Roger's Vegetable Casserole takes a drastic turn for the worse...
Roger Sarow is WFAE’s General Manager and an adept chef, despite gravity’s best efforts.
WFAE staffers have, for years, held a pot luck to celebrate Thanksgiving. A handful of staffers often chip in to buy a prepared main course—a spiral ham is a mainstay—and the rest of us bring in store bought and hand cooked goodies.
I am a fan of the slow cooker. It reminds me of the casseroles from many childhood gatherings in the Midwest.
My Thanksgiving offering was a massive, creamy vegetable casserole. I got the recipe from Mrs. Wilke’s Boarding House Cookbook; a Savannah legend that echoes in its own accent those Midwestern hot dishes of my youth.
I got the hot dish assembled by 7 AM; the idea was to “crock” it an hour or so, and then transport it to WFAE, then letting it simmer away for the morning.
I lifted up the crock pot by the handles. Then all of a sudden…… KER-BAM! …..
One of the plastic handles dropped off the crock pot.
The pot and its six quarts of gooey vegetables crashed to the hardwood floor. The crockery lining shattered, big shards bouncing out of the metal shell, shooting across the floor. The lukewarm vegetable sauce gushed across the floor, the dishwasher, and kitchen cabinets.
It took a half hour to scoop up the goo and to restore some sense of order.
A quick trip to the Bloom, and bagged greens and fresh fruit took the place of the vegetable glop. Okay….maybe it was the Crunch Food Gods telling me to lose the soup sauce in support of heart health.
Our Thanksgiving potluck went on without a hitch. There was far more than enough food for all.
What holiday cooking disasters have you faced? It’s time for YOU to own up. Tell us about them.
Roger That 
As a college student living in a college apartment, I attempted to prepare a pecan pie for a Christmas party I was attending that night. Although this was my first attempt at this dish, I was confident enough in my baking abilities to have no fear.
I placed my pie on an oh-so-cheap cookie sheet (remember…I was on a college budget), set the timer, and “went back to studying.” A few minutes later, I heard a loud *POP* and opened the oven to find a warped cookie sheet and sugary goodness spilling into the bottom of the oven…which was on fire, by the way. Luckily, it was a very small fire and I was able to put it out without a stop-drop-and-roll routine or any harm done to the apartment or me.
Although I have somewhat better quality materials to bake with these days, I have not yet attempted to make another pecan pie since that disastrous day.
Lamb shish-ka-bob. This Easter. When the Fire King glass baking dish says not for direct heat, that means no direct flame. Me dummy. Wonderful LAMB Mmeat all marianated, veggi’s soaked, popped it in oven. heard a pretty great crack and there she went. I have learned a lesson but good. Do not broil in a glass dish.