Wanna talk accountability? OK, let's talk. I thought that it would be fun to share some of our cooking boo-boos. (Although, some of us may have a few more than others...I, for one, have many tales to tell. LOL )
My DH & I were laughing this weekend about the first meal that I ever cooked for him when we were dating. It was a semi-homemade pizza. I decided to make an impression on him by really piling on the toppings - meats, veggies, extra cheeses...you name it. I made an impression alright, all that extra cheese bubbled over and caught my oven on fire. The pizza was still edible though and DH & I have been married for about 14 1/2 yrs now. The moral here? Never underestimate "burnin' love"! (I know, please don't throw me off the board for that one.)
There was also the first Thanksgiving dinner that I hosted. (Come to think of it, this wasn't very long after the great pizza fire.) My menu was planned and I was making everything ahead of time that I possibly could. I planned to have chocolate pies and egg custard pies (DH’s favorite) for dessert. My recipes were out, my ingredients were out and measured and I had myself a little pie production line going. I had also made both of these pies in the past so I really wasn’t that uptight about them. (BTW….when someone suggests that you completely read your recipes before you begin, even if you have prepared it before….READ the recipe.) Anyway the ingredients were mixed, the pie shells were filled, the chocolate pies were topped with the most beautiful meringue that you ever would see and into the oven they go……..Let’s see, what did I forget here? Oh well, part of the menu is done.
DH (who is still D boyfriend at this point) comes by for a visit. He was always one (and still is) to want to nibble. It would (and still does) irritate me because I want the food that I serve to be attractive and not look like the gnawing elves have had a party. I wasn’t completely satisfied with one of the chocolate pies so I told him that he could cut into that one. I noticed when he took a big bite that he chewed and chewed and chewed and chewed and .... well, you get the idea. Finally, he said with a really funny look on his face, “Ah, did you forget to cook this one?” At first I was a little miffed, what did he mean by that?!?!?! And then, oooooops .... With egg custard pies, the filling and crust is baked at the same time. With chocolate meringue pies the filling goes into a baked crust and .... ooooops! So much for production lines. DH (the poor, poor ginny pig) saved the day. That may be one reason why I married him. I'm sure that my wonderous cooking abilities are what really snagged him!!!
skeThis message has been edited. Last edited by: ske,
I'm bumping this thread because we are getting close to Thanksgiving now. Great to mix up some light stuff with the heavy stuff in our lives.
Speaking of which, did anyone have any minor or MAJOR goofs last year?
BTW, I see a few names of people we haven't seen around here in a while. If you still sneak a peek at us every now & then, we would LOVE to hear from you!!!!!!!!!
At Christmas time my Mom and I alway's loved to bake..So A must in our house is Short Bread Cookies..Well instead of using a cup of butter that the reciep called for we used a pound..Well we had very runny cookies and a good laugh..
Heather Goodbye excuses!! Lets achieve those weight-loss goals!!
1. Exercise2-3 times a week
Posts: 871 | Location: Atlanta | Registered: April 13, 2004
The boyfriend & his roommate wanted chicken "nuggets" one night, so I used what I figured was breading (hey, it was in a tupperware labeled "breading"). We'd been dating. . .oh, I dunno, two months?
Nope. Montreal Steak Seasoning. Every bit of chicken had been dipped in egg, then dipped in the SALTY, PEPPERY, not bready-at-all seasoning, and baked.
So we had baked fries for dinner.
And I haven't been able to look at Montreal Steak Seasoning for the past 5 years without blushing and getting horribly embarrassed.
When I was little, my mom lead a 4-H group for us. It was almost entire made up of my cousins. One day we decided to make gramma's Irish soda bread. Well the phone rang right as we started kneading the dough, so mom left the room. By the time she came back we were having a good game of dodge ball going Boy was it sticky.
Laurie
There is no luckexcept where there is dicipline.
Posts: 1512 | Location: Adams, MA | Registered: March 10, 2004
Stephanie, That reminds me of when I was pretty young and first learning how to cook. My mom was gone and my dad made me make him dinner, before he went to officiate a basketball game. Well, I of course didn't want to,but had to. I was making him a hamburger, and I remember dropping it on the floor, and I just picked it up and threw it on his plate. LOL. He ate it. I had totally forgotten that.
Dawn
"Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion. You have to set yourself on fire." anonymous
Posts: 4533 | Location: Indianapolis, IN | Registered: March 15, 2004
In our first month or so of marriage I wanted to make my yummy meatloaf for my hubbie. As I always had before, I baked it in a bread loaf pan. About 15 minutes before it would be done, I always drained the grease out and put it back in the oven to let the sides get a little crunchy. This time when I tilted the pan I lost the meatloaf on the floor. About that same time my hubbie walked in the door. I was crying my eyes out. He said its ok, look this part isn't touching the floor, we can still eat it. Please don't cry, its going to be fine. And yes, we actually cut off the part not against the floor and ate it.
stephanie
"Succeed! Because you have the opportunity to do so." - KD
Posts: 747 | Location: nashville | Registered: March 11, 2004
quote:Originally posted by Tayhudson: I would imagine that it probably tasted much better than it looked. I can see that being one of those mistakes that actually turns out to be a cool thing to do. I would think the icing would kind of melt into the cake and make it really moist.
Dawn
The icing really just slid off the entire cake. I don't think it penetrated the surface at all ; ) I do recall my dh just scooping the icing off the sides of the cake dish and spreading it on the cake. It really was a mess.
