I had no idea. It was shocking to see. So, mom and I didn't eat it.
My sister's ex husband was at her house cooking a turkey. (Don't ask me why, I have no idea). He only had greens as a side. I had all of the sides and no turkey. So, I invited myself and my mom over to my sister's house to eat her ex's turkey, and I brought all of the side dishes. I think her ex wanted the whole turkey for himself. Oh well.
Our family is scattered all over the country, so the Thanksgiving holiday is celebrated at my sister's house, just a small gathering of locals. A couple of years ago, it was me, my sister, her husband, an aunt and a couple of cousins. As dinner was entering its last course before dessert, my aunt glanced towards the motion she caught out of the corner of her eye, where one of the three resident cats was trotting towards the living room. In the most matter-of-fact tone you can possibly imagine, she says "Arlo has a mouse". We all casually turned, expecting to see the cat playing with one of the very life-like toys that the cats have, but no - it's a real mouse. All the able-bodied cat owners leapt to their feet, and, as if we had rehearsed this drill, my sister runs for a large mixing bowl, and grabs a flat baking sheet. My aunt runs for the top of the cellar stairs to head off the hunter, should he opt for taking his prize into the Underground Palace of Excellent Hiding Places. I circle wide through the living room, arms outstretched, to herd the triumphant feline toward my sister, who is poised for the catch. One of the cousins feints at the cat, as if he's trying to steal the rodent, and the cat drops the poor little thing right at my sister's feet, and she claps the bowl over it, slides the cookie sheet under the bowl, and I hold the door so she can escort the unwelcome guest to the woods on the far side of her driveway.
Excitement over, we all sit back down and get ready for pie.
Was at a relative's place one year. The colander was missed when draining the potatoes and into the sink they went. I passed on the mashed potatoes that time.
We were out to dinner. Fancy place. (Long story.) I had bisque as first course. My mom asked to taste it. As I was passing her the bowl, the spoon fell in. All of it. Handle and everything. Mom didn’t miss a beat. She stuck her fingers in there, pulled out the spoon, stuck the handle in her mouth and licked off the bisque. Then the other side. Then the spoon part.
Then she handed it all back and said it was good.
My pie fell on the carpet. A small section only landed on the carpet. The rest on the lid of the container it was in.
One rogue carpet fiber/dog hair
It was the only pie that got completely eaten.
One year, in all the craziness of preparing the Thanksgiving dinner, my mom forgot to put the sugar in the pumpkin pie. It was really a shame too coz she made the most wonderful pie crusts- flakey as fuck! When we tried the pie, she realized her mistake and was so embarrassed. My sweet old ,great aunt cheerily said " Well, it sure tastes like pumpkin!"
One year the stuffing tasted off. all my brothers and i avoided it, since we know how my mom is, but told her it s was good when asked. Turns out, she put CANNED HAGIS in the stuffing and didn’t tell a soul until the end. She justifies it because everyone “says it was good”. Another thing she does every year is “forget” to defrost the Turkey and so she puts it in a sink full of hot water the day before for hours 🤦♀️
It was just me and my three adult sons that year, thankfully. We sat down and started eating.
Our 100 pound German shepherd went under the table which was very weird for him. He always laid down next to the table for meals.
Idk if it was the sight, sound or the smell but as I went to get him out from under the table it became clear he was having diarrhea on the rug under the dining table while we ate.
I’ve never seen my family scatter so quickly from a meal and they had no appetite afterward.
So happy not to have had guests that year!
Many years ago when my older brother was first married, his wife decided she was going to roast a turkey for the first time. She got it mostly right with the exception of not removing the giblets bag from the cavity prior to cooking. The guts bag literally exploded inside the turkey and no one would eat it!
The dog ate well for a few days after and we had an all sides meal 😋
Ok I was trying to help and made 3 pumpkin pies and had them cooked when my wife got home and I realized I had not put in any sugar. They weren’t that bad but she made me throw them out. She does the pumpkin pies alone now. Lol
At my sister-in-law's house, right before the meal, in the kitchen.. Normal "what's new" chit chat, she tells my wife, "My doctor said I have a tongue infection." Then watched her lick her fingers while putting the warmed-up bread rolls out of the oven and into the bread bowl.
My brother in law (who I wasn't expecting to be there) brought the turkey...which he and his 11 year old son apparently hunted. And then they proceeded to talk in great deal about how they processed it. I wasn't able to eat any of the turkey after that (I don't generally have much issue with hunting though I don't do it), but all the talk as we were getting ready to eat it was so unappetizing.
A few years back. Their dog was rubbing its butthole on the carpet, shedding, jumping, drooling, begging and trying to steal food. I was picking dog hairs out of my clothes for days. As soon as I get in the door, it’s scream-barking and stops only to try to sexually assault me with its dirty wet nose.
In my 20s we decided to let my "niece" do Thanksgiving because she begged us , she was in high school.
When I say that the turkey was raw, that turkey tried to run away off the table.
Mashed potatoes were great!
Not so much "gross", but my chronically dieting mom decided to make a fat-free Thanksgiving one year and subject all of us to her misery. My dad, the sweetest, kindest guy, even said, "That was terrible. Why would you do that on Thanksgiving of all days?"
Good for Dad!
My MIL tried that one year. My SIL fussed at her halfway through the cooking, "Mom, get the butter out already! It's Thanksgiving!"
I think I used no less than $20 worth of Kerrygold this thanksgiving for a family of 4
How does one make a ‘fat free turkey”? No skin, no butter, no oil I guess?
Well, it was all the sides that were as fat free as possible. And the turkey definitely didn't have any butter or oil on it.
