Scene: Christmas day 2013 and I have 15 people for coming for dinner. It has been a long cold winter already here in Grande Praie and today it is -35 Celsius or -31 Fahrenheit and 2 feet of fresh snow.
In the kitchen about 12.30 pm preparing vegetables as I was startled by a loud popping sound directing my attention to the oven. The oven was glowing red and I witnessed small flames leaping about at the bottom. I quickly turned off the oven and left the door closed until the flames were out. The bottom element had burnt out and split! What do I do now???? I have a 22+ pound turkey only 1/3 of the way cooked and it is Christmas day. I left it in the warm oven as I contemplated my dilemma.
Optimistically I called a few friends to ask them the size of the oven. I was totally willing to run it into town and finish the cooking, I was desperate. Of course no one else has an oven that fits, I tend to buy oversize and it barely fits in mine. Service businesses and parts stores are closed and I am at a loss.
My mind began to run crazy thinking of ways to continue. The fireplace was out of the question and then I had it. I have a Webber Kettle Barbecue!! As blessings began to unfold I found a bag of briquettes in the pantry and wrapped the whole Roasting Pan in an entire box of Tinfoil. The Turkey was stuffed and it is technically a no-no to cook on the barbecue but I had faith in the multi wrap system.
Pete was tasked with clearing the snow on the deck so I could reach the barbecue buried beneath it and get it all going. It took him quite awhile but he made me a path. Then it took about 45 minutes for the barbecue to reach temperature before I could begin. Meanwhile inside the card and board games began.
I transferred the Turkey outside through the snow in my big boots, coat and oven mitts by 2.30. It did take awhile to finish all right but we had a great time entertaining each other as we waited. We finally sat to enjoy the bounty at 8.30 pm. It was all a huge success. The Turkey and stuffing had a unique hint of barbecue that actually worked quite well, like a smokey flavor and it was the hit of the night. Another Christmas I remember fondly and I'm glad I never gave up.
