We've all had them. Dinner parties from hell, in which we find ourselves standing mute and open mouthed, frozen in terror and wondering how we'll ever recover from some faux pas we've committed. Too often we wipe these entertaining disaster stories from our memories.
I myself have served shrimp to a golfing friend who was severely allergic to shellfish. I had to thaw a hot dog for him while we ate my delicious grilled Asian shrimp kebabs. My friend Anjali once mistook extremely hot peppers for regular green peppers and made an inedible casserole. She opened up a few cans of Campbell's vegetable soup for her guests. And handed out lots of ice water.
We asked LesTout readers to share with us some of their entertaining disaster stories. Here they are, in all their glory, on the condition that the guilty will remain somewhat anonymous.
How Was Your Trip?
Teri from Illinois remembers carrying a huge bowl of Hawaiian salad and tripping and falling, the salad flying out of her hands and falling – splat! – upside down on the ground.
“No one was around so I took a metal tin lid, scooped the Hawaiian Salad that was not touching the ground back into the bowl, used Kleenex to clean the edges of the bowl and walked in smiling,” she said. “Everyone raved about the food, especially the Hawaiian Salad.”
An Unexpected Request
Karen from Virginia said none of her entertaining faux pas come close to one of her mom’s that she witnessed. Karen’s little brother was 3 or 4 and had an unusually deep voice for his age. Their mother was having bridge club at their house and had a lovely lunch prepared. “The ladies weren’t quite prepared to hear, ‘Mom, come and wipe’ come from a bathroom somewhere in the house.”
Beans, Beans . . .
Here’s one from someone who wants to remain completely anonymous and won’t even allow her home state to be revealed. Let’s call her Sarah from Iowa. It was a cold winter in the Midwest and Sarah bought a 12-bean soup mix from a gourmet store, thinking it would be perfect for friends they were having over for a cozy winter get-together. “I was so proud,” Sarah recalled. “We were all very happy with my lovely soup. My friend’s husband was so full of compliments . . . he ate more than two bowls of soup along with the rest of the meal . . . I’m sure you’re sensing the problem,” Sarah said.
The guys went to the Video store to rent a movie when “to the displeasure of all in the store, the poor man had terrible ghastly gas; the kind you remember forever,” she said. “My husband described it as a green cloud. Lucky for us, our friend recovered quickly and we continued to enjoy our evening together. But it was quite a long time before he thought he could return to that Video store. And I’ll never serve any kind of bean to a guest again.”
A Three Stooges Moment
Regi in New Jersey tells of a New Year’s party and college reunion with some friends in Washington, DC, some years ago.
“We roasted a turkey and in pulling it out of the oven, the aluminum pan buckled, juice spilled into the oven, which then caught fire and the turkey skidded across the galley kitchen into the hallway.” Regi says someone had the presence of mind to turn off the flaming oven and shut the door while everyone else stood shrieking.
“Everyone heard the commotion and came running, only to hit the oil slick – kind of a Three Stooges moment, with people colliding, arms flailing, you get the picture.”
After everyone regained their balance, the consensus was to pick up the turkey, run it under the faucet, carve it and serve it. “That floor was greasy for days,” Regi says.
Smoking Section
Also from New Jersey comes this story from Jude, who loves to grill the main dish for her large parties. “We were having our Labor Day party, which was for the neighborhood and then some, about 50 people. We had a powerful torrential rain storm all day long. I had plenty to grill, much of which had been marinated.”
Not one to change her plans and give in to Mother Nature, Jude enlisted her guests’ help in building a tarp over the grill and connecting the covered area to the patio and back door.
“As you can imagine, the smoke from the grill got caught up under the tarp and it seeped into the house. What a smoky mess.” Jude says none of the guests minded, “with the help of plenty of cocktails.”
Can You Say Rude?
Les Tout reader “Jujubee” is turning in her sister-in-law and friend for entertaining disaster stories. Jujubee is a vegetarian and her husband is allergic to dairy and berries. So when they were invited to brunch by a friend, what was on the menu but beef sausages, bacon, strawberry crepes in a creamy sauce. “We ended up having toast while they ate all the lovely brunch foods,” Jujubee said.
Another time, her sister-in-law invited them for dinner, serving leg of lamb. Being a vegetarian, Jujubee quietly ate only salad. “My sister-in-law gasped and thought I was being rude. When I explained that I’m actually vegetarian because I don’t digest meat well, she seemed to calm down. The kicker? She got me a cheese slice from the fridge and tossed it onto my plate.”
More on the Web
Can't get enough of other people's entertaining disaster stories?
Dinner Party Disasters: True Stories of Culinary Catastrophe by Annaliese Soros and Roderick Mills has some hilarious and embarrassing moments everyone can relate to.
Ever wonder who calls those product hot lines to ask questions? An article in PhillyBurbs has some hilarious tales from the trenches of the cooking hot line operators who give emergency advice and answer questions on the telephone.