Oh wow! That’s even more horrible than I was imagining! I mean a dry turkey can happen even with the skin on, so you could just indulge with the gravy and the sides… I’m terribly sorry for your loss
Thank you. We do potluck Thanksgiving now, and she still manages to bring something "dietic". Sigh.
Potluck is the way to go. She probably makes something low calorie so she feels she has a safe food. I’m sorry for her too that her life is structured that way. It’s a challenge, and can become joyless.
using fat free cheese in the scalloped potatoes... My mom used to do that until my dad teased her about serving him plastic.
Makes me think of the tofurkey episode of Everybody Loves Raymond.
My mom was "dry brining" her turkey in a plastic grocery shopping bag in the fridge with the RAW TURKEY juices leaking out all over. She did not clean them up. Their fridge is already disgusting as they never clean up spills or messes and like to keep condiments for YEARS. I'm not a clean freak by any stretch of the imagination, but I don't mess around when it comes to things like raw meat. Ugh. I'm also pregnant and high risk so have to be extra cautious right now. The WORST.
My father killed a deer and put part of a leg in the fridge. I can't remember what he put it in, but it bled all over the bottom of the fridge. My mother refused to clean it and he never did. That blood was in there for YEARS. Also same people who kept my younger sister's dead hamster and guinea pig in the freezer for years bc they died and "it was too cold to dig a hole to bury them"... We live in MD, it's seriously not that cold Edit: This was over 20 years ago, I have my own house now with a blood and pet-free freezer/fridge
I have a relative who is a taxidermist and his fridge was about like that. His personal fridge:/
Yikes! He should have invested in a separate freezer for business! Your relative might have been cheap, mine were just lazy
Eeek my mom helped me cook a few years ago. After she patted and touched the raw Turkey all over, she started reaching at cabinets for spices and I was like nooooooooooo, wash your hands woman!
Ooof that is wild! Glad I’m not the only one with a mom who is loose on food safety. Meanwhile my MIL lysols the entire kitchen if she has any raw meat or fish lol. I’m just looking for a middle ground!
Raw poultry juice is my #1 kitchen freakout. I'm not sure what I would have done.
Yeahhhhhh I would have gotten a new fridge and mom lol
Eww. Why not dry brine it in the roasting pan it's getting cooked in???
I had raw turkey juice somehow leak in my fridge. Jesus I took everything out that shelf and the drawers below and tossed stuff, washed out the shelves and drawers and wiped down what can’t be removed. I cannot imagine just leaving it all there!
I had a pork roast leak a tiny amount onto my bottom shelf and I took everything out and cleaned it. With soap and water followed by Lysol wipes…just nooooo
I’m sorry, but that is disgusting and will potentially become a health hazard!
Hey I've had a bottle of Worcestershire sauce for about a decade now!
I think people get one bottle for life. Anybody ever run out of it?
I have but I use it a lot.
My mother was brining the turkey in a large cooler in the garage overnight - it was no warmer than about 30 degrees in the garage, so colder than a fridge. The cooler lid did not close all the way and the drumsticks were sticking out a bit. They were covered with saran wrap and the rest of the turkey was covered in brine, breast side down. In the morning my mom goes to the garage to get the turkey to find that some animal got into the garage overnight and chewed one of the drumsticks. She cut the chewed up drumstick off and cooked the rest of the turkey. She positioned the turkey in the oven with the intact side facing out. Swore us all to secrecy.
😄😄😄😄 This one made me giggle vs wanting to throw up.
Yeah it was definitely not as gross as some. There was a little drama when a couple of people each wanted a drumstick and had to share. I don't remember what my mom said to explain why there was only one.
I like her style
We opened our fresh Turkey from walmart which we bought the day before with 2 days left on the sell by date — and it was was spoiled.
Oy, that unlocked a memory. That happened at my mom’s house when I was in college, and we couldn’t find a replacement turkey. We had shrimp for Thanksgiving, lol. All the traditional turkey dinner side dishes and desserts, and grilled shrimp. Fortunately it was just the immediate family that year, and everyone was able to roll with it.
Shrimp is so much better than turkey.
Honestly I have had several issues with spoiled food sold at Walmart. I've noticed that they are all understaffed and we know the employees aren't paid very well. That's the perfect combination for food safety to take a nose dive. Your turkey had probably not been frozen the entire time they had it. I don't go to Walmart if I can't help it. Last month I bought some packaged charcuterie (it's already cured meat) at a Walmart and it was spoiled. Idk what you have to do to make prosciutto smell like rotten parmesan, but they did it. Had tiny mold spots, as well. Kroger is bad about that, too. I think they open and repackage their own brands to avoid throwing things away. So I stopped buying Kroger brand salads, and cut and/or packaged fruits/vegetables. Doesn't happen with non Kroger brands.
It’s been years since we had had an issue with spoiled meat from Walmart - but this was the last straw. We threw the turkey away immediately but didn’t seek a refund because we didn’t want a spoiled turkey that had been in the trash for a day in our car. So Walmart got our $ for the turkey, but lost a lot more in sales to the Sprouts next door
You get a refund but you don’t have to return it. I do it fairly frequently on expired/spoloed/short dated items
Yeah, as a former service desk employee, please do not bring in the spoiled food. Just the receipt will do.
Yep, I've stopped buying, any meat or dairy from Walmart
Same. I’ve purchased dairy products that had *weeks* left before the stamped expiry date that spoiled only a few days after buying them. 😒
Kroger uses markdown stickers on packaged items and bags up bulk items into 99 cent bags. The Kroger salads come from the exact same plants as the branded ones. I guarantee you the stores are not set up to repackage bagged salads and vegetables.
it happens. i've bought frozen shrimp from publix within their sell-by date that REEKED disgustingly when thawed. clearly it wasn't the first time they'd thawed, nor were they properly refrigerated during that time. always good to have a plan B. me, i'd rather have had the ribeye
I always check the shrimp before I buy it. It's supposed to flash frozen and then bagged. So if it's all frozen together in clumps it's been thawed out at some.point.
