Hits and Misses

I haven't made anything worth talking about in the last couple of days, I've been pretty busy with Blackstone Valley Women Aid. We were in a parade today to spread awareness about our organization, and I learned the true meaning of "raining on one's parade!" The rain only lasted for a short, COLD! spell and it was fun to toss MnM's out to the crowd. Next year will be even better. And our next big project will be chocolate-themed! We're putting together a combo silent auction/family fun/chocolate tasting day for the fall. I'll be sure to post more about it later, after all everyone loves chocolate!

This post could also be called "learning experiences." In my ten-or-so years of cooking, I have made my fair share of mistakes. I thought I'd post some of my most memorable/disastrous, and invite you to share yours!

1. Spilled strawberry margarita left out overnight on your counter stains. Badly. No matter how "under the weather" you're feeling after a night of 'Ritas with the girls, you should wipe down the counter!

2. Check the ingredients and the recipe more than once. I've had to stir an egg into a pan of brownies that were RIGHT about to go into the oven more than once. And I've forgotten to put milk in everything from scrambled eggs to cornbread. Wait, the eggs are Brian's faux pas. Oh well.

3. When making chili from scratch, be sure to check the shaker lids on your spices. Actually, this one goes for all your cooking. I had a cannister of crushed red pepper go awry over a batch of chili and it came out so hot, only my southern roomate, JL would eat it. (Apparently in Georgia, it's "the hotter the better!")

4. If the recipe calls for a tube pan, it will not work in a loaf pan. And cake batter is a P.I.T.A. to clean off the bottom of an oven!

5. Expired arborio rice won't soak up cooking liquids. It will, however, look good enough for your guests to eat, until they discover that their rice is crunchy!

6. Mint doesn't go with hamburger. And, for the record, neither does cinnamon. (I didn't make either of those things, but I tasted them and they were horrible)



and my personal favorite....



7. Don't offer to make deviled eggs for a picnic that's the next day for more than a few people. However, if you do decide to cook eight dozen eggs to make deviled eggs and it's like 10pm when you pull them out of the boiling water, a fan WILL help cool them down in time to make a quick filling and go to bed at a fairly decent hour!