Your Thanksgiving Stories!

[Debi]

If you have ever had food poisoning ( twice for me ) you get paranoid about leaving food un-refridgerated. Mrs Critter does most of the Thanksgiving cooking; I do the cleanup. That includes cutting enough meat to serve dinner and cleaning the carcass within the first hour, packaging and placing in the refrigerator. As soon as everyone has had round one and I am done eating, I start cleanup. The meat should have cooled enough by then to handle.

Been there, done that because hubs insisted that thawing a turkey out on the counter over night was "just fine". (He always does the turkey.) Entire family went down one by one. I was the least ill as I don't eat more than a bite or three of turkey, but I was still sicker than a dog with it. This was years ago and since then I make sure nothing is out after the meal and everything is fridge defrosted.

 

[garnetsilver]

Wow I am surprised his wife didn't know better.

She had asked him to please put away the leftovers since she was getting the little ones ready for bed, and I was helping her. He caught hell the next day, though!

 

[Lynne]

If you have ever had food poisoning ( twice for me ) you get paranoid about leaving food un-refridgerated. Mrs Critter does most of the Thanksgiving cooking; I do the cleanup. That includes cutting enough meat to serve dinner and cleaning the carcass within the first hour, packaging and placing in the refrigerator. As soon as everyone has had round one and I am done eating, I start cleanup. The meat should have cooled enough by then to handle.

Very good advice

 

[Paintman]

Great stories !
One year, Pork Chop The Cat, helped himself to the unattended turkey on the dining room table. No one seemed too upset, because Pork Chop was cool, and everyone loved him.
He was a marmalade short-haired, found him as a kitten, alone in the woods. Lived to be 21, and healthy.

Another time, Mom sent the dining room table out to be refinished. At the time that was beyond my skill level. It was late, really late, and I remember going to pick it up Thanksgiving morning. The backup plan was to use my giant wallpaper table. Even cleaned the heck out of it, just in case.