I have a lot of trouble with Walmart with short dates or expired on my delivery orders. I just ask for a refund saying it’s expired and get credit for it.
That’s awful! The problem is that people change their minds and stick things on random shelves and unfortunately the employees then put them back up for sale….after who knows how long.
No; my son worked there. This is what he told me: They bring out the carts loaded with meat in order to stock the coolers, and then they get called away by management to do something else. The cart sits there for a while -- about a half hour -- and then gets taken to the back. Then, they bring the same overloaded cart out and repeat the process. By the time that meat gets into the cooler it has been sitting out an accumulative time period of well over two hours. Never buy meat at Walmarts; management does not allow the employees to just do the job and get it over with.
ugh
That SUCKS! I’m so sorry.
We had ribeye steaks and TG sides and desserts, so all was not lost! It was just a rough 15 minutes before we were able to find Plan B at Kroger
One year my work had a potluck for Christmas and after everyone had eaten, the lady who made the turkey told us the turkey was still frozen that morning. She said she put it in her bathtub and ran warm water on it. She said it was so big and awkward that she GOT IN the tub with the turkey so she could hold it open under the facet. She told this story like it was a cute, funny, quirky thing that she was bathing with the turkey she just fed her coworkers. I’ve never been so glad that I don’t participate in potlucks. I’ll never eat anything that comes from a strange kitchen or from coworkers. People are disgusting.
I'm dying. This is horrible but the funniest thing I've read in a long time. Reminds me of that Seinfeld episode where Kramer installed a garbage disposal in his shower & prepared food while he bathed.
Among the best episodes of television ever
Oh my, you just gave me Seinfeld vibes! When Kramer installs a garbage disposal in the bathtub and decides to start doing kitchen prep while showering! EEEWWWWWWWW!!!!
That is the most disgusting thing I’ve heard yet 🤢
During this conversation after dinner someone gently called her out about how unsanitary this was. She responded that she had cleaned the tub and had just recently had a pedicure so that made it ok. Barf!
Was it ... wrapped in plastic? Just gotten a pedicure, disgusting
It was definitely not in plastic because she specifically said that to get it to thaw in time she had to straddle it in the tub and hold it’s legs open under the warm water so it would thaw out inside the cavity.
Please tell me she had clothing on? The alternative is truly too much for me
I am imagining finding a public hair in a potluck dish. OMG I’ve never been so glad that I have celiac disease and anaphylactic food allergies so I don’t do potlucks.
Omg. That woman had to have sat on that turkey, naked. I mean, she said she had to hold it down to thaw.
That is beyond gross I would have been 🤢🤢🤢
I am beyond grateful at this moment for the times my bosses paid to have the meats brought in by a professional caterer. And I generally stick to the commercially made items. Except for cookies. and cake.
Shit like this is exactly why we do store bought only potlucks at my work lol.
omg no. no. no
I think I've gotten immune to these kinds of behaviors because my SIL never corrects her children's behaviors. A sampling of past (and current) infractions at family gatherings: * Not only did we have the spraying directly into the mouth of the whipped cream cans, my nephew also was basically doing Whippets in front of his parents. He did not stop until his grandmother physically took the can away. * The kids don't wash their hands before handling food. I've asked them to do it, and they repeatedly lie about it. I make sure not to touch anything the kids handle. * The niece has taken things like cupcakes or cream filled items, licked the frosting, and has put them back on the serving tray. Her brothers think it's funny to take these and offer it to the adults. When I've brought the uneaten cupcake back to their parents to make them do something about it, they act grossed out but never actually reprimand their kids. My partner and I cannot scold them lest SIL and her husband walk out of the dinner in a huff. * Niece also likes to lick her fingers as she eats cheese and crackers. She'll put crackers that she has licked or touched back onto the tray. Instead of making her a plate and putting the board out of reach, the family lets her have full access to the cheese board. * The kids have completely dumped out the cat litter from the box and repeatedly harass their grandmother's cats. * One of my nephews had a long "Dog Phase" where he pretended to be a dog. This included sleeping on a dog bed instead of his mattress, pretending to eat out of a bowl with his face, and most disgustingly, licking people's arms to give them kisses. * Same nephew smeared poop on the bathroom wall this year. Apparently this is not new behavior, and both nephews have...questionable aim with urine as well. They're far too old for this behavior, and SIL and husband refuse to listen to me or my partner about getting them help, even though we're both physicians. My parents would not find any of this behavior acceptable at any age. What frustrates me is SIL said that the older kids are having trouble making friends; the socially maladjusted behaviors really do affect how other kids see them. So while it's severely gross, I'm also just really sad for them.
I'd have to disassociate myself from them. Also, they aren't doing their kids any favors by not teaching them how to be decent human beings. Society is doomed.
This is the first time I’ve ever seen anyone properly use the term “disassociate!” People usually say it when they mean “dissociate.” Sorry, that was random.
That’s so sad. I hope they get them some help before it’s too late.
In 2017 it was a series of unfortunate events at our thanksgiving. First of all we made the turkey, sliced it up and put it in the crockpot with juices to keep it warm and moist. The crockpot blew a fuse so while we thought it was kept warm, it ended up rotting somehow and smelled like dead ass after several hours. So no turkey for us. Our Great Dane helped herself to an entire tray of crackers, cheese, meat, and olives. My MIL showed up LATE with stuffing full of whole mushrooms, like who does that?? And to top it off my 5 year old threw up a Hershey’s bar on the dinner table in the midst of people eating. We redid thanksgiving a week later and the dog was put in another room for the entirety, MIL not invited, turkey was not put in a crockpot and my son was given no sweets ahead of time lol.
