Jesse Tyler Ferguson: “I was taught how to cook a turkey dinner by none other than Martha Stewart.”

I’d rather wear cactus shorts than try and cook a meal under the supervision of a perfectionist like Martha Stewart!

But Modern Family star Jesse Tyler Ferguson did have the guts to get into the kitchen with Martha – to prepare a Thanksgiving meal no less!

He shares the experience in a column for Huffington Post. Here are some excerpts:

I was taught how to cook a turkey dinner by none other than Martha Stewart. Not through the help of her website or cookbooks. Oh no! I’m talking about an “in-the-flesh” Martha Stewart standing next to an “in-the-flesh” Jesse Tyler Ferguson and teaching him how to prepare a Thanksgiving dinner that was, in her words, “certain to impress.”

I would like to report that I did a pretty bang-up job. It wasn’t without its struggles and improvisation, however. For instance, I couldn’t find the beautiful clear plastic bin that looked like it was created for the sole purpose brining a 20-pound turkey. I had to settle on a paint bucket, which disturbed me a little… but hey, it was better than the garbage bag I’d used the year before at my sister’s apartment. The stuffing was delicious, as was the gravy. In fact, the whole meal was pretty spot-on. The shame of Martha looked down upon me only once: as I carved through the turkey, I cut right into the bag of giblets — I’d forgotten to remove them from the bird’s cavity.

I pride myself on making the holidays special for my friends and family. Come Christmastime, you can bet you will find me frosting the sour cream cookies my mom used to make, decorating the entire house with garlands and candles and making homemade peppermint ice cream (thank you, Williams-Sonoma ice cream maker). I get great joy from creating the perfect Norman Rockwell holiday. This is why I think I might be Martha Stewart’s brother from another mother.

Here is a LINK to Jesse’s Huffington Post column in its entirety.