While visiting with my son and daughter-in-law in Florida, I rashly volunteered to do the turkey dinner for about 15 people. Upon a brief inventory of available pots, pans, and utensils, I discovered to my horror that they had virtually no cooking equipment other than an electric frying pan and the stove itself.

I purchased one of those heavy aluminum pans and decided to put the turkey, potatoes and the veggies in together ... a master stroke of genius, I thought. I put all this in the oven and pulled it out frequently for basting, thus eroding the pan and until the entire kit and caboodle ended up in the bottom of a rusty oven through the erosion hole.

Everyone sat around waiting impatiently for dinner. Out to the store, I flee. New pan purchased and turkey restarted. Now two hours late, I decided to display my bravado and take a shower before the main event.

In the shower, the sliding glass door decided it had hung there long enough on a damaged runner and fell inward on top of me. I could not move. I shouted. They were all partying and no one heard.

I finally got their attention and the men trouped up to see what emergency required that amount of noise. There I lay in all my pulchritudinous glory, wishing the world would swallow me and everything around me, up. After all the hoopla, the dinner was finally enjoyed, a little worse for wear.

They especially enjoyed the dessert. No cooking involved!

(Editor's note: This is one of the five finalists in our Thanskgiving Dinner Disaster contest sponsored by Vallerga's Markets. Read this and the other four entries, then vote for your favorite in our online poll. The winner of $100 to Vallerga's will be announced Tuesday, Dec. 2)