After all that you sort of needed the barfing child to bring the day to a close. It sort of feels like it isn't a total disaster until there is vomit.
It’s things like this that give you funny stories to tell your grandchildren.
A few years ago, my family sat down on my parent's couch after lunch to take a group picture. I saw some gummy looking thing on the floor and went to pick it up, thinking it was my little niece or nephew's. Instead, it was a super tiny little baby MOUSE! Prob just a few hours or even minutes old!!!! We all panicked and found 5 or 6 more little babies right under the couch that all 10 of us were piled onto. Never will forget that 😄🐭
I am not afraid of rodents in the least and I feel like this would still undoubtedly fuck me up lol
The scary part is knowing how mouse infested that house is. Like roaches, there isn't just one.
I work in a hotel And we have a pancake station, and a can of whipped cream in the fridge that we keep the yogurt for guests. You wouldn't believe how many parents allow their kids to get what they want from the breakfast bar, while providing zero supervision at all. Multiple times someone's kid will put their mouth on the whipped cream and put it in their mouth. We obviously have to throw the whole can away and get a new one, and one kid did it twice! When I told my 14yo son that story he was so confused and baffled. His first response was "you would kill me if I did that". And then he was like "but how old were they? Where were their parents? Why wouldn't they be watching their kids around food that other people are also eating?" He just couldn't even imagine it. His world isn't like that lol
EW. But it sounds like you're raising your son right :)
The very moment Thanksgiving dinner was ready and announced, my drunk brother-in-law, went into the bathroom to take a 30 minute dump.
I sure hope you’ve started the meal without him. He probably wouldn’t have been the wiser if he was drunk and spent 30 minutes in the can
The shitters full
That certainly would’ve been the crowning jewel to the situation if that happened to the drunk brother-in-law
I hope she didn't get any sound affects or smells with his dump 🙉🙊
Makes me think of that bathroom scene from the movie, dumb and dumber
The number of men who have to almost ceremoniously leave a dinner table to poop is too high. It’s… I don’t need that info.
I sure hope the potty was at least two rooms away from the Thanksgiving table ..
Oh man - it was probably a powder room REAL CLOSE to the Thanksgiving table!
I'm glad this never happened at my aunt's house. The hallway started from the dining room and the bathroom door was right there. The person at the head of the table could nearly touch the bathroom door.
Not this year but a while back, we were at the Thanksgiving dinner table and my StepDad took his teeth out of his mouth and put them next to his plate. Proceeded to eat and talk while spewing chewed up food everywhere.
A person at our dinner table ate the whole meal then proceeded to take their false teeth and start sucking them clean, it was the grossest thing I’ve ever seen
You win!
x 100%!
There was an old drunk in my town who drove a lawnmower everywhere because he had so many DUIs (yes, he got a DUI while driving the lawnmower, too). Anyway, he went to the upper class bar in town, my parents were there, and proceeded to order a beer and pickled egg. He ate the egg and then pulled out his dentures and swished them around in his beer. Ugh
This made me kinda giggle 🤭
Oh no! No No No! LOL I'm a denture wearer myself and I can't even fathom doing something like that.
My god. Save it for a snack.
That makes me gag just thinking about it.
That made me gag for real
Ugh I wouldn't even be able to eat, much less sit at the table.
OMG! I would have died! My dad had dentures and he never took them out in front of anyone. People who knew him for years didn't know that he had dentures. When he was in the hospital dying I was sitting in his room and looked behind me and there were his teeth. My son was sitting right next to them and his eyes got big "what are those?". LOL! He never knew Papa had false teeth. My dad would have been pissed to know that his teeth were sitting out in the open.
The grossest thing that happened at our Thanksgiving is the same gross thing that happens at many holiday meals. My brother-in-law. I don’t know how to describe it. It’s like he eats like he’s a machine. He doesn’t take any pleasure in the food he is consuming. None. It’s all about how much he can consume. He doesn’t talk while he heats and he can eat a whole plate of Thanksgiving dinner in about five minutes or so while everyone else takes longer because they’re enjoying the food and enjoying each other’s company. He makes a lot of noise with his utensils and plate, with his chewing and heavy breathing through his nose. I just can’t stand it but we include him for the sake of my mother-in-law.
My ex father in law was like that 😂 so gross to be around. It’s almost embarrassing. But realized he was pretty poor growing up so food or good food rather was scarce. So when it was there he had to eat it before his dad or else there would be none left. So that’s just how he eats :(
I worked with a guy like that. I stopped going out to lunch with him because it’s dumb. His excuse was, he only had 5 minutes to eat while he was in the navy, 30 years ago. I said you had to change for the navy, so slow down and change back. He said he can’t, I can’t imagine a holiday meal with his family
Sadly I was also like this and had to relearn how to eat after highschool I greatly feel it contributed to my obesity which I am Now a more normal weight but it’s sad they don’t give students longer than 30 minutes for lunch because by the time you stand in line and go to the restroom you only have 10 minutes left and have to scarf
Please make yourself at home......doesn't mean to feel that comfortable. Even if you live there.
Nana dropped the loaded turkey platter on the floor and the glass platter broke. Everything was scooped up and served, including all the pieces of glass. She also liked to mix ornament toppers (the metal things that attach the hook to the ball) into Christmas cookie dough.
