Chill

Dear Epic Failure,

Every year for Thanksgiving each family member brings a different food. This year I brought my famous turkey. It is always a big hit with my family. I also made chocolate chip cookies. This year the day after Thanksgiving everyone was sick. Could you please tell me what I did wrong?

The day before Thanksgiving I left my frozen turkey's on the counter over night to thaw. This way the turkey would be ready for the morning. When I woke up in the morning the turkey was thawed. Then it was time to put it in the oven. I also had to make chocolate chip cookies. I mixed together milk, eggs, and butter. Then I realized that I didn't have any chocolate chips or flour. So I ran out the door and ran to the store (which is very far away since I live in the middle of no where) so that I could get the rest of the ingredients. The traffic was teribble and the store was packed! I was gone for about 2 1/2 hours. When I got back I put the rest of the ingredients in my cookies and put them in the oven. Everything tasted great! What happened?

Sincerely, Thanksgiving disaster

joythebaker.com

Dear Thanksgiving Disaster,

Your turkey and chocolate chip cookies sound really good! There are a few things that you should do differently for next Thanksgiving. First of all you should never defrost anything on the counter for sanitation reasons. Next time you defrost something you can put it on the bottom shelf of the fridge. You could also thaw the food in the microwave, but you would have to cook the food immediately. The last option for thawing foods would be in the sink, changing the water every half hour.

You had a mistake when making the chocolate chip cookies also. Next time you should check to make sure you have all the ingrediants before you make anything. If you do happen to run into that situation again, you should put your mixture into the fridge before you leave for the store. When you left the cookie batter out for that long, the mixture went bad. Parishable foods should never be left at room temperature for more than two hours. If you use these tips, next Thanksgiving diner should be delicious without getting sick afterwards.

Sincerely, Epic Failure