Thanksgiving Dinner Ends in Tears When Woman Refuses to Eat Mother-in-Laws Yam's, Suspecting That They Were Leftovers from Last Year's Thanksgiving Dinner

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Ely Bulnes • Writer and Editor
Dec 1, 2024 6:00 PM EST

Welcome, gossiping goddesses. Thanksgiving is the one night of the year where we are supposed to set aside our differences and be grateful to share a meal with family. Families members separated by distance make an effort to join together, try each others' dishes, and respectfully catch up after months of little contact. Of course, this is not often the reality. In fact, many leave Thanksgiving events with fresh reminders as to why the barely talk to their relatives.So, if we can't really look forward to the people, we can at least look forward to all of the delicious food — the colorful variety, and the sheer bounty of it all. 

Even though stuffing yourself like a turkey is truly the best aspect of the holiday, it can be impossible to get around to trying every dish on a Thanksgiving spread — especially for large families that do potluck-style dinners. Usually, no one is monitoring anyone's food intake, but in our story today, our protagonist is called out for avoiding her mother-in-law's yams. Get all the details down below. 

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  • 01
    r/Amlthe u/TheUniMermaid ⚫ 1d. Part ipant [1] AITA for not eating a Thanksgiving dish I suspect it was made last year?
    via u/TheUniMermaid
  • 02
    Long time lurker, first time poster but I'm so baffled about this situation I need a non biased perspective. My husband and I (30ish) have a quite large family: his parents, his 2 siblings plus spouses and kids; my divorced parents and their new spouses, plus my siblings and their spouses and kids.
    via u/TheUniMermaid
  • 03
    All together we are well over 20 people so family gatherings can be overwhelming for the person hosting. (And yes, my divorced parents and their new spouses get along fine and there's no drama.)
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  • 04
    Last night we celebrated Thanksgiving and as a family tradition everyone brings a dish. Usually we communicate with each other so that way everyone is making different types of food. My sister-in-law (wife of my brother) said that she was going to bring her mom's famous sweet potato casserole. I thought it was very nice of her since her mon passed away this year and she was honoring her memory by making her recipe. However, once I saw
    via u/TheUniMermaid
  • 05
    her dish I truly think she brought last year's leftovers. Instead of big pan, she brought several small and medium containers of sweet potato casserole. Although it did not smell weird it was very dry and just didn't look like a regular one. I didn't try it and discreetly told my husband my concerns, who also did not try it.
    via u/TheUniMermaid
  • 06
    Once Thanksgiving was over, my mother called me. saying that my SIL was upset because she noticed I didn't try her dish. I told my mother about my fears and she said that I'm just to picky with food and there's no way a frozen casserole could last a year without having mold. I pointed that the several containers could mean she cut the "good parts" and left the moldy ones. After an awkward silence, we decided to agree to disagree and hang up.
    via u/TheUniMermaid
  • 07
    I feel bad for my SIL but I truly could not bring myself to eat something I am not 100% sure is safe. So AITA?
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  • 08
    Update to my post. After spending my whole morning reading and answering your comments I decided to pass by my mother's house and have an in person talk with her. I read her some of the comments on the original post and she thinks the Internet is a strange place.
    via u/TheUniMermaid
  • 09
    We agreed I can always come and tell her what I think truthfully. She has not talked to anyone else in the family about the "Yam debacle." We decided to call my brother and ask if we can go to his house qnd have a talk with him and my SIL. He said to brace ourselves and come with an open mind. When we got there, my SiL started crying uncontrollably and my brother took us to the kitchen. which was a mess.
    via u/TheUniMermaid
  • 10
    Long story short. They were indeed leftovers just not a year old. I guess sometime before her passing, SIL and her mom had made several family recipes as a bonding experience. The casserole was one of the staple recipes and my SiL had froze several containers of it. On thanksgiving week, she thawed some of it and tried to replicate the taste without luck. I guess the pressure of making it for us got the best of her and she got more and more frustrated as the date approached. On Thursday, she fin
    via u/TheUniMermaid
  • 11
    As to why my SIL noticed that I didn't eat her dish: Apparently in prior years I had complimented the casserole as "this is the best one I've ever tried." So this year she was expecting some comment and was sad when I didn't even try it.
