Our Thanksgiving Dinner Disaster

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Buca di Beppo®. All opinions are 100% mine.

“Fiasco” is the term we affectionately use for our Thanksgiving Dinner Disaster of 2012.  Some families have Thanksgiving food disasters like lumpy gravy or the dreaded dry turkey.  Our disaster had absolutely nothing to do with my cooking skills but all about poor planning skills.

Here’s how the story goes…

My son had to work during Thanksgiving break at Texas A&M, so we decided we would do Thanksgiving in College Station, Texas.  He lived in a dorm, so we didn’t even entertain the idea of preparing a Thanksgiving feast in his tiny microwave.  Instead, Christopher suggested Thanksgiving in the dining hall because he had heard it was actually good.  We had a plan until Christopher called 2 days before the big holiday to alert us that there was no Thanksgiving feast planned for the dining hall because the football game was scheduled for Saturday rather than Thanksgiving Day.  Yikes!  We didn’t have a back up plan, so I frantically began calling restaurants that were advertising Thanksgving dinner, but my phone calls were met with 3 scary words…”no tables available.”   Our only option was an all-you-can-eat feeding trough which was not enthusiastically received when I delivered the news. 

Turkey Day arrives, and we join hundreds of people in a long line that extends into the parking lot of the all-you-can-eat buffet.  As we’re waiting, we actually witnessed somebody throwing up as they left the restaurant.  This was going to be a Thanksgiving feast to forget.  

I’m not sure we’ll ever forget that “special” Thanksgiving dinner, and it was a topic of conversation on Thanksgiving 2013, and I’m sure it will be remembered again this year.

How to Avoid a Thanksgiving Dinner Disaster

1. If you’re challenged in the cooking department, don’t feel guilty enlisting help…translation:  pick up a Thanksgiving Party Pan Feast to Go.  Order a Buca di Beppo feast for 10 or a feast for 20 and enjoy sliced white meat turkey, homestyle gravy, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, spicy Italian sausage stuffing or sage stuffing, green beans and cranberry sauce.
2. If you’re in the mood to simplify Thanksgiving and skip the dishwashing, make Thanksgiving reservations at Buca di Beppo and enjoy all your Thanksgiving favorites served family style.  Just promise to make reservations, so you don’t have to hear those 3 scary words…”no tables available.”
3. If you’re out of town (sound familiar?) and dining out is your only option, don’t settle for a less than stellar buffet.  Enjoy Thanksgiving dinner at Buca di Beppo.  It’s our family favorite for life’s celebrations, so why not Thanksgiving?