Turkey Flambe, or "STOP, DROP, AND ROLL!"

I am thankful for many things, but most especially tonight I'm thankful that I'm no longer standing in the kitchen. Throughout the day on Thursday, I found myself wondering why I wasn't out at the park or watching movies with my family, who I am most thankful for, all for the sole purpose of having my sweet boy tell me everything on his plate was yucky. My children do not like turkey, mashed potatoes, even rolls. They like rice. So, we had to have some other families (i.e. adults) over to enjoy the feast, and enjoy it we did! At least, after the smoke finally cleared. . . . .

So, I was pulling a dish of sweet potatoes out of the oven, broiled to a golden perfection, when I dropped the pan and they sloshed all over the bottom of the oven. Because it was so hot they immediately smoldered and filled the apartment with a thick dense smoke. All I could do was brace myself, because immediately the fire alarm kicked in over every loud speaker in every apartment in our building:

"FIRE! FIRE! 11th floor. Evacuate Immediately. FIRE! FIRE! 11th floor."

And not to be outdone by the urgent woman's voice professing imminent danger, there is a horribly loud siren which goes off until the woman comes on again announcing which idiot dropped their dish into the oven and set off the fire alarm. This went on for several minutes. Luckily, I am notorious for setting off the fire alarm in my building, and all my neighbors probably knew enough to ignore it once they heard "11th floor." But blaring during their Thanksgiving celebrations? I am humiliated! The manager came up in a frenzied state with his walkie-talkies while Sophie maniacally ran through the place yelling "STOP, DROP, AND ROLL!" which she had conveniently learned in school the previous week. Eventually, though, the alarm was shut off, the smoke was sucked out the windows, and peace was restored as we finally dove into our Thanksgiving feast.

I think we'll go on vacation next Thanksgiving holiday.

Happy Thanksgiving!