We recently shared a post in which people told us about their most memorably cringeworthy Thanksgivings, and they were random, hilarious, and cringeworthy indeed:
Well, our readers chimed in with their own stories, and their tales were just as memorable:
1. "One Thanksgiving, my mother-in-law had insisted on bringing the pumpkin pie, even though she was the worst cook on the planet. Well, instead of using pumpkin pie filling, she used leftover jack-o'-lantern from Halloween!"
2. "My mom thought she'd already put the turkey on the table, so she pressed the 'clean oven' button so it would clean while we ate. It wasn't until everyone had their side dishes on their plates that we realized the turkey was still in the oven — and it was locked shut during the cleaning process!"
"The turkey ended up catching fire, filling the house with smoke, and we had to call the fire department and evacuate the house for four days!"
3. "One year, my mom set our frozen turkey out in the garage to defrost. Well, on Thanksgiving morning, she went to retrieve it, and found our 120-pound black lab passed out next to the carcass having eaten a 20-pound raw turkey in just a few hours! He was fine, but we had to serve KFC to our entire family that year!"
—Samantha Lynn, Facebook
4. "One year, my aunt made Jell-O with champagne and didn't tell anyone! All us kids and my great-grandma thought it tasted strange, but hey — Jell-O is Jell-O when you're a kid! We ate a whole bowl before an adult noticed!"
5. "It was my first Thanksgiving in my home with my husband, and we bought a rolling pin to make pies. Well, at the dinner table, my mother-in-law joked to my husband, 'You'd better be careful now that she's got a rolling pin or she'll whack you with it.' I responded jokingly, 'Nah, he's fine — I've had a cast iron frying pan for months now, and that would be my weapon of choice...'"
"Well, my husband's 78-year-old grandmother turned to me, pointed at her husband, and said, 'You shouldn't say that because that's how his father died.' Yep — turns out my husband's great-grandmother hit his great-grandfather over the head with a cast iron frying pan and pushed him down the stairs, killing him! And I happened to joke about this at our first Thanksgiving dinner, in front of the whole family, including my husband's grandfather, whose father it was that got killed."
6. "One year, I pulled the rack out of the oven, and the roaster fell out, sending the turkey sliding across the floor! I was eight months pregnant, and I laughed so hard I peed on myself!"
—Chris Cottrill, Facebook
7. "My husband had talked me into taking tequila shots while I was cooking. Well, after I finished cooking, I immediately passed out and missed Thanksgiving dinner!"
8. "I had gotten a new tattoo on my calf and was wearing pants which covered it up, so when my family asked to see it, I had to show them pictures instead. Well, as I scrolled through my phone with my family, I completely forgot about the photos I had taken of my boyfriend IN THE SHOWER! And he was standing right there, of course."
"My family is super chill and they made sure he was OK, but it was mortifying to say the least."
9. "One year, my mum used dish soap instead of olive oil in one of her dishes."
— Gaynor Fisher, Facebook
10. "The worst Thanksgiving ever was the one when I invited my husband and my boyfriend invited his wife."
11. "I had invited a mother and her baby girl over for my first Thanksgiving with my new husband. Well, just as all the food was placed on the table, the baby started VOMITING ALL OVER THE PLACE, and all over every single plate and platter! We ended up having pizza delivered."
—Anyela Rodriguez, Facebook
12. "Last year, my sister-in-law somehow managed to swallow a soda tab and had to go to the ER!"
13. "My grandfather wanted to watch a movie after dinner with the whole family — ranging in age from 3 years old to 65. Well, we all gathered in the living room and he popped a tape in the VCR saying, 'I've heard this is really good — it stars Burt Reynolds!' It was Deliverance."
14. "A squirrel dropped through the ceiling at Thanksgiving when my husband was meeting my family for the first time."
—Lori Ann, Facebook
15. "One year, some couple who my family hadn't interacted with in over 10 years just walked into the house uninvited, greeted us, and sat down at the dinner table, helping themselves to food. I had never seen these people in my life."
16. "Last Thanksgiving, my uncle ate my contacts —14 disposable contacts!"
And finally, this family gathering which went seriously, seriously awry:
17. "It was the Thanksgiving right after the 2016 election and everyone was already tense — but we were trying to abide by my grandmother's rule to not talk about politics when my uncle showed up with a truck full of beer. Well, by dessert, my dad, his three brothers, and his British brother-in-law were all hammered and screaming at each other, my Democrat dad and his youngest brother on one side, the Republican brothers on the other side, and my British uncle in the middle singing 'God Save The Queen' at the top of his lungs..."
