luisa_calif
Well-known member
( I'll have to think a bit, so many to choose from...)
Time to "fess up." What was your most embarrassing kitchen blunder?
- Thread starter luisa_calif
- Start date
Most embarrassing: when I was inexperienced and short on time, making a chicken casserole for
company and decided to boil the chicken breasts furiously to get them done quickly. Un-chewable! Most painful: as an experienced cook, short on time, put hot butternut squash soup in Waring to puree quickly-top exploded and hot soup all over me, my kitchen . . .
company and decided to boil the chicken breasts furiously to get them done quickly. Un-chewable! Most painful: as an experienced cook, short on time, put hot butternut squash soup in Waring to puree quickly-top exploded and hot soup all over me, my kitchen . . .
cynupstateny
Well-known member
Two immediately come to mind. Served Roasted chicken but instead of dressing I left the bag with
the neck and liver inside. And my "famous " chocolate mocha cake that called for one cup of coffee. You guessed it, I tossed in the grounds.
Neither of these happened recently, but I remember them like it happened yesterday!
the neck and liver inside. And my "famous " chocolate mocha cake that called for one cup of coffee. You guessed it, I tossed in the grounds.
Neither of these happened recently, but I remember them like it happened yesterday!
My first attempt at homemade chicken soup for Passover - the first year of marriage
I was so excited about making homemade chicken soup and matzah bowls for our first Passover together. Well, I followed my mother's instructions to a T and everything was going well. Then, when it was time to strain the soup I put a collander in the sink and poured out the soup. Problem is that I forgot to put a bowl under the collander so my soup was poured down the drain. My husband will never let me forget that
Deb
I was so excited about making homemade chicken soup and matzah bowls for our first Passover together. Well, I followed my mother's instructions to a T and everything was going well. Then, when it was time to strain the soup I put a collander in the sink and poured out the soup. Problem is that I forgot to put a bowl under the collander so my soup was poured down the drain. My husband will never let me forget that
Deb
AH - just remembered my most embarrassing was not in my own kitchen. At a friend's for dinner, she
asked that I turn on the gas under a pot, did not notice the handle of her wooden spoon so precariously close to the flame, walked away, and, well, was at the store the next day happy that I was only replacing her spoon.
asked that I turn on the gas under a pot, did not notice the handle of her wooden spoon so precariously close to the flame, walked away, and, well, was at the store the next day happy that I was only replacing her spoon.
Well, actually there were several, LOL.... The first being the time I prepared
Boeuf Bourgignonne (Sp?) & in the final stage, when I went to flambe, set the kitchen cabinets aflame. Never flambeed again!!!!!!!
And there was the time I wanted to please my uncle, who LOVED chocolate cream pie, so, prepared the entire thing, from scratch...pie crust, filling & whipped cream. Decorated it beautifully & must've slipped, on the freshly waxed floor, wooooooops, you guessed it.. NO dessert that night!!! Never did chocolate cream pie again, either. I'm a quick study!!!!! LOL
Boeuf Bourgignonne (Sp?) & in the final stage, when I went to flambe, set the kitchen cabinets aflame. Never flambeed again!!!!!!!
And there was the time I wanted to please my uncle, who LOVED chocolate cream pie, so, prepared the entire thing, from scratch...pie crust, filling & whipped cream. Decorated it beautifully & must've slipped, on the freshly waxed floor, wooooooops, you guessed it.. NO dessert that night!!! Never did chocolate cream pie again, either. I'm a quick study!!!!! LOL
Not a kitchen blunder, but a party disaster>>
Years ago after re-landscaping the back yard we threw a French summer solstice "Saint John's Day" party to show it off. In France, a Saint John's day celebration involves jumping over a bonfire. I didn't want to ruin the new lawn with a fire so I put down a big round concrete stepping stone, surrounded it with dirt and rocks, and built the fire on it. (Absolutely illegal, by the way) When the party and the fire were both going strong, the stepping stone exploded six feet into the air and sent hot coals and concrete shards everywhere. We hosed them down but then the water short-circuited all the twinkle lights we'd spent weeks putting up. Amazingly, no one was injured. I just wanted to leave but I couldn't; it was my house.
The guests rallied and got the lights back on and had a great time--a disaster can be a real ice-breaker. My best friend harrassed me for weeks, calling in different voices pretending to be from the fire department.
Years ago after re-landscaping the back yard we threw a French summer solstice "Saint John's Day" party to show it off. In France, a Saint John's day celebration involves jumping over a bonfire. I didn't want to ruin the new lawn with a fire so I put down a big round concrete stepping stone, surrounded it with dirt and rocks, and built the fire on it. (Absolutely illegal, by the way) When the party and the fire were both going strong, the stepping stone exploded six feet into the air and sent hot coals and concrete shards everywhere. We hosed them down but then the water short-circuited all the twinkle lights we'd spent weeks putting up. Amazingly, no one was injured. I just wanted to leave but I couldn't; it was my house.
The guests rallied and got the lights back on and had a great time--a disaster can be a real ice-breaker. My best friend harrassed me for weeks, calling in different voices pretending to be from the fire department.