Chef’s Line has a collection of 289 entertaining and cooking disaster stories, including the top prize winners of their contest.
I myself have served shrimp to a golfing friend who was severely allergic to shellfish. I had to thaw a hot dog for him while we ate my delicious grilled Asian shrimp kebabs. My friend Anjali once mistook extremely hot peppers for regular green peppers and made an inedible casserole. She opened up a few cans of Campbell's vegetable soup for her guests. And handed out lots of ice water.
We asked LesTout readers to share with us some of their entertaining disaster stories. Here they are, in all their glory, on the condition that the guilty will remain somewhat anonymous.
How Was Your Trip?
Teri from Illinois remembers carrying a huge bowl of Hawaiian salad and tripping and falling, the salad flying out of her hands and falling – splat! – upside down on the ground.
“No one was around so I took a metal tin lid, scooped the Hawaiian Salad that was not touching the ground back into the bowl, used Kleenex to clean the edges of the bowl and walked in smiling,” she said. “Everyone raved about the food, especially the Hawaiian Salad.”
An Unexpected Request
Karen from Virginia said none of her entertaining faux pas come close to one of her mom’s that she witnessed. Karen’s little brother was 3 or 4 and had an unusually deep voice for his age. Their mother was having bridge club at their house and had a lovely lunch prepared. “The ladies weren’t quite prepared to hear, ‘Mom, come and wipe’ come from a bathroom somewhere in the house.”
Beans, Beans . . .
Here’s one from someone who wants to remain completely anonymous and won’t even allow her home state to be revealed. Let’s call her Sarah from Iowa. It was a cold winter in the Midwest and Sarah bought a 12-bean soup mix from a gourmet store, thinking it would be perfect for friends they were having over for a cozy winter get-together. “I was so proud,” Sarah recalled. “We were all very happy with my lovely soup. My friend’s husband was so full of compliments . . . he ate more than two bowls of soup along with the rest of the meal . . . I’m sure you’re sensing the problem,” Sarah said.
The guys went to the Video store to rent a movie when “to the displeasure of all in the store, the poor man had terrible ghastly gas; the kind you remember forever,” she said. “My husband described it as a green cloud. Lucky for us, our friend recovered quickly and we continued to enjoy our evening together. But it was quite a long time before he thought he could return to that Video store. And I’ll never serve any kind of bean to a guest again.”
A Three Stooges Moment
Regi in New Jersey tells of a New Year’s party and college reunion with some friends in Washington, DC, some years ago.
“We roasted a turkey and in pulling it out of the oven, the aluminum pan buckled, juice spilled into the oven, which then caught fire and the turkey skidded across the galley kitchen into the hallway.” Regi says someone had the presence of mind to turn off the flaming oven and shut the door while everyone else stood shrieking.
“Everyone heard the commotion and came running, only to hit the oil slick – kind of a Three Stooges moment, with people colliding, arms flailing, you get the picture.”
After everyone regained their balance, the consensus was to pick up the turkey, run it under the faucet, carve it and serve it. “That floor was greasy for days,” Regi says.
Smoking Section
Also from New Jersey comes this story from Jude, who loves to grill the main dish for her large parties. “We were having our Labor Day party, which was for the neighborhood and then some, about 50 people. We had a powerful torrential rain storm all day long. I had plenty to grill, much of which had been marinated.”
Not one to change her plans and give in to Mother Nature, Jude enlisted her guests’ help in building a tarp over the grill and connecting the covered area to the patio and back door.
“As you can imagine, the smoke from the grill got caught up under the tarp and it seeped into the house. What a smoky mess.” Jude says none of the guests minded, “with the help of plenty of cocktails.”
Can You Say Rude?
Les Tout reader “Jujubee” is turning in her sister-in-law and friend for entertaining disaster stories. Jujubee is a vegetarian and her husband is allergic to dairy and berries. So when they were invited to brunch by a friend, what was on the menu but beef sausages, bacon, strawberry crepes in a creamy sauce. “We ended up having toast while they ate all the lovely brunch foods,” Jujubee said.
Another time, her sister-in-law invited them for dinner, serving leg of lamb. Being a vegetarian, Jujubee quietly ate only salad. “My sister-in-law gasped and thought I was being rude. When I explained that I’m actually vegetarian because I don’t digest meat well, she seemed to calm down. The kicker? She got me a cheese slice from the fridge and tossed it onto my plate.”
More on the Web
Can't get enough of other people's entertaining disaster stories?
Dinner Party Disasters: True Stories of Culinary Catastrophe by Annaliese Soros and Roderick Mills has some hilarious and embarrassing moments everyone can relate to.
Ever wonder who calls those product hot lines to ask questions? An article in PhillyBurbs has some hilarious tales from the trenches of the cooking hot line operators who give emergency advice and answer questions on the telephone.
Chef’s Line has a collection of 289 entertaining and cooking disaster stories, including the top prize winners of their contest.
