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Thanksgiving Day Disasters | Funny Stories of Things Gone Wrong

November 18, 2023
Things don't always go according to plan on Thanksgiving Day... as per the personal accounts below. Enjoy a laugh before the big day and relax... it could always be worse!  

"While smoking the turkey on the back porch, enough heat generated to burn a hole in the decking. The smoker tilted against the back door and caught the house on fire! Luckily, we were able to contain the fire with garden hoses, (since the fire department got lost on the way). In the end we still ate the turkey; it was a little dry." - Eric

"We had no idea what to expect when we tried for the very first time to deep fry a turkey! We followed directions carefully... and the turkey came out BLACK, totally black! We were mortified, and we had a house-full of guests! (We had another turkey roasting in the oven in the traditional way, just wanted to try this). Everyone was asking how the fried turkey came out! And actually, it was awesome!!!!! Just looked terrible. HAHA! :)" - Julie

"Last year while shopping for the turkey, my kids wanted to demonstrate their strength so they took turns ”lifting” the turkey. One of them decided to give it back without warning me first, and that 15 pound frozen turkey landed on my toe! I sobbed my way through the checkout line. It wasn't broken but I did lose the toenail... it STILL isn't back to normal. A funny note from all of this, though: during my x-ray the technicians told me that Thanksgiving is one of their busiest times of the year!" - Becky

"We were all set to host the family get together in our home and our oven went out a few days before the holiday. We went out and bought a new oven and my dad and hubby were just about done installing it. Of course, our 3 year old was running around them in circles, excited to help. My hubby handed her some tools and told her to carry them to the garage for him... she swung back, let go, and SMASH!!!! right through the front of the newly installed oven door." - Jennifer

"You know those darling plastic platters that they sell at Walmart this time of year? Welp, they are not meant to hold an 18 pound turkey! We found out the hard way, when passing dishes at the Thanksgiving table. Platter and turkey went crashing to the floor. Doh." - Julie

"Years ago my family went to my aunt and uncle's house. They had looked up cooking directions for their new convection oven. After cooking for the recommended time, they pulled out the turkey, but it was raw in the middle. We think the calculation had not been done correctly - although my aunt still swears that this is what she found on the internet. We ended up cutting the turkey and then putting it back in the oven - while it was cooking we ate all of the sides dishes. Then came the turkey, and last, dessert. It turned out okay in the end, but thankfully we did not serve the raw bird to everyone and therefore, avoided a trip to the ER. Now we just laugh about it ever year." - Andrea

"My first husband is British and soon after we were married, he started to boast about how Great Britain was so much better than America... I mean all of the time! He was so obnoxious that by the time Thanksgiving came along, I couldn't stand it any longer. He asked what it was about because they don't celebrate Thanksgiving in the United Kingdom. 
My answer? Thanksgiving is a holiday where the husband thanks the wife for cooking all year long so he prepares a feast for her and buys her many gifts. LOL!" - Leslie

"No one can beat this one -- My face was demolished at the grocery store by a frozen turkey. Yup, you read right! When I was 17 and a local grocery store clerk a little old lady asked me at the front of the store to price check her Thanksgiving turkey. It was twenty pounds and frozen, so I walked it into the meat department, put it on their counter, and waited patiently on the customer side of the counter. The butcher thought it would be funny to "pretend" to launch the turkey at me over the counter. That slick, 20 pound turkey rocket came flying out of his hands and hit me square in the face. When I came to, in front of customers, I had a broken nose, a broken cheek bone, and required stitches from eye to eye over the bridge of my nose. The turkey scars will forever haunt me, and every year when I go home to the local mom and pop shop, I am referred to as "turkey face" by the veteran employees. Super fun." - Julie

"The night started out great. It was our first Thanksgiving since we had gotten married, and we were in our new house accompanied by 16 guests. We had gotten through the appetizers and were just finishing up the main course. I went to the kitchen to start working on the dishes and had probably done about three dishes, when my feet started to feel wet. I opened the cabinet under the sink and about 3 inches of water began to flow out onto the floor. After using most of the very absorbent towels in house, we had things "under control". We left all of the dirty dishes and continued into with dessert. It turned out the faucet was broken in two places, but I will always remember that first gush of water when I opened the cabinet. This incident reminded me that it was family and friends that make Thanksgiving so special and everything else can wait." - Andrea

Have your own story... ahem, nightmare... to share? Email us at ChristenR@MacaroniKid.com.