The Spectacular #ThanksgivingFail Contest and John Boos Butcher Block Giveaway

Quick Contest links: Facebook + Instagram + Rules. Submissions open until 12/4!

Let's be honest. Thanksgiving sucks.

It's stressful, chaotic and overwhelming to even the seasoned host. Once the secret is out that you possess the magical powers to summon a juicy turkey, your family, your family's family and their families suddenly all want to show up. And don't forget the screaming toddlers, tripping over four legged creatures while holding hot pans, tispy uncle Albert who passes the scotch like the appetizer du jour and your by-virtue-of-inlaw-sous-chef who insists on checking the oven every 30 minutes, "just to make sure". All the while, you put on your best Martha Stewart impression: one part beige cardigan, two parts fake prison smile, while secretly thinking if you could throw the refrigerator out the window and leap out of the madhouse.

At ChoppingBlocks.com, we appreciate and know all to well the effort that goes into a Thanksgiving production. The pressure of seeing an endless cornucopia of perfection on your Facebook feed, Instagram, Pinterest and even the grocery isle has created an unrealistic bar of expectations. It has turned a time of gratitude into an era of "Thanksgiving Battle Plans", likely named because of all the home chefs suffering from post-roast trauma.

So rather than celebrating perfection, we're is going to do something decidedly American this Thanksgiving:

We're going to embrace, celebrate and cheer on your kitchen failures.

ChoppingBlocks.com is going to honor every brave soul that volunteers for chef duty on Thanksgiving this year by giving a John Boos Butcher Block to the most epic Thanksgiving disaster this season. Post an original photo of you owning up to your disaster on Instagram or Facebook with #ThanksgivingFail and #FailBuddy, then tag us @ChoppingBlocks to have a chance at turning your bad luck upside down with a fabulous new butcher block that will give an all new meaning to knock-on-wood.

Pose with your jerky turkey, soupy-yet-still-chunky mashed potatoes, the forgot the cherry pie in microwave experiment or a video of uncle Albert while he does his rendition of Hit Me Baby One More Time while wearing a pink cooking apron. We want to see it all in it's unadulterated, unfiltered glory.

As a bonus, #FailBuddy is our way of letting you nominate a friend that helped in your disaster! Tag them and then they will be gifted a lovely John Boos cutting board if you win. So nominate carefully, because it's not every day that you can give someone wood. (Yes, we just went there..)

IMPORTANT: Make sure to hold up a sign with the hashtag #ThanksgivingFail and our name so we know you're an original creator of disasters, because borrowing other cooks' failures is so passé.

Why are we doing this?

Thanksgiving is tough and often thankless work. We want to say to all the chefs slaving away next Thursday that Thanksgiving isn't about perfection- it's about enjoying good company. When things go wrong, as they inevitably do from time to time, you should be able to laugh things off and enjoy them for what they are - learning experiences.

As chefs ourselves, we have burnt, charred, boiled over, served pinked and otherwise mangled our way through the kitchen more times than we can count. If not for these experiences, we never would have learned, so it's important to us that we allow ourselves leniency and to laugh at our own mistakes instead of being ashamed.

Plus, many of our customers are new to cooking and buying their very first quality cutting board. We can hear the anxiety over the phone from first time hosts that are terrified they will ruin Thanksgiving for their friends and families. It's sad to think that so many people feel so pressured to perform that Thanksgiving has come to be dreaded. So in our own little way, we hope to change that by adding some levity and humor to go with the holiday.

If you agree with what we're doing, then spread the word even if you have no disasters, as we would love your support for our fun little contest!

Contest Instruction and Rules

We will be accepting submissions for one whole week from Thanksgiving on and will announce the winner shortly after on our Facebook and Instagram account. Our judging panel is made up of respected food bloggers who will decide at the end of the day deserves to be awarded the ultimate Thanksgiving fail.

How to participate:

Submissions will be accepted starting 11/23/15 to 12/3/15 11:59pm PST Post a photo to Facebook or Instagram with #ThanksgivingFail, #FailBuddy and tag ChoppingBlocks Photos can also be uploaded at the bottom of this page or on our Facebook contest page Don't forget to include #FailBuddy when nominating and tagging a friend Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. We will announce the winner on 12/9/15 on our Facebook and Instagram feed. If you see yourself as the winner, private message us on the same platform you submitted your winning entry to claim your prize.

Contest rules are as follows

Entries must include hand made sign of #ThanksgivingFail with ChoppingBlocks.com in the photo

Only one submission per person

Contestants must be at least 18 years old and a current US resident with a US address

Lewd, inappropriate, offensive or submissions in poor taste will be immediately disqualified

Main prize is a 18" x 18" John Boos PCA Butcher Block ($619 retail value) and add-on prize is a 20" x 15" John Boos R-Board Cutting Board ($84 retail value).

Prizes will be shipped out within 2 months after the completion of the contest.

Shipping cost will be paid by ChoppingBlocks.com for for addresses in the continental US to non-restricted areas. Please see our shipping page for definition of restricted areas.

Shipping to any other area will be the responsibility of the prize winner.

This prize is awarded "as-is" and cannot be refunded or returned or claimed for cash value.

Officiating and judging will solely be conducted by ChoppingBlocks.com

We will stop taking submissions after the first 500 entries

And finally, the fine print:

John Boos & Co is a registered trademark of John Boos & Company and is not affiliated with this promotion.

ChoppingBlocks.com, run by CuttingBoard LLC, a Washington State LLC, will have the final say on all contest rules, judging and awards.

ChoppingBlocks.com is not responsible for any technical errors, glitches or accidents that prevents, interferes or deletes submissions on our website, Facebook or Instagram.

From everyone at the ChoppingBlocks.com family, Happy Thanksgiving!!!