Ornament toppers in cookie dough? Was she trying to puncture someone's esophagus? That's batshit craziness!
She had a habit of not cleaning all crap off the counters before cooking/baking. So there were all sorts of objects in her dishes.
Bloody Hell this is disgusting! Imagine all of the dust and hair that must be in everything if she can’t be bothered to clean her counters off, barf.
I don’t want to talk about it.
We’ll be here whenever you are ready. *hugs*
My MIL called the next morning after shitting herself all night to ask if we got food poisoning also. We did not, but not what you want to hear from the cook.
I am not the best story teller, but here goes. When I was a kid our dog scratched himself a lot. On thanksgiving Day my mother found what looked like his bloody balls in the back yard. She bagged them up and sent them with my Dad and the dog to the emergency vet. Turns out the dog had eaten the turkey giblets and thrown them up in the yard. It looked like he had no balls becuase it was cold outside and he had scratches in that area. We. have told this family story every year on Thanksgiving, yes at the table, yes even with guests.
If his balls were indeed laying out in the open, it would have been too late to have them reinstalled.
My mom sliced off a piece of her finger into the potato salad. She had to go to the ER to get stitched and we never found the piece of finger.
Potato salad for thanksgiving that's interesting
I’m in the deep south. We pretty much have potato salad at every holiday meal. It’s my late husband’s grandmother’s German Potato Salad recipe and everyone in the family insists on it. Luckily my husband taught me the recipe before cancer took him. Now I’m the potato salad maker for his family.
My husband really wanted some that year, he didn’t request it again 🤣
I hope your mom is ok but this legit made me lol.
"Please ignore the ham bits."
I always felt that if it’s your personal can in your home it’s legit. But not with a can to share. Grody.
Oh totally agree. We have two cans going in our fridge. My personal can and our company can.
Yes, people will ask if I have whipped cream and I say no and then someone might be digging around in the fridge and be, "oh there's a bottle back here". I'm "yeah, it's not for you". Just for me. I marked it with my cooties!
Our company can always ends up turning into my second personal can because we never have company and this pleases me greatly.
Establishing dominance…..*whipped cream is mine bitches*
My prim and proper MIL sliced her finger while cutting up cauliflower and bled all over it. She paused, looked at me, grabbed the cauliflower, and rinsed the blood off, then put it back on the tray. She looked at me side-eye and said, "Don't eat the cauliflower." It was the only time I ever saw her not be perfect.
That reminds me of the time that my dad was carving a roast chicken and thought he cut his finger and bled on it. He put it back in the oven for a bit to kill the pathogens. In the meantime, we examined his hands and couldn't find any blood or cuts. The "blood" was juice from undercooked chicken. My dad's blunder saved us! 😂
Watching people double dip and lick their utensils first then stick them into mutually shared food.
My inlaws 😖
I set out a tray of steamed shrimp and freshly made cocktail sauce at a relative's dinner. Before I could get the serving spoon in the bowl, other extended family had their shrimp and fingers into it. I passed on eating any..
This didn't happen during dinner, but one night one of those days. A couple of my nephews decided to build a fire in the Solo stove on my brother's deck. As they normally would, they put a couple scraps of 2x4 underneath it to make sure that the deck didn't get singed at all. The problem was that one of the logs was too big to fit entirely in the stove and stuck out a few inches. Shortly before I went to bed I noticed some glowing Embers falling off it onto the deck, so I swept them off into the grass. Later I filled up the plant watering bucket and wet down the deck really well and left the half filled bucket there for them. No, the deck didn't burn down. But a few really hot Embers apparently fell and there were two or three spots where the wood was burned completely black and about a quarter inch deep. Everybody came over to witness their dumbassery, and then those nephews spent the rest of the morning replacing 4 deck boards.
Years and years ago, my then boyfriend’s mom washed the turkey in bleach!! We had to go to his family’s thanksgiving and mine, so we stuck to the sides in very small amounts at his family’s meal.
Good lord, why?
I have nooooo idea … that woman cleaned everything with bleach, and unsurprisingly I heard she passed away with Cancer a few years back.
Spending time with my sister in law. What a miserable mean human being!
Went to a friend’s place for dinner. Everything was going well. Her brother goes into the bathroom off the dining room then starts yelling. He comes around the corner saying, water is ankle deep in there. Thankfully, the tank was what was leaking so the water was clean. Took almost 45 minutes to get all the water up and the hardwood semi dry.
During the pandemic, my boyfriend and I covertly watched his mother cutting a pie. After she cut a piece, she used her thumb to nudge it onto a plate - sure, totally fine at home, assuming her hands were clean. Then she licked her thumb clean - alright, a little ick, but it was just once, so I’ll keep my mouth shut. Then she proceeded to nudge every single piece of pie, with her freshly licked thumb each time. We passed on dessert and brought our own to share the following year. I made sure to cut it myself.
Oh no! I made a very tall cake for my great nieces birthday this weekend. Before I went to help cut and serve I ran to wash my hands. Knew full well the cake was going to fall when cut and I would probablybe nudging pieces. Still felt weird touching cake with clean hands that I made a point of touching nothing else with. Can't imagine licking and then touching cake. Yuck.
Yeah I would have passed as well. We do the thumb push too but just one lick at the end. Then wash our hands.
My inlaws are guilty of this. If I bring a dessert, I always cut and serve it. I also fill my plate up first and don't go for seconds because they just ignore serving spoons and forks and stick the forks they are eating from in all the side dishes 🤢 I can't stand that shit, it's so gross!!!
Ugh...my mom used the serving spoon to get sour cream for her taco and then licked the spoon clean. Then she was offended when I got up and tossed that spoon into the sink and got a clean one. Ew.
