Have you ever gotten emotional over ruining something you were cooking? (grocery store, chicken)

[southdown]

O yes.... About two nights before Christmas I was coming down with a cold but stayed up late anyway, decorating cookies intended as gifts for neighbors. The next morning I woke up with a sore throat, headache and high temp, so stayed in bed for an extra hour... came downstairs to find that my sweet DH had packed all the freshly-iced cookies in a jar - but the icing wasn't dry and all my hours of dainty handiwork was squished and ruined.

He thought he was helping, and was mortified by his mistake... suffice to say all was quickly forgiven and forgotten but I did feel totally crushed for a while - silly but true!!!

[mommytotwo]

Originally Posted by HIF

A woman had company over for Thanksgiving dinner and had her housekeeper helping with the meal. Everyone was seated at the table and as the housekeeper carried out the turkey, it slipped right off the plate in front of everyone. The housekeeper was getting really upset when the woman got up and while helping to get the turkey back on the plate calmly said, "That's okay Hilda, just take it back to the kitchen and bring out the other turkey".

LOL! I love this one! I probably would have thrown the thing in the sink and rinsed it off.. Good to go.....

Originally Posted by kelly237

One mishap had me crying and now laughing .

I spent alot of time making 2 complex chocolate cheescakes for a
family and friend get together. I spilled one in then oven and
needed help scraping it off the oven floor and clearing the smoke out of the house...quite a ruckus..

Later that night I served the other cheesecake and everyone politely tried to eat some. Later I found out everyone thought I served
the cheesecake I spilled and scraped off the oven floor because no one knew there were two.

This is funny too, but I am wondering how they thought you would have been able to scrape it out of the oven?!?!?

Originally Posted by carlitasway

Ugh, I'm sorry that happened. I usually don't cry over those things but probably would over baklava. Add on the pain from your pulled muscle and stress of the holidays and it was probably the straw that broke the camel's back. I've been known to get pissed off at my food and scream at it, does that count? And I won't even go into today. It was like I've never even cooked before with all my mistakes but you know what, a few glasses of wine made it all better

Exactly, I think the combination of sore back, and the fact that I actually contemplated not making it because of that, then I went ahead and made it, then burnt it, it was all too much! Lol!

Hope you all had a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you!

Mommytotwo

[Nomadicus]

Originally Posted by mommytotwo

I have to say that tonight ended badly for me in the kitchen.

After painstakingly buttering layer upon layer of phyllo dough, grinding nuts, and cutting up an entire tray of baklava for dessert for tomorrow, and cooking the thing for 45 minutes or so:

I burned it!

Omg, at the end I put it under the broiler, just to give it a little more color, then forgot and left the kitchen to throw the kids Christmas presents under the tree.

Well as soon as the smoke detectors went off, I just knew exactly what had happened. I said "Ooooohhhhhh" and ran to the kitchen to see smoke coming out of the stove.

I grabbed the pan of baklava, and let me tell you it was BURNT! I did cry over this as I pulled a muscle in my back shoveling snow, and i was in pain the whole time I was bending over that pan buttering all those layers. So it really hit me hard, this burnt mess, because it was a total waste of painful time.

I pulled off the top three or four layers of all 40 or 50 squares, and tossed the charred bits in the trash. I did throw the sugar syrup on it anyway, I figure we can eat what's left at home.

Has anyone ruined something you worked very hard on in the kitchen to the point of tears? Or am I just an emotional train wreck? What is the biggest kitchen/food screw up you can lay claim to?

I don't really recall actually crying over anything. A temper tantrum over truffles that weren't working out, maybe, but I don't really remember shedding a tear before.

Good thing I wasn't really in charge of dessert anyway, it was just going to be an extra........

Two words: Quite Often

[skbs]

Oh, when I was pregnant.... I really did. I would slave away and it would come out horrible and I would feel so defeated..... Cry.... have a bit of a DIVASODE.....LOL... now I laugh it off.....

[JustJulia]

Several years ago, I thought I'd make what my mom calls turkey hash--leftover turkey, potatoes, corn, and gravy. Her turkey hash is so good. Total comfort food for me, and I was craving it. Now that I think about it, I might have been pregnant at the time, which would explain why I suddenly thought I'd make some. We didn't have leftover turkey, so I bought half a breat at the deli. My mom uses bottled gravy, so I got some of that.

