A Fountain of Bubbly.

For Thanksgiving dinner we traveled to Richmond to visit family. There were lots of people there that I didn't know as well as several that I did. In those situations, I often find conversation with strangers a bit awkward, especially in settings that are supposed to be warm and comforting like Thanksgiving dinner. I find the drone of my public-self uncomfortable and weird--especially when I am with strangers and family at the same time. It is like half the room knows the answers to all of the of the questions that the other half of the room is asking. I tend to talk too much and be generally very uncomfortable, in short, I much prefer to stay quiet and helpful in the kitchen.

So that is what I did. I made myself helpful by being the drink girl. I mixed up delicious champagne concoctions--champagne with a splash of pomegranate juice. Very festive. And they helped take the edge off of the evening. Bottoms up.

As people drank, I continued to pop the cork, pour and serve. Pop. Pour. Serve.

When the time came for dinner, the deliciously smelling hot food was placed on the island and I pulled a magnum of brute out of the fridge to serve the last round of cocktails before we settled to our place settings. I placed the chilled bottle on the island between the turkey and the gravy. I then placed a towel over the cork and began to gently unscrew it.

Suddenly. A fountain of bubbles began to gush uncontrollably out of the bottle and all over the island, the turkey, the gravy, me, the ceiling, the floor, the potatoes, the pies, the green beans, the asparagus, and everything else within a 6-foot radius. My cover of being quiet in the kitchen was effectively blown.

Champagne had gotten in my eyes, but I was able to squint at the crowd of frightened onlookers who were clearly thinking, "OMW did she just ruin our dinner?!" Meanwhile, the poor woman who slaved in the kitchen making all of this food was thinking, "Is there a straw anywhere, I am going to need to slurp up some of this champagne, this crazy girl just ruined my dinner!" And Mike was slowly backing up as if he were trying to escape.

I am not really sure what happened next. Somehow it got cleaned up. Dinner was great, with a hint of bubbly.