One Grey’s Anatomy star has changed her Thanksgiving tradition after accidentally making everyone sick one year.
Camilla Luddington, who plays Dr. Josephine “Jo” Wilson on the ABC medical drama, now only buys a pre-cooked turkey to ensure she doesn’t repeat what happened that fateful year.
Luddington explained she didn’t grow up with Thanksgiving and its traditions as she was born in the U.K and so she did not realize how long the traditional turkey needs to roast in the oven.
“I didn’t grow up with it,” she said on the November 25 episode of her podcast, Call It What It Is. “So I just got to inherit all of the Friendsgiving traditions around me. And I love cooking the turkey. I say ‘cooking’, but really I get it from Whole Foods. I get the one that’s precooked because you just shove that bad boy in. You can’t go wrong.”
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She then explained to co-host and fellow Grey’s Anatomy star Kate Capshaw why she bought a pre-cooked turkey. She was cooking turkey one Thanksgiving and it was taking so long that people were starving and she decided to just serve it.
“It was like 10pm. I’m not even kidding, it was that late. I was like, okay, I’m taking it out. It is what it is. Whatever it has been cooked is cooked and we’re all gonna eat it,” Luddington said. “And I thought, genuinely, there’s no way that people are gonna actually get sick.”
“I gave food poisoning that year to everyone that had turkey. I’m not kidding,” she added. “I’ve never given food poisoning to anybody before, but people were throwing up that night.”
After discussing how tricky it is to get the timing right for roasting turkey, Luddington concluded by saying: “The turkey I got that year was an a**hole and took, I don’t know, 12 hours.”
Other than feeling sick from the food, Thanksgiving guests should never complain about what is served to them during the holidays, according to etiquette experts.
“Complaining about the food, comparing it to other meals, or ignoring efforts made by the host also comes across as disrespectful and unappreciative,” said Pamela Eyring, president of the Protocol School of Washington.
“Think about the Griswald’s Christmas Vacation movie when Uncle Eddie’s wife overcooks the turkey…and Clark, along with all the other family members, eats it without complaining as the dried turkey skin gets stuck in their throat,” she explained.
Eyring added: “A Thanksgiving table is a space for gratitude and connection, so practicing active listening, showing genuine interest in others, and keeping the conversation light and inclusive are essential to being a gracious guest. Keep your mindset positive.”