I don't know what I did wrong. The potatoes were firm, not right at all. The turkey and gravy tasted funny. It was just awful. I hate ruining food, especially when it's dinner and what we're planning to eat, you know? We didn't have a lot of money, and I was a newer cook, so it's not like I could just laugh it off and make something else. I cooked and cooked it, and the potatoes never softened up. My husband tried to be so helpful. He kept adding more seasoning and trying to fix it, but it just got worse and I got more and more upset. Then he put it in the blender, thinking he'd make sort of a potato soup, but it was terrible. I think I did cry a little. I was so disappointed and frustrated.

I think we finally threw it out and had sandwiches.

[JustJulia]

Originally Posted by skbs

Oh, when I was pregnant.... I really did. I would slave away and it would come out horrible and I would feel so defeated..... Cry.... have a bit of a DIVASODE.....LOL... now I laugh it off.....

ME TOO!

[70Ford]

Originally Posted by JustJulia

Then he put it in the blender....

You had me at "blender." ROFL!~

[70Ford]

Once, we owned an indoor ceramic grill. You might've seen them before. It looks like a large flat bowl with a heating element inside with a small chromed grill framework thats rests on the lip of the bowl over the element. Ours worked, but it was quite slow. The juice would leak down inside and burn on the bottom metal bowl protector and make a big mess. It wasn't non stick and required a lot of scrubbing to clean. Plus all that grease made too much smoke.

So, I'd fill the bottom of the bowl with some water....directly under the heating element. No worries, as it would never touch the element or anything. But that just wasn't enough crazy for me, oh no. See, I got to thinking (always a bad thing for me) and I thought to myself, "Hrmmm...if I cover the food with tin foil, it will hold in the heat and it will cook much faster." The little instruction book said never to do that, but instructions are for wimps. I'm a REAL MAN (Tm) and the food gods obey ME, not the other way around.

So, I'm making some grilled chicken. I got the tin foil on. (Sizzle sizzle.) It's smelling good. Me and the wife are talking, watching T.V., playing with my son. Life is good. (Sizzle sizzle.) I walk over to the grill, which is on the counter under the kitchen cabinet and noticed (Sizzle sizzle) it was smoking a bit. I lift up the tin foil (Sizzle, sizzle.) and note that I didn't put any water in the bottom of the bowl as the oxygen hits the chicken fat (Sizzle sizzle) and a 3 foot wall of flame erupts from the grill and begins to lick at the bottom of my kitchen cabinet. I look over at the sink, and it's full of something (Probably dishes. I forget now, I just remember I couldn't use the sink for some reason.) and I'm thinking "Gotta put out the fire, gotta put out the fire."

So I fling a potlid over the chicken, grab the grill with my potholders and walk it to the bathroom and put it in the shower. I turn on the shower and "Poof." out goes the fire. Mmmm...

I took the grill back to the kitchen and scraped off the burnt parts and finished it up on the stove. So......Why am I telling you all this?

Because the chicken was delicious. And for days after that, my son kept saying, "Dad, when are we going to have "shower chicken" again?

I kid you not.

[mommytotwo]

Originally Posted by JustJulia

Several years ago, I thought I'd make what my mom calls turkey hash--leftover turkey, potatoes, corn, and gravy. Her turkey hash is so good. Total comfort food for me, and I was craving it. Now that I think about it, I might have been pregnant at the time, which would explain why I suddenly thought I'd make some. We didn't have leftover turkey, so I bought half a breat at the deli. My mom uses bottled gravy, so I got some of that.

I don't know what I did wrong. The potatoes were firm, not right at all. The turkey and gravy tasted funny. It was just awful. I hate ruining food, especially when it's dinner and what we're planning to eat, you know? We didn't have a lot of money, and I was a newer cook, so it's not like I could just laugh it off and make something else. I cooked and cooked it, and the potatoes never softened up. My husband tried to be so helpful. He kept adding more seasoning and trying to fix it, but it just got worse and I got more and more upset. Then he put it in the blender, thinking he'd make sort of a potato soup, but it was terrible. I think I did cry a little. I was so disappointed and frustrated.

I think we finally threw it out and had sandwiches.

