Every year we cook Thanksgiving dinner here; yesterday I realized there was no roasting pan in the condo, so we did what I tell my students not to do and we used one of those disposable roasting pans from the grocery store. (NEVER, NEVER A GOOD IDEA!)
About half way through the cooking time the condo was filling with smoke; I was attributing this to the bacon splattering in the oven, but then realized that the roasting pan was leaking drippings onto the bottom of the oven.
OK, what does the Diva of Thanksgiving do in a case like this? Primal screaming wasn't going to stop the smoke---I transferred this 17 pound monster to a baking sheet, covered it in foil, and then proceed to roast another hour until the turkey was cooked to 170---all the time smoke would pour out of the oven when I opened the oven door--setting off the smoke alarms every time---it wasn't my finest hour.
Finally when the turkey reached temperature, I turned the oven off---now what to do with the ice cold made-ahead side dishes? I microwaved them, till they were cooked through, but what about the crusty top that the kids look forward to??? By this time the oven had cooled down, I lined the dripping laden oven floor with foil, and turned on the broiler, and broiled the tops of the potatoes and corn. The gravy was distinctively smokey --- but the rest of the dinner was just fine, I just collapsed at the table and watched everyone enjoy the meal.
The moral of the story---pack the roasting pan! I hope you and your family had a blessed Thanksgiving---we are leaving paradise tomorrow with our 15 month old granddaughter--soloing for the first time on a plane with her and babysitting in San Diego for a few days while mom and dad stay in the islands a bit longer. Aloha from Maui.
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