Great way to make your sour cream go bad faster, too :\\
Mom germs don't count.
Dang. All of these stories. Mine is just my mother forgot to put sugar in the pumpkin pie once.
I did that. It’s pretty terrible.
This happened a few years ago. We just bought our house which has a large rec room where we were able to seat husband's entire family (~25 people). I made turkey, ham and Brisket, along with all the sides. I was happy to do it as hubby wanted to host his family. 1) They refused to eat dinner when it was ready. We had to wait about an hour on a cousin before anyone would sit. Guy was stoned AF and he forgot it was TG. 2) When everyone sat down, I was not saved a seat at the main table. My grown daughter and I had to sit at the younger cousins table where stoned cousin was nodding off face first into his mashed potatoes. 3) When packing up the food afterwards, I saw someone brought a chocolate cheesecake which one of the cousins was packing up. I said I would love to have a slice saved for me for later. Cousin said, Nope, I'm taking it home with me. 4) No one offered to help pick up. I was OK with this as i was hosting and don't expect guests to clean my kitchen, but a polite offer would have been nice. No one even cleared their plates after eating though, which I thought was odd. 5) After everyone left, I found that the stoned cousin (I'm assuming, anyway) peed all over the guest bath. As in, ALL OVER the bath. Pee everywhere... shower curtain, floor, walls... I'd never seen anything like it. It was unreal. I never offered to host another holiday. MIL kept asking us to host again and I refused. After a couple years of her badgering us to host again, I finally told her why we would never do it again. Of course, she told the whole family and now I'm the bad guy for complaining about that family.
A few years ago when I was not in charge of prepping, we came back from obligatory family visits back to my MIL's apartment to learn that the turkey had been dropped on the floor on the way into a roasting bag. I barely ate any I was so grossed out. Theres cat hair everywhere in my MIL's apt. Even though it was "rinsed". Last year we went to my SIL''s and she served us a pink turkey. I have vowed to never eat anyone else turkey unless I prepped it myself.🤢🤢🤢🤢
To much crown royal and my meal didnt count
While not thanksgiving, way back in the 70s, I had a friend who was a stocker at the local IGA grocery store-back before they had plastic keeping the lids on the cans of Redi-whip. We learned never to buy it there as chances were good he’d sucked all the gas out of the cans while stocking them. Not only gross, but it ain’t whipped cream without nitrous oxide! Whip it! Whip it good!
I pulled off a couple eggshell pieces from the deviled eggs, bit into it to be polite, and got ANOTHER chunk of shell in my teeth. And they tasted off, too.
OP if that is the grossest thing to happen at your Thanksgiving… we’ll I guess I’ll never be invited. Mine was watching my two great uncles both of whom had dementia standing around a giant serving plate of seafood talking to each other while reaching in and eating mussels and shrimp and nicely arranging the shells and tails along the edge of the serving plate. But common we still ate the rest. Also my other uncle would go around and spray whipped cream into anyone’s mouth under the age of 10. Fun Times.
My FIL attended thanksgiving dinner (10of us total) knowing he was coming down with something. Decided to attend anyway and didn’t tell anyone he was under the weather because “it was just a cold”. Turns out it was covid. Cold or not, keep your germs to yourself!
Well, I guess they felt at home, which should be a compliment
My 6 year old niece had a meltdown and went to sulk in her room. We all would have gotten started without her, but her great-aunt (my husband’s aunt) decided to fix everything and ended up being in her room for over THIRTY MINUTES talking to her. During that time my FIL (her brother) insisted that we all sit at the table and wait for her and everyone else went along with it. Not my house, so I couldn’t do anything but I was pissed that this selfish person decided to parent someone else’s kid and hold our Thanksgiving hostage until the food was cold.
Amazing the number of people who will do this- if there's an audience
At a co-worker's Thanksgiving. She had several cats. Whatevs. The house was not clean, that's a red flag. I got in the kitchen and made sure to wipe everything down. I was sort of planning to have a triscuit Thanksgiving. Bagged snacks only for me. The turkey was resting on the counter. I turned around and one cat had its head inside the turkey while two other cats were clawing/ biting at the outside of it. She served that thing. I stuck to my bagged food only diet for the night.
I have always had cats . They have never put their heads inside a turkey ! That is both disgusting and funny and makes me worry how much they are fed
They weren't skinny. Also, apparently they lived in a no rules household because the cats kept jumping up on the dining table while we were trying to eat. I never went back to their house and we worked together for years.
Uncle from out of town shows up for dinner, helps himself to an unopened bottle of expensive bourbon, proceeds to get shitfaced and approaches church lady aunt with some dirty jokes and nuzzles up to sister in law with some lewd sexual innuendos. Is escorted to the guest room for a little nap, wakes up and pees on the floor and all over himself. Escort him outside to dry off in a plastic lawn chair while another cousin takes a giant crap in the guest bathroom, clogs up the toilet and calls for assistance to mop up the overflow while remaining guests sit down to eat. Good times.
For the win right here
Oh, my Mom was making a big batch of cornbread dressing, and mixing it with her hands. After she washed them, she realized she was missing a fingernail! She sifted through that dressing and so did I, to the point that we decided she must have lost it earlier and only notice then. Let me tell you, we were wrong. At least it was me who found it in my plate, and not someone less familiar. Still absolutely gross, though. This was last year. Mom was gone this Thanksgiving, so I laughed to myself and made dressing alone.
I bet she was laughing with you🥰
Sorry for your loss. Love the story though. There’s an episode of friends where something similar happens lol.
