Question of the Day, Friday, April 7

[Winchester]

Good morning!

 And Happy Friday! 

I have a question this morning that I'm hoping will lead to a few chuckles for us: What was your biggest screw-up in the kitchen?

1 - For me.....One night I was making Chicken Fricassee for dinner. My neighbor called to chat for a while and it was time for me to make the dumplings. I mixed the dumpling dough together and started dropping it by spoonsful into the chicken. Only to see it all runny; it wasn't turning into dumplings. I figured I needed more flour and so just added more flour to my dough. And the whole time my neighbor and I are just yakking away on the phone. I spooned more dough into the pan and it just turned into a mess. OK, more flour. But nothing worked. I tasted by dough and, it was so sweet I thought my teeth were going to rot off. I looked at my jar and, sure enough, I was using confectioners' sugar instead of flour. I had to throw the whole mess away. We ate at McD's that night. Rick told my neighbor she was not allowed to call me before 7:00 p.m. anymore.

2 - Oh, and then there was the time that friends were coming for dinner and I was making a Pineapple Upside-Down Layer cake. Got the cake pans into the oven, they baked up and cooled on the racks. I had made my pineapple filling and was putting the cake together. Got the first layer on the cake plate and spread it with the pineapple filling. Put the second layer (with the pineapple and cherries) on top of the first layer and the filling. And watched as the second layer broke completely apart and fell onto the cake plate. Oh, crap. Six people coming in for dinner and now I had no dessert.

So, I threw together some vanilla pudding. Broke the rest of the cake layers into chunks. Divided it all up and layered it into my trifle bowl with the vanilla pudding. Some freshly whipped cream and some extra cherries on top. And called it Pineapple Trifle. And people loved it! They thought I was amazing! 

 Later on, after some of the people left, I told my GF what had happened. She just looked at me and shook her head. But it worked.

3 - And finally, one afternoon Graham (DS) called to say he wanted to come home for dinner that night and would I make my tuna and noodle casserole? Sure! I threw together some peanut butter cupcakes (the ones with the Reese's mini peanut butter cups inside) and they were cooling on a rack on the counter, waiting to be frosted. While they were cooling, I emptied out three cans of tuna into the colander in the sink to drain.

I gave the cats a quick bite. Pepe was lying on top of our tv and when she went to jump down, she got her claw caught in the doily. Pepe jumped to the floor and she brought the doily with her.....and the crystal basket that was on the doily. Crash! And glass was everywhere. Picked up what I could, got the vacuum out to vacuum the mess. Checked Ms. Pepe's paws for any glass slivers.

Then I went out to the kitchen....to see BooBoo up on the counter, devouring peanut butter cups from my cupcakes. I shooed him away and then realized that he was eating chocolate. Oh crap. Ran back to the computer room to get the phone and called the vet. I'm talking to a vet tech about my cat who had eaten chocolate (of all things!) and I walked out the hallway into the kitchen.....to see Banshee's butt hanging out of the kitchen sink where she was busy chomping down on my drained tuna. I said, "Banshee, get out of that people tuna! That was for supper!" hung up on the vet tech, shooed everybody out of the kitchen, and started cleaning the mess.

Got the cupcakes taken care of (Boo had eaten two peanut butter cups; the boy had a thing for chocolate), opened three more cans of tuna, and threw that into the washed colander. Then I remembered, "Oh crap! I hung up on the vet tech!" Called her back and she was telling everybody in the office about it and she was still laughing. I apologized for hanging up on her, she said I was definitely having a bad day, but that BooBoo should be OK.

The cupcakes were fine, the tuna and noodles were fine, and we enjoyed having our son home for dinner. But that was definitely one time that the cats won the day!

Your turn! Tell us about your kitchen mishaps!

 

[di and bob]

I was making homemade Runzas (Bierocks) for 10 that night and the bread dough still hadn't risen. I had it in the oven, turned the oven on and was going to turn it off right away, just enough to warm the dough. WHOOPS! I forgot! Now I had half cooked dough and people coming. I whipped up a new batch, but it didn't have time to raise much either, so they were a little flat, but everyone still liked them!  

Then there was the time when I took a beautiful homemade pizza out of the oven, using a new pizza pan, and it slid right off the pan and onto the floor. And if that wasn't bad enough, UPSIDE DOWN! Needless to say we went out that night and the cats had cheese and pepperoni for supper. Maybe I was getting back at them, they were most likely eating their own hair that they like to spread around on the floor too, although I doubt if that would bother them.  

 

[AbbysMom]

I had my inlaws over for a meal not long after we got married. It was a Mexican theme, with Mexican pizza, etc. I was frying taquitos on the stove and they caught on fire. :lol3:

 

[artiemom]

One time I was making a huge pot of homemade tomato soup. I make the beef broth from bones. I was so happy because it turned out so good. It was my mom's recipe. I used the biggest pot I could find~~ almost like a lobster pot, HUGE..

My mom's recipe called for just a tiny pinch of baking soda at the end of cooking, added off the burner, to reduce the acidity.

I messed up, and added half a 3 oz cup of baking soda, while on the electric stove burner...

