I made Friendsgiving dinner in a microwave and this is what happened
For all the Ina Garten wanna-be’s trapped with a microfridge
To be honest, I didn’t have high hopes for this. When I think of my dream Thanksgiving, I don’t think of a rubbery piece of turkey I microwaved myself, but I was willing to try some things out.
Everyone knows the struggle of living in a dorm, wanting real food so bad, but settling for a box of Pizza Rolls because you don’t want to move.
I wanted to make a halfway decent meal that anyone could make, whether you are trapped in East Halls or are just completely lacking all culinary skills. I decided to make mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, and green bean casserole, but completely nixed the idea of a turkey. If you want a turkey, I would highly recommend treating yourself to a rotisserie chicken. You deserve it.
This is everything you will need:
Mashed potatoes
- Chop the potato into large chunks
- Put them into a Tupperware container that has a lid and cover the potatoes with water. Put the lid on loosely and microwave for seven minutes or until you can easily stick a fork into them
- Drain the water out of the potatoes and mash with a fork
- Add butter and garlic salt
Green bean casserole
- Put the green beans, half a can of cream of mushroom soup, and a handful of crunchy onions into a bowl
- Stir to combine
- Microwave for 1 minute
- Stir and top with more crunchy onions
Sweet potato casserole
- Drain the liquid out of the sweet potatoes and put them into a bowl
- Microwave with a few pads of butter for 45 seconds and mash with a fork
- Mix in two tablespoons of brown sugar
- Top with more brown sugar and mini marshmallows
The results? Not as bad as I expected. I invited some ~friends~ over and this is what they thought:
The mashed potatoes:
Amber: “If I was home and I ate those, I would be like, ‘This is a disappointment’ but if I was like, ‘I HAVE to make Thanksgiving in a microwave’ I would say ‘mmmmm!’
Emily: “She boiled the potatoes in a microwave….”
Steph: “These aren’t bad…if my grandma made them for Thanksgiving dinner I wouldn’t be like, ‘wow grandma these are amazing,’ but overall they are pretty good.
Amanda: “um…I enjoy them…”
Chris: “These are good. I’m having more of these.”
The green bean casserole:
Amber: “It tastes as ugly as it looks.”
Emily: “No. No. No.”
Steph: “Okay…no.”
Amanda: “I’m having none of this. I’ve decided.”
Chris: “That’s enough for me…”
The sweet potato casserole:
Amber: “Maybe just like a little cinnamon…and I want more marshmallows. And larger marshmallows.”
Emily: “It’s a very sweet potato!”
Steph: “I think you might be my grandmother.”
Amanda: “These are divine.”
Chris: “Oh my God!”
In the end, if you were desperate, it would be okay, maybe even sort of good. Otherwise, I would definitely recommend borrowing a friend’s oven and following a real recipe.
Ultimately, we decided that the best Friendsgiving we could ever have would be from the homeland: aka Sheetz.