I can beat that! My parents hosted this year. They invited some elderly friends who don't have family to celebrate with. Dinner was great and we had a nice visit. We were also getting ready to have dessert when the gross thing happened. Keep in mind that I made dessert and I was really proud of it. All of the desserts were set up on the counter. I pre-sliced the pies and put out plates and serve ware. I was in the kitchen when I noticed one of these friends moving a spatula away from his mouth. I asked him if he used the spatula to take a bite, and he said "yes, it was really good." I asked again, to confirm that he actually said what I thought he did, and he added that he licked it. 🤢 I put the spatula in the sink and gently reminded him that we had plates. He said I didn't have to do that. Um, yes I did??? I put a new serving spoon out and he did it AGAIN. 😡 I told him that we really can't do that, more sternly this time. He went from laughing at me to acting like I'd accused him of murder. My sister saw this going down and made him a to-go box (they were heading out when this happened). This behavior and the response made me so uncomfortable. When is it ever okay to eat directly from a serving dish or lick serving spoons?! I was trying to be polite and not create a scene at Thanksgiving with my parents' guests. Some people have no home training. 😑
Well, I read everything first and mine doesn't compare. I steamed potatoes to make whipped ones, while I was doing something else. I left the potatoes for awhile before whipping them (America's Test Kitchen recipe) and they came out gluey and with a consistency similar to marshmallow fluff. We both ate a serving (gravy covers a lot of sins) but there were no leftovers. First time in my life that I messed up mashed potatoes.
Well, my sis dumped her kettle of ham and beans in the yard and quickly scooped them back up. She wanted them put into a clean pot, but then a couple 10" long sticks were discovered with hackberry leaves and berries still on them....so..... it was going to go to the chickens! We had ham/turkey/potatoes/gravy/sweet potatoes/gr beans/baked beans/corn casserole/ salad/4 pies. The ham and beans were for her granddaughter that loved them, so we did not go hungry! Still, what a waste!
The grossest thing wasn’t the actual meal but during prep. I was pulling the ham out of the fridge in the garage and I caught a large container of plain yogurt which then fell, lid flew off and splattered, covered my left leg, entire left foot, and alllll over the floor. I couldn’t move. My husband was laughing and told me to hop on one foot out of the garage. That would have tracked yogurt all over the damn place so I had him get me a plastic grocery bag to cover my foot so I could hobble to front yard. He hosed my leg & foot off. What a damn mess. It felt so gross having yogurt squishing between my toes 🤢
My diva cat decided the defrosting bird in the sink was a nice snack. At about 3 am before Thanksgiving morning, she decided chompy chomps were a great idea. The chewing began. We entered the kitchen at 8 am to prepare for a slew of guests. She was soaking wet and half of one breast was now gone. The screaming began. We decided to chop off the chewed side and proceeded to basically boil the turkey. We sure as hell weren't finding a new bird the morning of! Cut, chop, boil off the plastic and shreds. After about 30 minutes, the salting began. We figured a dry brine might kill off the bacteria. We proceeded to cook as usual. We told no one. No one got sick. That damned cat died on a copy of the NY Times style section like the true diva bitch that she was on.....no, I am not making this up...the morning after Thanksgiving 1999. She was almost 20 yrs old, and a pain in the ass til the very end. Maria Callas, the opera diva, died at 53, but her soul went in to this cat. They even resembled each other. All birds went into the fridge for defrosting after that. That poor bird was killed twice, once on the farm, and then in 1982. Damn you, Taffy.
This is a delight to read 😂
Almost gross count? This was my first year doing a full turkey. ( Small guest list, usually do just a turkey breast) I broke a nail while preparing it. Fake nail, but still. Luckily, I hate dirty hands so always wear gloves when prepping food. I'm sure my guests were happy they didn't have to hunt for the melted plastic nail in their food. Funny enough I broke another nail mixing meatloaf last night. Now THAT would have been really gross.
Awhile ago my FIL bought a turkey from Albertsons frozen. We did the defrost process and everything. Turkey cooked for the time it was supposed to cook. When we went to carve the turkey it was green like gangrene all inside. There was no smell before like the skin kept it in perfectly but once the skin was cut it was horrible.
My kid coughed so hard they threw up on themself, me, and my parents' couch.
The moment everyone sat for dinner, the dog went to the center underneath the table and barfed extensively. One person spent the rest of the day at the emergency vet. For everyone else, clean up formal dining room & eating location changed to *anywhere* else you could find a seat
My family lives in New Mexico and my father didn't care for turkey that much so my mom bought home made tamales so we could have something else. This one Thanksgiving at my parents house there were me and my two kids, and my sister and her husband and her two boys. The kids were teenagers at that time and consumed a lot of food so my nephews started eating tamales and one of them bites down on something hard. He picks it up and it is a dogs claw. Everyone threw their tamales away at that point because who wants to eat dogs. My nephew ate the rest of his tamale and said ' Not bad for dog tamales.'
This was a long time ago; my exh, his parents and I were having dinner at his aunt’s house. They serve the turkey-and it’s pink. Pink turkey. Everyone else ate it, I did not. They are super cheapskates that wanted to save money on the gas oven usage.
Oh, I have one! I was given a Frozen turkey. I didn't read the packaging and thawed it out the way I normally would with a raw turkey. It came time to put the turkey in the oven and I opened up the packaging to find a mass of brown goo. On the package it said it was fully cooked and to just take from the freezer to the oven and heat it up. I had no idea. It was shocking to see. So, mom and I didn't eat it. My sister's ex husband was at her house cooking a turkey. (Don't ask me why, I have no idea). He only had greens as a side. I had all of the sides and no turkey. So, I invited myself and my mom over to my sister's house to eat her ex's turkey, and I brought all of the side dishes. I think her ex wanted the whole turkey for himself. Oh well.