Yup, it was like an I Love Lucy Video!!! Tomato soup bubbling away, overflowing the pan ~~~ all over the stove!!!!

I was so upset.. The soup had tasted so good, before the addition of the baking soda!  In addition to all the hours it took to make... 

Needless to say, the soup when down the drain, and we had pizza for supper....

 

[sivyaleah]

I really had to struggle to think of something which I'd consider terrible. Burnt food now and then doesn't count.

The only one that came to mind quickly was the time I was baking potatoes and they exploded in the oven.  I mean, I've baked potatoes for decades and it's pretty brainless, right?

Somehow I totally miscalculated the timing and suddenly hear this loud mini-explosion coming from the kitchen.  Let me tell you, blown up potatoes are NOT that easy to clean off your oven walls and racks!  It was everywhere, every inch of the oven was covered in what was now, mashed potatoes 

 

[Primula]

My friend's MIL did the worst I've ever heard of. She made a huge pot of chili for church supper or some such. Turned it into a huge Tupperware container & left it stove-top to cool. Problem was the electric burner was still on. Bottom of Tupperware melted & chili poured all through the stove-top & oven before anyone noticed.


I've made tons of kitchen mistakes. Baked a cake. Turned off oven only to find cake pan still sitting on counter. Baked a cake. Too bad I never turned on the oven. Baked a cake. Too bad I forgot the leavening agent. Baked a cake. Too bad I forgot to add sugar. I could go on.

 

[sivyaleah]

My friend's MIL did the worst I've ever heard of. She made a huge pot of chili for church supper or some such. Turned it into a huge Tupperware container & left it stove-top to cool. Problem was the electric burner was still on. Bottom of Tupperware melted & chili poured all through the stove-top & oven before anyone noticed.


I've made tons of kitchen mistakes. Baked a cake. Turned off oven only to find cake pan still sitting on counter. Baked a cake. Too bad I never turned on the oven. Baked a cake. Too bad I forgot the leavening agent. Baked a cake. Too bad I forgot to add sugar. I could go on.

That reminds me of my ex-sister-in-law's mishap.

They had moved into a new home, which happened to have a brand new double oven in it.

Their first night in the new house, she put some pizza in the oven to warm up later on in the evening as a snack.

What she did not know or see, was the interior of the oven(s) still had wrapping all over them. So, needless to say the pizza was a plastic wrap soaked mess as were the new ovens.

She was no cook to begin with - my brother usually had that task. One does not question why after that incident.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

I added salt instead of sugar to the cookie dough.  Nuff said.  It was so sad.

 

[Primula]

That reminds me of my ex-sister-in-law's mishap.
They had moved into a new home, which happened to have a brand new double oven in it.
Their first night in the new house, she put some pizza in the oven to warm up later on in the evening as a snack.
What she did not know or see, was the interior of the oven(s) still had wrapping all over them. So, needless to say the pizza was a plastic wrap soaked mess as were the new ovens.
She was no cook to begin with - my brother usually had that task. One does not question why after that incident.

 

[margd]

I did this next one on purpose but it was still a terrible mistake.  I had to bake a shoo-fly-pie for International Night at my daughter's elementary school.  I left work early, stopped by the store and picked up the ingredients, came home, got organized to create my masterpiece....and could not get the top off the molasses bottle.  I tried everything with no success.  Time was passing and I was getting stupid with desperation so I took the bottle outside and banged the top against the cement porch floor.  That did the trick all right.  Except at that point,  I realized I couldn't be sure there were no glass shards in the molasses and, uh, well, straining molasses is not really a thing that can be done.  Then I looked down and saw that there was molasses on the porch with glass in it, which meant I had to stop everything and spot clean the porch as well as to check the ground beneath for any escaped glass.  I forget what I took instead.  A bowl of rice probably. 

 

[Primula]

Margaret, next time try running scalding hot water over the bottle top. Usually does the trick for me.

 

[Winchester]

My friend's MIL did the worst I've ever heard of. She made a huge pot of chili for church supper or some such. Turned it into a huge Tupperware container & left it stove-top to cool. Problem was the electric burner was still on. Bottom of Tupperware melted & chili poured all through the stove-top & oven before anyone noticed.


I've made tons of kitchen mistakes. Baked a cake. Turned off oven only to find cake pan still sitting on counter. Baked a cake. Too bad I never turned on the oven. Baked a cake. Too bad I forgot the leavening agent. Baked a cake. Too bad I forgot to add sugar. I could go on.

After the Hurricane Agnes flood in PA in 1972, Rick and I had to move in with his parents. His mom was still working full time, so I was in Big Charge of cooking dinner and keeping the house clean. I was 17 then, I couldn't cook; it was awful. 

The first apple pie I made looked hideous; Rick said it tasted good, but he was the only one who would even try it. His father walked away. Even his mom said, "Ummm, no thank you!" And I had really tried so hard!

I burned food right and left, cooked food way too long into leather. 

We had only been married a year and I had only cooked with gas and they had an electric stove. I had done some dishes around supper time and just tossed the dish towel on the hot burner.....I didn't realize that it was still hot, not used to electric. The dish towel caught fire and Rick's dad got the extinguisher out. He told me right out that I was going to burn the house down; it was only a matter of time.

