I always watched my mother cook Thanksgiving dinner, so when I came of age and had my own family to cook Thanksgiving dinner for, I was not intimidated. The one thing every experienced Thanksgiving cook knows is to take out the little bag of innards before dressing and cooking the turkey, however, this is a common mistake for first-timer Thanksgiving cooks. My very first Thanksgiving dinner I had to cook by myself was going to be attended by my in-laws, so I wanted everything to be perfect. I made a conscious effort to make darn SURE that little bag of innards made it out of the turkey. After removing it, I thought to myself, "Great, I remembered. Now I won't make that same mistake so many make their first time." I dressed the turkey and put it in the oven, making sure to baste it every fifteen minutes religiously. I was very careful in all respects. Then, I got to the point where I opened the bag of innards and began chopping giblets to cook up for the gravy. I noticed when I dumped out the bag that the neck was nowhere to be found. I sat there for a minute just staring at the giblets lying in the pan, trying to figure out where the neck was at and then it hit me! The neck must still be in the turkey! This was about two hours into cooking the turkey. I quickly removed the turkey from the oven and held the neck flap open with a couple of forks peering inside as my father-in-law watched from the living room. Unfortunately, we had a small place that first year and there was no wall separating the kitchen area from the living room. The bag appeared to still be intact, but the turkey was too hot to stick my hand inside, so I grabbed a pair of needle nose pliers, as my in-laws watched with raised eyebrows, from the miscellaneous drawer and, embarrassingly, began the delicate task of removing the neck bag from the cavity. I was very embarrassed, but in the end everything worked out fine. The turkey was delicious and plastic-free.