One certainly stands out. I was roasting a large hunk of beef for a chef's dinner
down in Key Biscayne at a fancy hotel. I was "guest chef" and the Exec Chef and four of his staff were guests along with several colleagues of mine from an incentive company I worked for. I was using a kitchen new to me but hey, no problem. I borrowed an instant thermometer from Chef so I could be certain about the internal temp of the beef. Everything else was ready- all the sides. Just waiting a few more minutes for the roast. I drank another glass of wine. checked the roast....another sip of wine, a few more minutes, you get the picture. The thermometer told me the roast was not getting done so we waited and waited and sipped more wine, laughing, having a great time. By the time I actually took the roast out and tried serving it, shoe leather was its' name. I roasted it almost an hour too long. The instant thermometer was NOT instant- it was a conventional one but I was too tipsy to figure it out. La! What an embarassing evening!
down in Key Biscayne at a fancy hotel. I was "guest chef" and the Exec Chef and four of his staff were guests along with several colleagues of mine from an incentive company I worked for. I was using a kitchen new to me but hey, no problem. I borrowed an instant thermometer from Chef so I could be certain about the internal temp of the beef. Everything else was ready- all the sides. Just waiting a few more minutes for the roast. I drank another glass of wine. checked the roast....another sip of wine, a few more minutes, you get the picture. The thermometer told me the roast was not getting done so we waited and waited and sipped more wine, laughing, having a great time. By the time I actually took the roast out and tried serving it, shoe leather was its' name. I roasted it almost an hour too long. The instant thermometer was NOT instant- it was a conventional one but I was too tipsy to figure it out. La! What an embarassing evening!
Was making canneloni once for guests, an involved and lengthy process as...
everything is from scratch...the pasta squares, filling, bechamel sauce and fresh tomato sauce. When it came time to assemble the canneloni I had everything finally prepared and layed out (virtually all my kitchen countertops were covered with stuff from the process) and was hustling to get the canneloni in the oven before my guests arrived. Had made the fresh tomato sauce earlier in the day and refrigerated it so I reached in the refrigerator and grabbed the container of tomato sauce, added it to the bechamel and stirred only to realize I’d grabbed a similar-looking container of leftover chili with kidney beans. YIKES...LOL!! Had to toss out the concoction and make new bechamel and fresh tomato sauce from scratch.
everything is from scratch...the pasta squares, filling, bechamel sauce and fresh tomato sauce. When it came time to assemble the canneloni I had everything finally prepared and layed out (virtually all my kitchen countertops were covered with stuff from the process) and was hustling to get the canneloni in the oven before my guests arrived. Had made the fresh tomato sauce earlier in the day and refrigerated it so I reached in the refrigerator and grabbed the container of tomato sauce, added it to the bechamel and stirred only to realize I’d grabbed a similar-looking container of leftover chili with kidney beans. YIKES...LOL!! Had to toss out the concoction and make new bechamel and fresh tomato sauce from scratch.
ahh yes... the flambe disasters....that's a whole catagory...
As a new bride I offered to "do" the birthday dinner for my husband's grandfather--his 80th! Rather than boring old cake I did Cherries Jubilee. Naturally I spilled the lit brandy right down the table cloth into Grandpa's lap! Of course it was just the liquor that was ignited and no one was hurt but Grandpa was never quite the same...Grandma looked a little shook too!
As a new bride I offered to "do" the birthday dinner for my husband's grandfather--his 80th! Rather than boring old cake I did Cherries Jubilee. Naturally I spilled the lit brandy right down the table cloth into Grandpa's lap! Of course it was just the liquor that was ignited and no one was hurt but Grandpa was never quite the same...Grandma looked a little shook too!
Oh there are so many. 'Had to be getting the rubber spatula stuck...
in the blades of the mixer. (Note to self: never stick anything else in there again until it stops)
Or maybe it was when I added flour to the mixer and didn't mix it in before I started it up again. Poof.
Maybe I'd better stay away from the mixer! ;o)
P.S. Does losing a frozen turkey in the front yard count? I dropped it while unloading the car in January, found it in late-February (it was fine).
in the blades of the mixer. (Note to self: never stick anything else in there again until it stops)
Or maybe it was when I added flour to the mixer and didn't mix it in before I started it up again. Poof.
Maybe I'd better stay away from the mixer! ;o)
P.S. Does losing a frozen turkey in the front yard count? I dropped it while unloading the car in January, found it in late-February (it was fine).
Many years ago I decided to make split pea soup in...
my recently bought pressure cooker. Yes – you know what happened - as the pressure rose some of the pea soup liquid started spurting out of the steam hole, spraying the stove area of the kitchen liberally. What was worse was finding that every single surface of that kitchen was covered with an almost invisible grit that had hardened, almost immediately, to the texture of an emery board.
I suppose I should have been grateful a more serious accident hadn’t occurred, but at the time, as I scrubbed that grit, I could have just flung that cooker – “to the moon, Alice” as Ralph Cramden liked to say!
my recently bought pressure cooker. Yes – you know what happened - as the pressure rose some of the pea soup liquid started spurting out of the steam hole, spraying the stove area of the kitchen liberally. What was worse was finding that every single surface of that kitchen was covered with an almost invisible grit that had hardened, almost immediately, to the texture of an emery board.
I suppose I should have been grateful a more serious accident hadn’t occurred, but at the time, as I scrubbed that grit, I could have just flung that cooker – “to the moon, Alice” as Ralph Cramden liked to say!
When I first started cooking, I thought a clove of garlic was a BULB! I made hummus for the first
time, and used 3 raw bulbs instead of 3 cloves. I actually ate some of it and was sick all night! Because of my violent reaction, I thought I was allergic to garlic, and didn't eat any of it for years. Luckily, I cautiously got back into it when I started cooking seriously - one clove at a time. Now I'm a garlic fanatic, although 3 raw bulbs would still be way over the top for me!
time, and used 3 raw bulbs instead of 3 cloves. I actually ate some of it and was sick all night! Because of my violent reaction, I thought I was allergic to garlic, and didn't eat any of it for years. Luckily, I cautiously got back into it when I started cooking seriously - one clove at a time. Now I'm a garlic fanatic, although 3 raw bulbs would still be way over the top for me!