View Full Version : Kitchen Mistakes
AmeliaJane
1-16-13, 11:19pm
Make me feel better about my recent kitchen disaster--good ingredients, a cookbook I have used before, an hour of prep time...and I ended up with a pot of brown glop instead of a delicious curry. I am a good food salvager/repurposer and after getting down two servings even I gave up and composted the rest. Argh--I hate wasting food! When have your kitchen plans gone awry?
Awww... better luck next time, AmeliaJane.
I, myself, have ruined more pots of soup than anything else in my day! Some, I was able to salvage, while others went straight out to the compost!
Tussiemussies
1-16-13, 11:25pm
Once when I was first married I made a pumpkin pie for my Sister in law and her husband. I forgot to put in the sugar!!!l LOL:)
Hey, that might of not been so bad, Tussie, as you could have sweetened-up the whipping cream extra! :)
A good number of things I make, I've cut way back on the sugar, and they're way better!
I burned the pasta sauce on Saturday -- thankfully, there was still enough unburned bits that we could eat it, and DS said it tasted fine. I was glad I had already agreed to let DD eat cornflakes for dinner, though -- she wouldn't have touched it with her picky palate!
How the heck do you burn pasta sauce? I hate my stove sometimes. None of the burners have a wide enough range of power/heat. The big one is TOO HOT (that's the one that did the burning forgot to turn it down to the absolutely lowest setting, which is still too hot). And the small ones aren't really small enough, either. I'm terrified I'm going to destroy my enamel coated dutch oven because even the lowest element is too hot.
lhamo
Once I sliced up DH's pet amaryllis bulb, thinking it was a fennel bulb. I put it in a little butter in a saute pan and lightly browned it. It tasted bad but I thought perhaps that's what it was supposed to taste like. I didn't eat the entire thing, but did eat a few spoonfulls of it.
Later in the evening when I had stomach cramps, I figured out that the fennel DH told me he placed on the counter was still there. So what did *I* eat? Oh.:|(
HomemadeChange
1-17-13, 12:07pm
I once made a homemade pizza and FORGOT THE SAUCE. What can I say? It had been a tough week LOL. It turned out though as a delicious errr cheese bread. haha DH didn't mind, but I sure felt silly.
Once I sliced up DH's pet amaryllis bulb, thinking it was a fennel bulb. I put it in a little butter in a saute pan and lightly browned it. It tasted bad but I thought perhaps that's what it was supposed to taste like. I didn't eat the entire thing, but did eat a few spoonfulls of it.
Later in the evening when I had stomach cramps, I figured out that the fennel DH told me he placed on the counter was still there. So what did *I* eat? Oh.:|(
It's hard to top that; I won't even try.
Recently, while making curry sauce, I noticed the slurry was foamy. I tasted it, and it wasn't "right." Then I figured out I had substitute baking soda for cornstarch. Oops. Glad I tasted it before I mucked up the whole dish.
Originally Posted by Iris lily
Once I sliced up DH's pet amaryllis bulb, thinking it was a fennel bulb. I put it in a little butter in a saute pan and lightly browned it. It tasted bad but I thought perhaps that's what it was supposed to taste like. I didn't eat the entire thing, but did eat a few spoonfulls of it.
Later in the evening when I had stomach cramps, I figured out that the fennel DH told me he placed on the counter was still there. So what did *I* eat? Oh.
Originally posted by JaneV2.0.
It's hard to top that; I won't even try.ROTFLMAO!
treehugger
1-17-13, 2:14pm
Oh, AmeliaJane, that is such a bummer when that happens! I can't offer up and hilarious or comforting examples of my own, not because I don't make mistakes, but because I am fortunate to have the ability to forget about them after they happen. :) I do think that what makes a successful cook is not achieving perfection, but accepting that failures happen and then getting right back on that horse.
And when in doubt, come back here and read Iris lily's spectacular amaryllis bulb cooking story (thank goodness that's not a poisonous bulb and that you only ate a few bites!).
Kara
P.S., I just remembered a failure I didn't bounce back from. I tried gnocchi once (once!) and failed miserably. So much for getting back on that horse.
Of all people to make that mistake, IrisLily....hard to believe!!
Once I rolled peanut butter cookies in salt thinking it was sugar. Even the dog wouldn't eat them.
AmeliaJane
1-17-13, 5:03pm
I think what really killed me was that a couple of weeks ago, I made an apple cake to use up ingredients that were getting a little aged. There is no way that cake should have worked--I substituted ingredients, changed proportions, etc etc--and it was amazing. Then this recipe, for which I specifically bought several groceries, and followed the directions carefully, was a total flop. Go figure...
Once I boiled spaghetti and when it was done I went to pour it into the collander in the sink to drain it as usual, only I forgot to put the collander in the sink, so I poured all the spaghetti down the garbage disposal. Whoopsie.
Once I boiled spaghetti and when it was done I went to pour it into the collander in the sink to drain it as usual, only I forgot to put the collander in the sink, so I poured all the spaghetti down the garbage disposal. Whoopsie.
ROTFL, Kathy! I have merely caught myself about to do that before!
ROTFLMAO! These are great!
I tried once or twice to make gnocchi, and now only enjoy it in Italian restaurants. My foray into making seitan turned out similarly, though in both cases I only tried once or twice. Probably because they are both a PITA and I never got in the habit of eating them anyway.
