Frozen bird wins woman copy of 'The Dinner Party'

Congratulations to Jeannie Carl of Jim Thorpe, winner of "The Dinner Party" by Brenda Janowitz.

Not only did she share a story of a holiday dinner disaster, she submitted one of her favorite no-fail recipes.

Here's Jeannie's disaster story:

"My husband and I were newly married and the Thanksgiving 'baton' had been passed on to us. We were nervous and excited. We were no longer at the 'kids' table' ... we had graduated to being adults and setting the grown-up table and the kids' table in our first home.

"We shopped and cleaned and prepared like crazy. We were up early Thanksgiving morning and scrambled like mad. Food was prepped and made and our feast was going to be epic.

"We went to get the turkey in the oven and it was frozen solid on the inside; so much so we could not get the innards out. We soaked the bird in water over and over ... we ran water into the bird. We pried. We pulled. We said bad words.

"Not knowing what else to do we popped the bird into the oven with the innards, hoping it would cook and we could get them out. After much basting we were able to get the innards out. I don't believe the bird ever cooked all the way through properly but we didn't send anyone to the ER. We just sliced the breast and hoped for the best.

"Lesson learned to defrost the bird for DAYS!"

And here's Jeannie's recipe:

Baked Pineapple Stuffing

½cup of butter, softened

¾cup of sugar

7 slices of cubed bread (sourdough or something similar)

4 eggs

1 20-ounce can of crushed pineapple

A dash of apple pie spice (or more to suit your taste)

Beat sugar, eggs and butter together until blended and add pineapple.

Fold in bread cubes and toss lightly - do no mash the bread.

Spray a 1½ quart casserole dish lightly with butter.

Bake for 40 minutes at 350F.

Great with ham or pork.