Friday, November 27, 2009

Thanksgiving "Horror Stories"

I posted a comment on a blog about Thanksgiving. The blog owner, Pat, said "You should post that story on your blog."
So for the day after Thanksgiving (USA) here is a Thanksgiving "horror story."  (my apologies to those of you who already read it in the comments on Pat's blog)

One lovely Thanksgiving morning I was at my mother's house assisting her with the preparations. (I learned to cook before I was a teenager - nothing gourmet, but I can cook AND I am an excellent baker)
Mom was cooking some black-eyed peas in the pressure cooker.  The Turkey was nearly done, but still in the oven.  Fortunately, we were both away from the stove at the moment.

There was a loud  Whoosh/Bang/SSssssssiiss sound.  Oh My Goodness! what was that!  One quick look was all it took.  The relief valve on top of the pressure cooker had blown out.  There was a dent we later found in the ceiling from it - but we never found the plug.  This was in my pre-digital camera days or I would have a picture. It was priceless.  The peas shot out all over the ceiling. Later, when we opened the cooker, there was only a thin film of pea mush left on the insides of it.
What to do?
A: Clean the peas off the ceiling before they turn to "pea stucco"  (such a fun job - where was Mike Rowe when we needed him? )
B. Run into the pantry (i.e. the closet in Mom & Dad's bedroom) and find some canned peas.
C. Open the peas and heat them.
Then greet the guests and hope they don't see the wet spots on the kitchen ceiling.

We survived it all.

Now tell us your "Thanksgiving Horror Stories"  

12 comments:

Tangos Treasures said...

I sure hope that never happens to me! I love my pressure cooker!
LOL I did have a bad can of tomatoes explode & hit the ceiling & light, ughhh what a mess!

ooglebloops said...

I bought a pressure cooker and it is still in the box!! I was a bit scared from all the stories I had heard - and you just added one to the list!! LOL My only T'giving horror story is probably pretty common- early in my cooking 'career'- not realizing that there were things in bags inside a turkey that need to be removed before cooking!!!And of course, everyone has gotten distracted and blackened the marshmallows on top of the sweet potatoes - at least once in their lives, right??????

Pat said...

I'm glad you and your mom weren't near the cooker when that happened or it might really have been a horror story.....this way, it's just a FUNNY story!!! (Easy for me to say since it didn't happen to me.) I guess my only Thanksgiving day mishap was trying to get all the foods to be ready at the same time when I was fist cooking Thanksgiving. It was really hard to figure out how to have them all hot at the same time then (in the days before microwaves.....now it is easier).

luv2quilt2 said...

You and your mother were very fortunate. It happened to my mother when she was making apple sauce and standing at the stove when it blew. The sticky stuff was everywhere, and my mother had pretty big burns on her forarms. It was really scary. She continued to use it afterwards, but I wouldn't have one for years. I'm very careful with it and don't stay anywhere near it while it's working.

Anonymous said...

I remember my mother's pressure cooker in the 40's, and I guess it scared me because I never bought one as an adult. I thought they were really a thing of the past, but apparently not. My worst horror story is mushy stuffing. Not so bad!

Needled Mom said...

Those pressure cookers can be a dangerous weapon. Glad all was okay in the end.

Pokey said...

Ya' know, some things just tasted better out of a P. cooker. I grew up on fried gizzards served with gravy and rice. I tell my daughter that gizzards were my chicken nuggets as a kid. I used Momma's old cooker when she replaced hers. But with changing times, slow cookers and microwaves, and the aforementioned meat used to be an economy selection-cheap!- I do not use one any more.

Unknown said...

so funny and that's why I'm afraid of pressure cookers and do my canning the hard way..........

Pat / Silver Thimble Quilt Co. said...

Oh who looks at ceilings anyway! When I was first married I was cooking Thanksgiving..forgot to turn on the oven. The Turkey was finally ready around midnight..

Pat

Vesuviusmama said...

No horror stories to share (knock on wood). I'm sure things go wrong on Thanksgiving in my house, but I am always just so giddy to be surrounded by family and friends and food that I just don't notice. Glad your mishap wasn't tragic.

Micki said...

My dad once got really badly burnt by a pressure cooker, so I havce never owned one.
Micki

Miri said...

Pressure cookers are scary-too scary for me to use!

My Thanksgiving "horror" story was last year...I posted a link back to it on my latest post.