I put a gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous Dutch oven on a burner, again not realizing the burner was on and hot. I ruined the Dutch oven. Rick's mom cried over that one; it was old and no way could I find another one. I felt horrible and I remember telling Rick that we were going to hire a full time cook because I couldn't be trusted in the kitchen. No matter how hard I tried, I messed up right and left. 

And then his mother took me under her wing; I think she was desperately afraid that poor Rick was going to starve if she didn't do something. Or that I really would burn the blasted house down. That was the beginning. She got me started and I give her full credit. Once I got started and realized that, hey, I could DO this!, well, then I needed to learn more. And the rest is history. I owe that woman more than she will ever realize. 

 

[rubysmama]

Great question!

Once I made a banana bread using a new, healthier recipe. Put it in the oven and it didn't rise much. I blamed the "healthier" ingredients for making it heavy, but then I looked over the recipe and realized I put baking powder instead of baking soda, or vice versa.  The healthy banana bread ended up in the green bin. 

Another time, I was making chocolate squares. Just put the pan in the oven and was looking over the recipe and realized I'd forgotten the baking powder/soda.  Grabbed the pan, scraped the batter back into the mixing bowl and added the baking powder/soda.  The squares turned out ok, but I've always wanted to make them again, and see if they would be better if I added all the ingredients in the proper order.

 

[Primula]

Great question!

Once I made a banana bread using a new, healthier recipe. Put it in the oven and it didn't rise much. I blamed the "healthier" ingredients for making it heavy, but then I looked over the recipe and realized I put baking powder instead of baking soda, or vice versa.  The healthy banana bread ended up in the green bin. 

The bread should still have risen. Both baking soda & baking powder are rising agents.

 

[Primula]

After the Hurricane Agnes flood in PA in 1972, Rick and I had to move in with his parents. His mom was still working full time, so I was in Big Charge of cooking dinner and keeping the house clean. I was 17 then, I couldn't cook; it was awful. 

Pam, always amazed how young you were with so many responsibilities. Compared to you, at age 16-17 I was very immature.

 

[rubysmama]

The bread should still have risen. Both baking soda & baking powder are rising agents.

At the time, I Googled to see if they were inter-changeable and learned that it takes more of one than the other for the same rising effect. Whichever I put, was the one that would have needed more, so it rose a bit, but was pretty much flat and heavy. Course maybe it was the recipe, and it would have been a flop even if I'd used the correct ingredients. I may try it again some day, just to see what happens.

 

[Primula]

At the time, I Googled to see if they were inter-changeable and learned that it takes more of one than the other for the same rising effect. Whichever I put, was the one that would have needed more, so it rose a bit, but was pretty much flat and heavy. Course maybe it was the recipe, and it would have been a flop even if I'd used the correct ingredients. I may try it again some day, just to see what happens.

I know one of them (soda, I think) requires a hotter temperature at the beginning to get the rising process started. Could also have been your oven temperature. So many things can go wrong with baking.

 

[denice]

 
I did this next one on purpose but it was still a terrible mistake.  I had to bake a shoo-fly-pie for International Night at my daughter's elementary school.  I left work early, stopped by the store and picked up the ingredients, came home, got organized to create my masterpiece....and could not get the top off the molasses bottle.  I tried everything with no success.  Time was passing and I was getting stupid with desperation so I took the bottle outside and banged the top against the cement porch floor.  That did the trick all right.  Except at that point,  I realized I couldn't be sure there were no glass shards in the molasses and, uh, well, straining molasses is not really a thing that can be done.  Then I looked down and saw that there was molasses on the porch with glass in it, which meant I had to stop everything and spot clean the porch as well as to check the ground beneath for any escaped glass.  I forget what I took instead.  A bowl of rice probably. 

I had a jar of salsa here recently that I couldn't get the lid off of.  I tried everything.  Up until that jar I have always been able to get the lid off, often getting very frustrated but I finally would get the lid off.  I kept it a few days and trying again here and there.  I finally gave up and threw it out.

 

[margd]

 
I had a jar of salsa here recently that I couldn't get the lid off of.  I tried everything.  Up until that jar I have always been able to get the lid off, often getting very frustrated but I finally would get the lid off.  I kept it a few days and trying again here and there.  I finally gave up and threw it out.

I have since found a very handy tool that has opened everything for years until recently a jar of relish decided to challenge it.  So far it's relish 1, tool 0.   I guess I should follow your lead and give it the old heave ho.  Nasty thing.  Grrrrrr.

 

[DreamerRose]

 
I had a jar of salsa here recently that I couldn't get the lid off of.  I tried everything.  Up until that jar I have always been able to get the lid off, often getting very frustrated but I finally would get the lid off.  I kept it a few days and trying again here and there.  I finally gave up and threw it out.

Maybe I'm weak, but there have been lots of jars I couldn't get the lid off of, so I depend on the trusty hand can opener. Use the hook on the handle to pry the lid up enough to break the vacuum seal, and the lid will open easily.

My worst disaster was using baking soda instead of baking powder in a cake recipe. The cake rose, but it tasted awful - sour and bitter.