Originally Posted by 70Ford

You had me at "blender." ROFL!~

I know!!!!

Yes, we can laugh about these things later, but that must have been awful.....

Originally Posted by 70Ford

Once, we owned an indoor ceramic grill. You might've seen them before. It looks like a large flat bowl with a heating element inside with a small chromed grill framework thats rests on the lip of the bowl over the element. Ours worked, but it was quite slow. The juice would leak down inside and burn on the bottom metal bowl protector and make a big mess. It wasn't non stick and required a lot of scrubbing to clean. Plus all that grease made too much smoke.

So, I'd fill the bottom of the bowl with some water....directly under the heating element. No worries, as it would never touch the element or anything. But that just wasn't enough crazy for me, oh no. See, I got to thinking (always a bad thing for me) and I thought to myself, "Hrmmm...if I cover the food with tin foil, it will hold in the heat and it will cook much faster." The little instruction book said never to do that, but instructions are for wimps. I'm a REAL MAN (Tm) and the food gods obey ME, not the other way around.

So, I'm making some grilled chicken. I got the tin foil on. (Sizzle sizzle.) It's smelling good. Me and the wife are talking, watching T.V., playing with my son. Life is good. (Sizzle sizzle.) I walk over to the grill, which is on the counter under the kitchen cabinet and noticed (Sizzle sizzle) it was smoking a bit. I lift up the tin foil (Sizzle, sizzle.) and note that I didn't put any water in the bottom of the bowl as the oxygen hits the chicken fat (Sizzle sizzle) and a 3 foot wall of flame erupts from the grill and begins to lick at the bottom of my kitchen cabinet. I look over at the sink, and it's full of something (Probably dishes. I forget now, I just remember I couldn't use the sink for some reason.) and I'm thinking "Gotta put out the fire, gotta put out the fire."

So I fling a potlid over the chicken, grab the grill with my potholders and walk it to the bathroom and put it in the shower. I turn on the shower and "Poof." out goes the fire. Mmmm...

I took the grill back to the kitchen and scraped off the burnt parts and finished it up on the stove. So......Why am I telling you all this?

Because the chicken was delicious. And for days after that, my son kept saying, "Dad, when are we going to have "shower chicken" again?

I kid you not.

Omg, that is so funny!

"Gotta put out the fire, gotta put out the fire." ROFL!

Shower Chicken!

Now, speaking of chicken, and safety, the most dangerous thing I've ever done was when I had just had my second child. I had these 5 chicken thighs that had to be cooked THAT day or throw out. But my DH called from work and we decided to go out quick and pick up a double stroller because my first child was such a little monkey boy that I had to have a way to strap both kids down at once. So, I throw the chicken in a pot with some water, thinking, "I am sick of throwing food out, I'll cook them up and find something to do with them tomorrow. Boy, I better remember to shut this off"

Well you see where I am going here. Off we go to Target, no stroller, so we go over to Babies R Us, get the stroller, then decide to eat dinner at UNO's, then we get home and pull in the garage. I open the door, take a whiff, and say to my DH "GIVE ME THE KEYS" He's like why? I say "GIVE ME THE KEYS" Snatch them from him, tear ass up the stairs, open the door, and immediately the smoke detector in the garage stairwell goes off (the other one in our apartment aparently wasn't working) and literally the kitchen and our entire apartment was full of thick gray smoke, I couldn't see through it, it was unbelievable. I ran around, opening windows, opening doors, my Dh was having an attack, the upstairs neighbor came down to hold the baby.

She said she though I burnt something (The smoke really wasnt coming out anywere).

It was awful. I looked in the pan, and could only identifiy remains of two thighs, everything else was GONE.

We left all the windows open, packed a bag, and went to a hotel for the night. The apartment smelled like smoke for two months. I thought the smell would never go away.

Then next day I bought three more smoke detectors.

OMG, it was very very bad.

Now that is one that was horrible at the time, and we *Almost* can laugh about now! (At least we discovered the smoke detector wasn't working). YIKES!

But that is what I think of when I read your chicken story.

And I didn't cry that time, I was just too stunned and shocked.

Baklava Update: I just ate a piece of the baklava and it will do just fine for home eating!

[himain]

LOL I've gotten upset over a dinner or two that I tried making that didn't come out right. Don't feel bad..It happens to all of us