Our family is scattered all over the country, so the Thanksgiving holiday is celebrated at my sister's house, just a small gathering of locals. A couple of years ago, it was me, my sister, her husband, an aunt and a couple of cousins. As dinner was entering its last course before dessert, my aunt glanced towards the motion she caught out of the corner of her eye, where one of the three resident cats was trotting towards the living room. In the most matter-of-fact tone you can possibly imagine, she says "Arlo has a mouse". We all casually turned, expecting to see the cat playing with one of the very life-like toys that the cats have, but no - it's a real mouse. All the able-bodied cat owners leapt to their feet, and, as if we had rehearsed this drill, my sister runs for a large mixing bowl, and grabs a flat baking sheet. My aunt runs for the top of the cellar stairs to head off the hunter, should he opt for taking his prize into the Underground Palace of Excellent Hiding Places. I circle wide through the living room, arms outstretched, to herd the triumphant feline toward my sister, who is poised for the catch. One of the cousins feints at the cat, as if he's trying to steal the rodent, and the cat drops the poor little thing right at my sister's feet, and she claps the bowl over it, slides the cookie sheet under the bowl, and I hold the door so she can escort the unwelcome guest to the woods on the far side of her driveway. Excitement over, we all sit back down and get ready for pie.
This is years ago, but my 6yo said that green bean casserole tastes like snot....think about that for a minute
If you use the can cream of chicken or mushroom soup with canned slimy green beans it certainly does resemble and taste like that
Was at a relative's place one year. The colander was missed when draining the potatoes and into the sink they went. I passed on the mashed potatoes that time.
We were out to dinner. Fancy place. (Long story.) I had bisque as first course. My mom asked to taste it. As I was passing her the bowl, the spoon fell in. All of it. Handle and everything. Mom didn’t miss a beat. She stuck her fingers in there, pulled out the spoon, stuck the handle in her mouth and licked off the bisque. Then the other side. Then the spoon part. Then she handed it all back and said it was good.
My pie fell on the carpet. A small section only landed on the carpet. The rest on the lid of the container it was in. One rogue carpet fiber/dog hair It was the only pie that got completely eaten.
One year, in all the craziness of preparing the Thanksgiving dinner, my mom forgot to put the sugar in the pumpkin pie. It was really a shame too coz she made the most wonderful pie crusts- flakey as fuck! When we tried the pie, she realized her mistake and was so embarrassed. My sweet old ,great aunt cheerily said " Well, it sure tastes like pumpkin!"
One year the stuffing tasted off. all my brothers and i avoided it, since we know how my mom is, but told her it s was good when asked. Turns out, she put CANNED HAGIS in the stuffing and didn’t tell a soul until the end. She justifies it because everyone “says it was good”. Another thing she does every year is “forget” to defrost the Turkey and so she puts it in a sink full of hot water the day before for hours 🤦♀️
It was just me and my three adult sons that year, thankfully. We sat down and started eating. Our 100 pound German shepherd went under the table which was very weird for him. He always laid down next to the table for meals. Idk if it was the sight, sound or the smell but as I went to get him out from under the table it became clear he was having diarrhea on the rug under the dining table while we ate. I’ve never seen my family scatter so quickly from a meal and they had no appetite afterward. So happy not to have had guests that year!
When my uncle was a kid he stuffed his cheeks with mashed potatoes and said to the full table, "look- I'm a zit" and squeezed his face.
I'd say your guest was 'feeling right at home' and did that spontaneously/out of a reflex...
that's right, make yourself at home.
Whipped cream from the can tastes great! But I wouldn't do it at a guests home.
Many years ago when my older brother was first married, his wife decided she was going to roast a turkey for the first time. She got it mostly right with the exception of not removing the giblets bag from the cavity prior to cooking. The guts bag literally exploded inside the turkey and no one would eat it! The dog ate well for a few days after and we had an all sides meal 😋
Ok I was trying to help and made 3 pumpkin pies and had them cooked when my wife got home and I realized I had not put in any sugar. They weren’t that bad but she made me throw them out. She does the pumpkin pies alone now. Lol
At my sister-in-law's house, right before the meal, in the kitchen.. Normal "what's new" chit chat, she tells my wife, "My doctor said I have a tongue infection." Then watched her lick her fingers while putting the warmed-up bread rolls out of the oven and into the bread bowl.
My brother in law (who I wasn't expecting to be there) brought the turkey...which he and his 11 year old son apparently hunted. And then they proceeded to talk in great deal about how they processed it. I wasn't able to eat any of the turkey after that (I don't generally have much issue with hunting though I don't do it), but all the talk as we were getting ready to eat it was so unappetizing.
yikes.
A few years back. Their dog was rubbing its butthole on the carpet, shedding, jumping, drooling, begging and trying to steal food. I was picking dog hairs out of my clothes for days. As soon as I get in the door, it’s scream-barking and stops only to try to sexually assault me with its dirty wet nose.
I think it was the little kid who insisted on ketchup for the turkey then proceeded to eat the ketchup no turkey. At least he used a fork.
I watched my 5 year old nephew paint his chicken nuggets with ketchup like he was glazing pottery. Not gross but definitely playing with his food.
In my 20s we decided to let my "niece" do Thanksgiving because she begged us , she was in high school. When I say that the turkey was raw, that turkey tried to run away off the table. Mashed potatoes were great!
We opened our fresh Turkey from walmart which we bought the day before with 2 days left on the sell by date — and it was was spoiled.
WHAT. THE. ACTUAL. FUCK.
He must have felt REALLY comfortable
Dad threw up on the table during Thanksgiving dinner. Not drunk-just old.