Top most common Christmas disasters

The top 40 most common Christmas disasters include burnt turkey, undercooked roast potatoes and forgetting gravy.Show more

A study of 2,000 adults who celebrate the festive season found many of the things that go wrong are centered around food with soggy vegetables and undercooked greens both in the top five.

Other top mistakes made on December 25th were forgetting vegetarian and vegan alternatives, not having enough plates to serve all guests and running out of wrapping paper.

It also emerged that while 44% of those polled think mishaps are simply part of the big day, 62% prefer to stick to what they know to avoid mistakes.

Conducted by OnePoll and commissioned by the bakery brand, St Pierre, the study found disasters especially leave people feeling frustrated (41%) and embarrassed (41%).

Although looking back, they now feel entertained (42%) and nostalgic (39%) with 43% claiming many of their fond festive memories center around food.

The study also found people have typically hosted nine Christmases, experiencing three disasters each time, but 55% are confident they’ve made fewer mistakes over the years.

And 43% admitted such catastrophes create amusing stories to re-tell years later and hearing about other people’s mishaps makes 45% feel better about their own.

“It’s safe to say the majority of us have experienced some sort of unplanned mishap at Christmas,” said a spokesperson for St Pierre. “A lot of the list of disasters are food focused because food is such an important part of the occasion and it’s something everyone wants to get right to impress others.

“That said, it’s always useful to have something in the cupboard as back-up and there are clever ways to cheat your way to a magnifique Christmas spread.

“No matter how bad it might feel messing up on Christmas Day, those who have experienced such a thing agree that it’s all part of making memories.”

For 40%, food is a central part of Christmas and 68% have had a “practice run” before hosting — with 60% of them admitting the trial was better than the real deal.

Keeping track of the time (45%), chatting to others (44%) and music being on (40%) are among the scenarios which impact the success — or lack of — festive dinner.

But in order to avoid mishaps with Christmas dinner, 62% prep some elements the night before and 56%write a to-do list.

It also found 86% of those polled believe food is an important aspect of Christmas and 60% even have ‘back-up’ ready-to-eat items in case something goes wrong.

But assuming it all goes to plan, leftovers are typically enjoyed in a sandwich (47%), for breakfast (38%) or even given to pets (38%).

Some of the most memorable Christmas disaster scenes from films and TV shows also feature food, including the turkey exploding when being cut into in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.

And the family forgetting Kevin in Home Alone and Bart burning down the Christmas tree and presents in the Simpsons also proved popular.

St Pierre’s spokesperson added: “The festive season is about making memories with friends, family and unforgettable food – with 86% of Americans admitting food is important to their Christmas. Good food is more than just a meal on your plate. It’s a get-together, it’s sharing, it’s family - and this is never more true than at Christmas.”

TOP 40 CHRISTMAS DISASTERS:
1. Burnt turkey
2. Burnt stuffing
3. Undercooked roast potatoes
4. Soggy vegetables
5. Hard, under-cooked vegetables
6. Forgetting gravy when serving up
7. Food being served cold
8. Forgetting to supply vegetarian/vegan alternatives for guests
9. Forgetting Christmas pudding
10. Lumpy gravy
11. Watery gravy
12. Fridge/freezer breaking so all food is ruined       
13. Not having enough plates to serve dinner to all guests
14. Oven breaking        
15. Waking up late, meaning dinner will be late        
16. Running out of wrapping paper
17. Not having enough chairs to sit all guests        
18. Microwave breaking
19. Not putting name tags on gifts and forgetting what is for who
20. Kid’s seeing me wrapping presents intended to be from Santa
21. Presented ordered online not arriving on time
22. Forgetting to put food in the oven at the right time
23. Undercooked meat
24. Giving someone a gift intended for someone else
25. Christmas tree falling over
26. Finding gone off bread when making a Boxing Day sandwich
27. Someone choking on the coin in the middle of a Christmas pudding
28. Christmas lights blowing a fuse
29. Forgetting to turn the oven on
30. Breaking a Christmas present immediately after opening it
31. Pet cat climbing and getting stuck up the tree
32. Having to cook when hungover
33. Presents going missing
34. Forgetting to defrost a dessert
35. Arguments over politics at the dinner table
36. Table centerpiece catching on fire
37. Writing the wrong person’s name on a card
38. Leaving presents at home when visiting someone else on Christmas Day
39. Forgetting to defrost the turkey
40. Presents being stolen