Thanksgiving 2008: The day we realized we're doomed to Mac&Cheese forever...

Matthew, the sweet and wonderful man that he is, came over to AR to be with me for Thanksgiving because I couldn't go home. We decided to make our own, and first I might add, Thanksgiving dinner. We decided on Cornish Game Hens because they were (1) easy, (2) small, and (3) cheap! We also had on the menu, Dad's stuffing (his Dad's, Don), Mom's green beans (my Mom's, Pam), twice baked potatoes (actually mine), and rolls (Pillsbury). 

We woke up on Thanksgiving morning and ate cinnamon rolls and watched Macy's Thanksgiving Parade; we had so much fun! After taking a nap, we got ready and started cooking at 4:00pm. We ate at 8:00pm. This is what happened...

So...cooking was going well. We got everything done in a good amount of time and the kitchen was still clean! I heard the hens cooking (what I thought was cooking) and commented to Matthew about what a good job he did with them. We opened the oven to baste and noticed that the stupid, cheap aluminum pan we bought had somehow leaked and hen/butter/seasoning juice all over the bottom of the oven. Instead of stopping right then to clean, we just kept going and decided it would be better to just keep cooking and clean after. Fast forward about 30 min or so; I walk past the oven and notice flames. Yes, flames! "Wait...oh no!", I exclaimed! We opened the door and the flames grew higher. I tried to fan, but the flames grew higher! Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh-is about what I was thinking at this point. I run to the fridge, grab the baking soda, throw it to Matthew, and yell, "Put it out!" Matthew threw baking soda on it and the flames were extinguished! Yay, Matthew! My hero! At this point, we pulled everything out of the oven, cooled the oven, cleaned the oven, and began to cook again. Thus, making it 4 hours before we got to eat! Everything was actually, to our surprise, great! Except for the stupid hens. Cornish Game Hens are not good, just FYI. Everything was cooked to perfection, until the end when we got cocky and burned the rolls. Of course, it wouldn't be Thanksgiving unless something got burned! At least it wasn't us or the house! Hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving! Here's a little documentation...

Matthew cutting onions. Yes, he cried! :)

Me cooking...good thing we got a picture! After this, who knows when this will happen again!

This is right after the fire. This is the hen/butter/seasoning juice that caught on fire mixed with the baking soda that extinguished the fire!

Matthew cleaning the mess...good thing we got a picture of this as well!

Our mile high twice baked potatoes! This was just the first bake, they looked even yummier after the second!

Dad's stuffing. This was the best thing all night! Half of this was gone after dinner!

They look good, but taste yucky!

Cutting the bird. Dumb bird! We'll do better next year! No more bak bak baakak...only gobble gobble! (Or oink oink if I have my way!)