Cooking is an experiment. Especially when you’re new to it. Even the most experienced of cooks has spoiled a few dishes, I’m sure. After mentioning the successes I’ve had in my cooking endeavors in my previous post, I was reminded of all of the times that it hasn’t worked out according to plan…
Middle School Mess
The Botch: Home Economics. 8th grade. Cooking partner? My best friend at the time, Brock. On this particular day, we were learning to fry eggs. Unfortunately, Brock and I were more interested in talking about playground drama than in watching our egg on the skillet. Five minutes of distraction was all it took to burn the egg so badly that it was fused to the skillet. Mrs. Lodge’s skillet. Needless to say, we weren’t allowed to be cooking partners ever again.
Lesson Learned: Always keep an eye on anything in a skillet, and don’t ruin Mrs. Lodge’s pans (Seriously. There was hell to pay.).
Mashed Potato Soup
The Botch: While almost everyone would agree that mashed potatoes is one of the easiest dishes to make, I managed to flub it. Thinking that I could revamp the traditional with a healthier version, I used skim milk. I was probably a little too liberal with the milk, and the result was a runny pot of potatoes that you could drink with a straw.
Lesson Learned: If you’re going to make mashed potatoes, just do it the right (unhealthy) way. More butter, less milk. Make it WHOLE milk.
Now, I know that you have similar experiences…right? Ease my embarrassment by sharing your cooking faux pas anecdotes.
I was told by Mom to put the roast in the oven at 350 degrees. She said to put salt, pepper, and garlic powder on top. What she DIDN’T say was to add water to the pan. Oops! It was definitely more like jerky than roast.
Oh, man. Although, maybe you found an unconventional way to make jerky!
Bad weather in Texas the last few days has taught me the value of the pantry: keep it stocked! We were without eggs, buttermilk, butter and other important, so it was hard to get creative even with all the time on my hands. Fortunately, I had a hero willing to walk to the nearest Walmart to get those things, and I was able to put a nice birthday dinner on the table for my husband!
Awww!