Out of our beliefs are born deeds; out of our deeds we form habits; out of our habits grows our character; and on our character we build our destiny.
As you guys know, Monday is my big grocery shoppin', food cookin' and lunch packin' extravaganza for the week. I have a terrible tendency to have too many balls in the air at one time (perfectionism monster? LOL) and, as a result, something usually ends up getting neglected. Usually, it's not with AWFUL consequences (so maybe the chicken is a little dry) but about a month ago, I had a slightly more damaging episode.
I was cooking chicken on the grill outside, cooking that brown & wild rice blend I love on a back burner of the stove, and steaming some French green beans on another burner. I was also probably peeling/chopping some veggies or fruit to go with the meal (multi-tasking, ya know!).
I come back into the apartment from checking the chicken on the grill and I get sidetracked (helloooo Flybabies!) with something in the livingroom on my way back to the kitchen. Pretty soon, I am hearing this weird hissing sound and I was like "What the?" and then I smelled this HORRIBLE burning smell.
I RAN to the kitchen to find that I had stupidly chosen to steam the beans in the cheapest, thinnest saucepan I own and the little bit of water I'd put in for steaming had evaporated. The whole bottom of the pan was charred, along with a few beans.
WHEW! I thought...saved the day (thinking that, since only a few beans were charred, the rest would be fine). But nooooooooo. I popped one of the UNsinged beans into my mouth and immediately made a horrible face and spit it out. NASTY! I guess it's like when there's a fire in the house and everything smells of smoke whether it was near the fire or not. Well every bean tasted like soot. I had to throw away the entire pan...and these were my veggie for the whole week and from Whole Foods, not cheap! I was SO mad with myself.
The GOOD news is that this was a RARE occasion when I didn't put the entire container of beans into the pan at the same time. So I was still able to have a SMALL serving of beans for each of my lunches.
Posts: 7864 | Location: Rehoboth Beach, DE | Registered: March 12, 2004
quote:Originally posted by johnbol: I love humorous things. Here goes.
When I was a kid (really, I was one once) I made a chocolate cake - probably my first. I was _so_ proud of it - despite the fact that it looked like it had white measles. Evidently, I didn't get it mixed quite as well as I should have. I was so disappointed my mom wouldn't let me serve a piece to my grandpa.
lmj
Awwww, that's too bad your mom wouldn't let you give grandpa a piece,Grandpa prob. would have thought it was the best cake he had ever eaten.
Dawn
"Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion. You have to set yourself on fire." anonymous
Posts: 4533 | Location: Indianapolis, IN | Registered: March 15, 2004
quote:Originally posted by Bee: Before I was married, I baked a birthday cake for my now dh. It was the first time I ever baked a cake from scratch, I didn't realize that you were supposed to wait for the cake to cool before putting on the frosting. Needless to say, the icing "fell off" the cake and pooled around the edges. I was mortified as it looked completely awful but my dh (boyfriend then) thought it was still delicious despite it's yucky appearance.
Bee,
I would imagine that it probably tasted much better than it looked. I can see that being one of those mistakes that actually turns out to be a cool thing to do. I would think the icing would kind of melt into the cake and make it really moist.
Dawn
"Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion. You have to set yourself on fire." anonymous
Posts: 4533 | Location: Indianapolis, IN | Registered: March 15, 2004
Before I was married, I baked a birthday cake for my now dh. It was the first time I ever baked a cake from scratch, I didn't realize that you were supposed to wait for the cake to cool before putting on the frosting. Needless to say, the icing "fell off" the cake and pooled around the edges. I was mortified as it looked completely awful but my dh (boyfriend then) thought it was still delicious despite it's yucky appearance.
Out of our beliefs are born deeds; out of our deeds we form habits; out of our habits grows our character; and on our character we build our destiny.
When I was a kid (really, I was one once) I made a chocolate cake - probably my first. I was so proud of it - despite the fact that it looked like it had white measles. Evidently, I didn't get it mixed quite as well as I should have. I was so disappointed my mom wouldn't let me serve a piece to my grandpa.
As a young adult I once made a banana nut bread loaf that came out quite short and sticky. Turned out it was the bananas, egg, sugar, oil and nuts - I forgot the flour!
And most dreadfully (please don't tell) was the time I was having friends over and making a stir-fry vegetable. I was using a rubber spatula to mix the veggies. It melted!
When I came back from Venezuela, I wanted to make Black Beans and rice. I had watched my host mother make it many times and thought I knew what I was doing.
Well, I didn't soak the beans, and then I left it boiling for too long, and they boiled dry! What a disaster!
Oh, also,I do not do well baking (at least w/ items requiring yeast). I can't even bake bread in a bread machine. The first one I tried rose so much it pushed the lid open, and the second one fell, and was about the consistency of a hockey puck. My DH does it and it comes out right every time. But, he did work in a pizzaria for years and had to make the dough.
Dawn
"Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion. You have to set yourself on fire." anonymous
Posts: 4533 | Location: Indianapolis, IN | Registered: March 15, 2004
Well, many years ago (been married for almost 33), I tried to make lemon pudding with MILK. Ugh! I made monk fish once and it was inedible & I can't bear the thoughts of it now. PRobably didn't cook it long enough. Thanks for the laughs.
)
The pizza was still edible though and DH & I have been married for about 14 1/2 yrs now. The moral here? Never underestimate "burnin' love"! 
(I know, please don't throw me off the board for that one.)
