By SWNS Staff
New York office - 646-873-7565 / usnews@swns.com
NEWS COPY w/ VIDEO + INFOGRAPHIC
If you’re hosting Thanksgiving dinner this year, you can expect six things to go wildly wrong, according to new research.
A new survey of 2,000 Americans found that from cooking and preparing to serving their Thanksgiving Day meal, the average American says half a dozen things don’t go exactly as planned.
The odds say that the turkey – the centerpiece of the celebration – will be one of those screw-ups, as more than half (56 percent) of those surveyed say that cooking the turkey correctly is one of the hardest parts about hosting Thanksgiving dinner.
The survey, conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Omaha Steaks, revealed the most common ‘Thanksgiving Fails’ Americans face year in and year out.
While frequent mishaps range from spilling a dish to running out of wine, juggling the timing of the day was the biggest battle: Not getting any of the cooking done before dinner time was the most common fail, followed by having to wait on a dish or two still cooking before finally diving in.
“You’ll never have another Thanksgiving Fail with a complete Thanksgiving meal from America’s Original Butcher, Omaha Steaks,” said Todd Simon, Senior Vice President and Family Owner. “Timing is never an issue either, as we provide you with the ability to create your own custom Thanksgiving dinner by choosing from a selection of main dishes, sides and desserts that were designed to make your dinner easy and memorable.”
And while those blunders are just some of the most common Thanksgiving Fails, the survey also asked each individual respondent their WORST Thanksgiving Fail and mined some delightfully troublesome results.
One respondent said the worst Thanksgiving Fail they ever encountered was that the food served was so bad that everybody stopped eating it after just one bite. Another respondent hosted a dinner party but completely forgot to invite their friends, so nobody wound up coming. A third respondent mentioned that one year, their turkey was stolen from the dinner table!
The study also revealed that Americans are not very enthusiastic about the cooking aspect that comes with America’s favorite gluttonous holiday.
The results showed that nearly 76 percent of Americans surveyed agreed that Thanksgiving would be a much more pleasurable event if all that pesky cooking was erased from the process – a perhaps unsurprising result when 31 percent reported spending 4-5 hours completing their shopping and another 4-5 hours preparing the meal.
“Most importantly, Omaha Steaks Thanksgiving meals save you from spending all day in the kitchen and allows you to spend that time with family and friends, which is what the holidays are all about,” Simon added.
TOP 20 MOST COMMON ‘THANKSGIVING FAILS’
1. Not all of the cooking is done on time 31%
2. Not all the food is done cooking at the same time 29%
3. Ran out of wine 28%
4. Spilled a dish on the floor 28%
5. Forgot an essential ingredient in one dish 28%
6. One or more dish is cold by the time it's served 27%
7. Ran out of a dish before everyone got some of it 27%
8. Cooked something incorrectly 27%
9. Forgot to take a food allergy into account 26%
10. Turkey is burnt 26%
11. Turkey is dry 25%
12. Not enough seating 25%
13. Food doesn't taste right 25%
14. Turkey is undercooked 25%
15. Forgot the cranberry sauce 25%
16. Forgot to thaw turkey ahead of time 24%
17. Ran completely out of food 24%
18. Forgot to pre-heat the oven 24%
19. Turkey caught on fire 23%
20. Pet got into the food 20%