    via u/TheUniMermaid
  • 12
    I apologized and told her I was really sorry that I hurt her feelings. She apologized for singling me out. We told her to rest and in the meantime me, my mother and brother we cleaned the kitchen, tidy the house and Mom made her a soup (Ajiaco, if you know, you know.)
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  • 13
    My mom decided to stay but I left a bit after everything was done and everyone was calm. As a goodwill gesture I'm getting my SIL a mini spa day that I think she will enjoy and help her feel better. So that's pretty much it, no big fight, no big dramatic scene. Sorry not sorry.
    via u/TheUniMermaid
  • 14
    Thank you all for your opinions. I will be more thoughtful of peoples feelings but I still will not eat something I don't want to just to please someone. No reports that anyone got sick, btw.
    via u/TheUniMermaid
  • 15
    Lastly, Does my mother think frozen food can get moldy? She claims she said it in the heat of the moment and because I was annoying her. She knows cooking is not my forte so she thought I had no good comeback to that. I opened her freezer and there's only meat and ice cream. So... who knows at this point? 9,680 982 1 D
    via u/TheUniMermaid
  • 16
    Urbanyeti0 P 1d rintendant [55] Frozen food doesn't grow mould, but if it was dry it could well have had freezer burns that were cut off NTA you don't have to eat anyone else's food Reply 5.9k
    via u/Urbanyeti0
  • 17
    Aggressive-Flan-8011. 1d Part ipant [1] Yeah that part stuck out to me. I don't care what this person ate on Thanksgiving, I'm more curious about how many moldy things they have found in their own freezer because I've discovered things that have been at the bottom of my freezer for years and there has never been mold. 2.5k
    via u/Aggressive-Flan-8011
  • 18
    Infinite Slide_5921 • 1d If it was dry, it may well have been because it was made by the sister-in-law, who probably wasn't experienced making the dish, instead of her. mother, whose recipe it was. And the many containers could have been because of the cooking fail, and the presentation wasn't great. I don't think OP is an a hle for not eating something she didn't like, but her suspicions are frankly weird. 223
    via u/Infinite Slide_5921
  • 19
    bujomomo ⚫ 1d Ah le Enthusiast [6] NTA. Let's say for argument's sake that the casserole was made yesterday, on Thanksgiving. If you just decided you didn't want sweet potato casserole, you'd still be in this situation and you'd still be justified in not eating it. Either way, the person who made the dish should not be closely monitoring who took some. That's very strange. Eat what you want to eat at these types of gatherings. Reply 14.2k
    via u/bujomomo
  • 20
    NTA Enough-Process9773. 1d P rintendant [56] The whole point of a big meal with multiple dishes is that you don't have to eat from every dish if you don't want to. Reasons for not doing so do not need to be given. Q Ŵ 4k
    via u/Enough-Process9773
  • 21
    pizzasauce85 • . 1d Yesterday, I had rolls, stuffing, sweet potato casserole, pecan pie, pumpkin pie, apple pie, green bean casserole, orange jello salad, turkey, ham, water, coke, broccoli cheese rice, and mashed potatoes
    via u/pizzasauce85
  • 22
    I did not eat any tofurkey, cheesy peas, vegetarian stuffing, banana pudding, chips with dip, baked beans, ice cream, sweet tea, unsweetened tea, lemonade, Mac and cheese, Hawaiian rolls, and a few other sides I can't recall. No one said a thing to me about what I didn't eat! ... 1.8k
    via u/pizzasauce85
  • 23
    AHO Wretched Gibbon • 1d Exactly, the fact that they were watching so closely alone suggests that something was sus about it. 6 481
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  • 24
    Lisbei • 1d Certified Proctolog st [24] Exactly! The only mistake OP made was admitting her fears, though she couldn't have known her mother was going to be on SIL's side, I suppose. Better would have been "Oh, I didn't? Huh. I ate so much that day - wait was SIL seriously watching everyone like a hawk to make sure they ate her food? Weird." 445
    via u/Lisbei
  • 25
    Singh DoubleTrouble • 1d I really don't understand why you wouldn't ask her about the recipe to get her to talk about the dish and its preparation rather than make bold assumptions and then spread those baseless assumptions. There were so many ways to innocently inquire... ... Reply 169
    via u/SinghDoubleTrouble
  • 26
    Spirited-Coach-2060 • 1d I don't think you were wrong to not eat something, you are in your right. But I'm struggling to agree with your logical conclusions. Dish being dry and several containers instead of one can to me be explained by the recipe simply not being good or dish cooked too long and packing into several containers for the ease of transportation (and that's where my mind would go). To me it sounds more like an intrusive thought that you let to overtake you Reply 105
    via u/Spirited-Coach-2060
  • 27
    Cheezburger Image 10435652608
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