It's not uncommon for resident household cooks to get an urge to try out something new for that holiday meal. Sometimes the inaugural attempt results in a standing ovation, but taking that risk can also lead to...well, perhaps not the exact expected outcome (ie. a failed dish). Once when I was about eight, my father decided he wanted to make a Smithfield ham for Thanksgiving (he frequently had urges to try out new "things." He also once attempted to grow morels in our backyard, emphasis on attempted). Anyway, I just remember that huge pink hunk boiling in water for what seemed like forever, everyone excitedly awaiting thick slices of succulent pink porky ham. Yeah, that never happened. I still really don't know exactly what went wrong but that thing was so salty, nobody could eat. Literally. It was passed along to the dogs, and as I recall, even they weren't big fans. That year we somehow ended up eating potatoes with potatoes (long story) for Thanksgiving dinner. I was not pleased. But the point here is, sometimes dishes don't always turn out as expected and/or you run into hiccups along the way. We've recruited the expert advice from Anne Burrell and Beau MacMillan, hosts of Food Network's newest reality competition Worst Cooks In America, to supply advice on how to overcome potential kitchen cooking blunders. Anny Says, Here's What To Do If... 1. You drop your pie on the counter when setting it to cool, and it crumbles! What can you do to save it? Don’t worry – there’s a fix for everything! Scoop it out of the pie dish, and put it in individual dessert bowls. Place some ice cream on top, and call it an apple crumble. No one will know the difference! 2. More people show up than expected to your holiday dinner party, and you don't have enough food to feed everyone. How can you stretch what you have or supplement quickly? Oh no! Well first, open up the booze to keep spirits high and tensions low. Break out the basics that you have – cheese and crackers, veggies and dip/hummus, get out everything from your fridge just to keep people nibbling. Also, take the food you have prepared and put it out slowly; don’t rush to put everything out at once. This way, people feel like there is an abundance of food, and they can still go for “seconds” even though they didn’t have that much for the first round. 3. You realize that your oven breaks while your meat is cooking away. How can you cook it through without ruining the meat and delaying the meal? Yikes – well, let’s fire up the grill then! If you don’t have a grill, run next door to your neighbor’s house and see if you can use their oven to finish the meat. Try every option and every neighbor, unless of course you want to serve it rare and pretend you meant to serve carpaccio all along! 4. You have 10 people coming over for a cocktail party, but you are running late from work. You have one hour until the party and just enough time to stop quickly at the store. What do you buy and make quickly? Well, a good cocktail party definitely needs alcohol! So, stop at the liquor store and be sure to get enough to keep your guests happy. I definitely recommend grabbing some Prosecco, it’s an affordable sparkling white wine and makes for easy drinking. Also, get some sort of white wine and red wine as well. For a versatile alcohol, pick up vodka and mixers. For food, I would definitely buy a selection of cheese, crackers, salami, olives, jar of roasted red peppers, baguettes, and a tub of hummus. That’s a good basis to start from. If you have a little extra time, buy some eggs to make deviled eggs or even a frittata -- sauté some onions and peppers, crack in eggs and beat them up, toss in parmesan cheese, put it in a non-stick frying pan and stick it in the oven; serve at room temperature. 5. You put your side dishes in the oven to keep warm, but you forget to lower the temp - all your sides are burned to a crisp! What do you do? I have actually done this before! If they are burned to a crisp, sometimes it can be a total loss so break out what you have stored in the pantry or refrigerator to replace it. Other times though things can better burned, so maybe you did a good thing! Crispy, brown food tastes GOOD! Inspect what you have, and then do a little damage control to remove any overly burned parts and salvage what’s left. Beau Says, Here's What To Do If... 6. You have a mini fire or smoke-out in your kitchen. What's the first thing you should do? If a pan with grease catches on fire, you should stop everything and immediately cover it to extinguish the flame. If you don't have an extinguisher, buy one! Whatever you do, don't use dishtowels to move pots from burner to burner -- they can easily ignite and cause a major kitchen disaster. Or if you are using dishtowels, make sure to turn your flames off before moving pots from burner to burner. 7. You’re getting ready to serve a three-course meal to your guests and you already feel like your food is getting cold. What's the best way to keep everything warm while you're serving and eating? A lot of companies make these awesome hot plates that you can use to keep your food warm. Another great trick for keeping gravies and sauces warm is to create a water bath. You just need to pour an inch and half of boiling water into a shallow tray before placing your pot of sauce in. 8. You’ve prepared a dinner for a large group and one friend shows up with an unexpected guest – turns out this guest is a vegetarian and your entrée is pork chops! What can you whip together quickly for a vegetarian? The first thing you should do is access all of the ingredients you’ve used to enhance the pork chop. It’s very easy to play up those ingredients without using the meat. Also, since pasta, rice, and couscous cook so quickly, it’s super easy to toss in some fresh veggies and whip together a quick vegetarian-friendly meal. Another option is to throw together a medley of all the meat-free sides and appetizers you’re serving the other guests. 9. You’re throwing a holiday party and more guests show up than expected – now you have a major wine shortage. What’s the easiest way to extend your supply of beverages? If you have a shortage of red wine, you can whip together an easy holiday punch with fruit juice or sangria with your favorite chopped fruits. If you have a shortage of sparkling wine, impress your guests with a simple cocktail like a poinsettia which is made up of champagne, triple sec and cranberry juice. 10. At the last minute, your guests decide they’re staying over and you realize you don’t have enough time to shop and prepare for lunch the next day. What’s the best way to stretch the items you already have on hand? The easiest thing to do is let one ingredient impress your guests twice. When the holidays turn into a weekend of entertaining, don’t be intimidated by the idea of multiple meals. Take one main dish – such as roasted ham – and get creative with the leftovers. Think ham sandwiches for lunch using extra rolls and a dollop of delicious jam, or white bean soup for dinner with pecorino and cubed ham. Your guests will think you’re a kitchen star (over and over again).