What's Your Most Memorable Holiday Mishap?

As I was skimming through my most recent copy of Real Simple I came across a section titled, "What's Your Most Memorable Holiday Mishap?" The title intrigued me and I started reading through some of the responses from other readers. The title was enticing to me because even though I have yet to host my first holiday dinner, and I don't see a time in the near future when that might happen, I still have had my fair share of "Holiday Mishaps."

All of mine involved Jello.

Why Jello? Well, it is always my duty to bring the Jello to holiday dinners. I don't really know why I've been given this task every year, maybe it's because my family knows they'll get a good story out of it, or maybe because I'm Mormon, (Mormon's are famous for the their Jello!) or maybe they are afraid to give me another task when it's clear I can barely handle J E L L O. Before I get on with my holiday mishap story here are a few that I loved from the article.

"I was cooking my first turkey dinner and had a houseful of people. In that mad frenzy 20 minutes before you put it all on the table, I was making gravy. I meant to grab the bottle of Gravy Master from the cupboard but mistakenly grabbed a bottle of vanilla and didn’t realize it until it was too late. Definitely a new take on turkey gravy that I would not recommend. My brother-in-law has never let me forget that day, and now when I set my Thanksgiving table, I put the bottle of vanilla at his place, just in case he wants to add a little.”

"When I was first married, I didn't know that when making mashed potatoes, you were supposed to use the hand mixer, not the blender. When I put the hot potatoes in the blender and shut the cover and turned it on, they exploded everywhere including the ceiling."

"Telling my husband's mother that her stuffing was terrible because I thought someone else had made it."

I've had several little Jello mishaps, like the time Ben and I decided to drive to my parent’s house with the Jello mold on my lap before it had completely gelled. After a few words in the car about how Ben was driving, taking turns too sharp, hitting every bump, we both stomped out of the car and switched places. Ben now holding the Jello and me behind the wheel, I was convinced I could produce a MUCH smoother ride. Ben's stained pants proved that I was wrong; Jello is naturally jiggly and even more so when it's not gelled. Ben was much more patient with me than I was. Sorry Ben.

Or the numerous times we haven't been able to get the Jello out of the mold. I blogged about a mold mishap in 2007... Jello Creation.

The biggest disaster happened one Easter Sunday morning, I'm guessing back in 2005. I was living in my old studio apartment and while I was getting ready for church I was also making the Jello mold for dinner that night. The particular recipe I was using for this mold called for a spring form pan. I had never used a spring form pan, in fact I didn't own one, I was borrowing a friends to complete this recipe. I thought I had finally found a Jello mold that would be FAIL PROOF! Using a spring form pan would make the de-molding process so much easier. So I boiled some water, dissolved the Jello, mixed, mixed, mixed, added fruit, mixed... you get the idea. Pour my mixture into the pan, lifted the pan off the counter with two hands and went to set it into the refrigerator. When I removed one of my hands to open the refrigerator the bottom of the pan fell out and red Jello hit the floor, splashed up all over my bare legs, and ran under the refrigerator. You see, no one told me a spring form pan has a little lip that the bottom of the pan has to rest on. I had inserted the bottom upside down it was held in there only by the pressure of the spring tightening it together. Laughter ensued and then panic. I remembered Jello stained! I had to get it off every surface and thing it was touching quickly! I scrubbed the counter, the floor, the refrigerator, and finally my legs. By the time I got to them the "red" wasn't budging, so even though they say "No black after Easter," I wore black nylons to church that day.

Every holiday dinner I reassure myself that it will be different. The Jello will come out perfectly this time, I think. Well, wish me luck this year because I've been assigned Jello AND mashed potatoes!!

What's Your Most Memorable Holiday Mishap? Leave us a comment or send us an email, I'd love someone to laugh with!