I just had a kitchen failure recently. I tried to make a cheesecake for a holiday gift to give a friend who is gluten-free. Making it was straightforward because all I had to do was make a nut-sugar crust instead of a traditional graham cracker or regular crust. However, after I pulled it out and let it cool, I thought to cut it up and freeze it so she could have a piece or two at a time and not the whole thing. Well, it was pretty soft in the middle as though it hadn't cooked enough. So, I turned back on the oven and put it back in, only I had removed the outer ring on the springform pan and also cut it in 4 pieces. After a few minutes in the oven, the thing looked like a cheesecake had sort of exploded/melted. Ooops. It tasted OK but was not suitable for a gift, so I remade the thing. I kept the sad one, intending to make cheesecake ice cream but then I just didn't get around to it and wasn't sure it was good anymore. At least this has a happy ending because the 2nd one turned out well and the friend was pleased.
I don't think I can top Iris Lily's. I've never had such a bad mixup of ingredient like that.
I've had my share of drop on the floor type incidents though. Probably the most memorable was when I was at a friend's house making tiramisu to be eaten the next day with Christmas dinner. Her kitchen table was old and very unlevel. I'd just mixed the marsala wine into the mixing bowl with the whipped cream and mascarpone cheese and turned around to set the mixer in the sink when the bowl started skiddering off the table. I grabbed at it (but missed) with enough gusto to flip it over and across the room onto the floor. Whipped cream/mascarpone cheese/marsala wine mixture went EVERYWHERE. We did our best to clean it up, but my friend was finding missed bits of it around her kitchen for the next month. Then, because it was christmas eve, I had to walk almost 10 blocks before I found an open bodega where I could buy more whipping cream so that we could start again.
Nicely seasoned chicken that marinated over night, aborio rice, cooked in the oven for 1 hour, coverd in foil= EPIC FAIL- no flavor, the rice glued itself to the pan and the chicken-well it was just off. I have made aborio rice this way many times but for some reason, it just didn't work. Ended up with cheesy grits, ham and fruit. : )
Recipes rarely work for me; I use them to get a sense of seasoning. I follow more closely if baking is involved.
Don't mention seitan. The SO and I are still laughing about a class we took and the grumpy instructor who kept talking about "cooking with love." Whack! ThumpThumpThump! Hahaha.
Somewhere around thirty years ago I made fondue for the first time. Expensive cheeses, the perfect wine, homemade breads, fresh vegetables and it was the most horrible mess anyone, anywhere, has ever been unfortunate enough to taste.
Well, it was for my sister and her husband, having them over for dinner in our new apartment, and we all had a good laugh about it and decided to go out for pizza. I found out just a few years ago that my ex made them pay for their own pizza.
Seitan was another one. Just buy it now at the co-op. I cannot remember how many soups and stews and casseroles I must have burned over the decades. A slow cooker solved that problem, but I will never stop ruining garlic bread. I never even attempt to make it unless I have an endless supply of bread, butter and garlic, because I am almost certain to burn the first batch or two, and whilst standing there watching the things under the broiler.
My favorite tonight is the double-baked cheesecake.
When I was in high school, my best friend called one evening. Her mom worked and had asked her to make mashed potatoes for dinner, but she was having a terrible time mashing the potatoes.
My first question: "Did you cook them?"
That was the problem.
I've made plenty of messes in the kitchen - most edible but some not, but can't think of any with a particularly entertaining story. Love the amaryllis bulb tale -- yikes! I'll tuck away in my memory that they're not especially poisonous.
We were hosting a dinner party one night and had invited 4 friends. First friend arrived and at that moment I cut my finger, badly, slicing lemons for the salmon. Asked him to grill the salmon and entertain our other friends, whom he did not know, until we got back from the ER, and DH drove me there. 3 hours later, we returned. Everyone had eaten and they were well-acquainted and playing guitar together by that point.
...
... but I will never stop ruining garlic bread. I never even attempt to make it unless I have an endless supply of bread, butter and garlic, because I am almost certain to burn the first batch or two, and whilst standing there watching the things under the broiler.
...
I learned at my mother's knee to put garlic bread in the oven at a lowish temperature (250, maybe). For as long as it takes.
That is a great idea. Guess you can teach an old babe new tricks. I will do that next time. Less exciting, although easier on the smoke alarm.
These are great stories. Last night DH and DSD made me a birthday cake. This always prompts people to recall the first cake DSD and I made for HIS birthday probably nine years ago. The rack in his apartment oven was very uneven, or maybe put in the oven wrong, but in any case, the cake batter spilled over out of the pan and largely cooked in the oven, pan-free....there was enough in the pan for us to try to stick pieces together with icing but it was a memorable first baking even for me with my DSD...who has become quite a good baker. At least we learned (something) from our mistakes.
AmeliaJane
2-13-13, 11:20am
This collection of internet photos of food mistakes made me think of this thread... I think a couple of these are just bad food photography, but there are a lot of "oops" here:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/rachelysanders/people-worse-at-cooking-than-you-food-fails
Fun stories!
AmeliaJane. Thanks for the entertaining link!
AmeliaJane, those are sadly hilarious!
And just to prove that screwing up happens to the pros, too -- a LOT -- there is the Cakewrecks (http://www.cakewrecks.com/home/?currentPage=4) blog...
AmeliaJane
4-28-13, 9:41pm
Made garlic aioli from scratch for the first time today--about fifteen minutes of steady whisking. The aioli came together perfectly...the problem was that I used garlic that was too old and slightly bitter, which ruined the whole batch. Oh well, anything with a half cup of olive oil isn't something I should have around anyway, but I really wanted to at least taste it!
treehugger
4-30-13, 12:29pm
Oh, you poor dear. I hate having to waste food like that. I bet your aioli would have been delicious except for that stoopid garlic!
Here's another fun site from the pros to help us make feel better about our own mistakes: King Arthur April Fools (http://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/2013/04/01/the-4th-annual-april-fools-day-spectacular/). They do a post like this every year. Love it!
Kara
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