Lu's latest addition to her ever growing collection, these Disaster stories were all submitted by members on the list, and compiled for your enjoyment by my dear friend Sooz.
We do hope you enjoy reading about all of our lil' mishaps, and adventures in the kitchen.
We don't yet have volume two.. but keep you're eyes open... them members
on Cooking with RecipeLu are always full of stories to share.
In order to protect our membes, the names of people and places may have been changed *g*
Go grab a cuppa cocoa, settle in to a comfy chair, and enjoy !
CHAPTER ONE
APPLIANCES GONE WRONG
"Diane Geary."
My cousins son needed to fix a leaky pipe underneath the sink. His wife
keep getting after him to fix it and he kept putting it off. In the
meantime she removed all the cupboard doors to refinish them, The pipe
exploded and there was a garbage disposal full of noodles. It blew the
noodles out of the disposal and they went everywhere you can think of.
She is still finding noodles to this day. This happened in November of
1997.
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"Valerie Whittle"
Ok, I'd forgotten my first run-in with a microwave. I had never used one,
or seen one used, when I went away to college. We had a microwave in the
dorm lounge, and one late night while studying, I got a craving for BBQ
chicken. I don't recall *where* I got the chicken (must have been a store
nearby) or Shake and Bake BBQ coating mix, but I put in one piece of
chicken (possibly two, but I think it was just one) and set the timer....
I wasn't quite sure how long to cook it, but it said an hour for a regular
oven for several pieces,
so I figured I should cut the time a bit, seeing as it was a microwave and
all, and they're supposed to be faster... So ... 20 minutes. That ought to
cook a piece of chicken just right... hehehehe I can't remember if we
noticed it before or after the timer went off,
but everyone had a huge laugh when they saw the piece of black charcoal
that used to be a chicken thigh... I think someone threw it out the window
like a baseball... hehehe
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"janet toomey"
This is another Horror story from Jan's Kitchen!
This happened to my mom not me.
I had gotten a brand new Kitchen aid mixer. I was at work and we gave
parties for time share and they needed a quick dessert. I volunteered my
mom to make me some cream puffs. Sooo I called home and at the time she
lived with me. I asked her to make me some cream puffs for the party that
night at work. She was very willing and said sure now I can use your new
machine. I went back to working and about 2 hours later I had a feeling
something was wrong. So I called mom at home. She was half laughing and
half crying. I asked what was wrong and my five year old son on the
extension upstairs piped up an says mommy grandma has a huge mess in your
kitchen. Well to make a long story short..she had turned on the machine
without locking it first. She had flour and sugar everywhere. At the
time I had blue walls freshly painted in my kitchen. Soo you can imagine
the mess. She had everything cleaned up by the time I got home and all
turned out well. We had many a laugh over this while having a cup of tea
together. Sorry to say she passed away three years ago of Alzheimer and I do miss her so.
Jan
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clbogner@juno.com
First of all, you have to understand that I've been cooking and baking for
as long as I can remember. Mom started me on cake mixes and brownies when
I was about 7 or 8, and by 13 I could prepare a complete meal by
myself—nothing fancy, but I knew how to *not* burn the house down. well,
rolls reversed in my house, and mom would ask *me* to bake things for
*her* (instead of the other way around). this one particular time I was
commissioned to make a german chocolate cake for the Home Interior's party
she was having that night. the recipe called for a bar of Baker's german
chocolate and some other "expensive" ingredients, and since this was not
long after my prior cake disaster, I was warned about reading and
following *all* of the directions.... ok, so I do everything the
directions say, to the letter...I even had my little brother time me
during the "beating"! I bake the cake for the required time, and when
the timer dings, I check the cake....it's still soupy! *gasp!* so I put
it back in the oven for another 10 minutes..... no change in the cake. I
called the aunt who gave us the recipe—long distance—to ask her what I did
wrong. she didn't know, and recommended I bake it another 10 minutes. I
did, and kept this up for another hour. still had a soupy cake. I called
mom at work in tears, 'cause I *knew* I didn't do anything wrong.... she
tells me to go ahead and turn the cake out and we'll figure it out when
she got home. I did what she said, and ended up with unbaked cake batter
all over the counter, down the cupboards, and on the floor, with a ½ inch
sliver of slightly baked cake. When my parents got home from work, we
*finally* figured out that the oven had shut off on me! we had one of
those electric ovens with the "timed bake" ability, and we hadn't lived in
that house very long, so we didn't know that the oven had this tendency to
shut off on its own. (you'd think the cold oven would've been a clue??)
fortunately we had time to run to the store and get something else before
the guests arrived. and I've never tried to make that cake again!! I
might have to call mom to get the recipe and try it again.
~cyd
clbogner@juno.com
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CHAPTER TWO
AND SO SHALL YE RISE
D
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CHAPTER FOUR KABOOM, KERBANG, KERSPLAT!!!!!!
"bertnevie"
don & marjorie hueston
Jan Cruser
My Aunt Lois, a really great cook was having a ball using her sourdough
starter to make bread.
It was summertime, and she had to go to work one afternoon but thought she
could put her bread in the car to raise, go out during her break and punch
it down and then bake it when she got home.
Well, when she went to the car during her break, she found that it had
exploded all over the headliner and back seat of her car!! She had
forgotten just how hot a car can get in the summertime, and apparently her
bread just couldn't take it.
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m15.boston.juno.com
This is an OLD kitchen disaster—it actually happened about 35 years ago,
but it's still good for a family laugh every time the group assembles.
My dad was a great cook, and a great experimenter. Usually his
experiments were superb, but occasionally...
The year that I was 11, Daddy decided that he was going to start brewing
his own beer at home. He made one batch successfully following the recipe
and directions given to him by a friend who was a long time home brewer.
I guess he figured he had the basics then, and that he could begin to
innovate, so he made some additions and deletions to the "Original
Recipe," fermented the beer, and then bottled it. Well, evidently the
additions were a little, umm, slower to process than the originals. After
the beer had been bottled for about a week, we heard this tremendous crash
in the basement. When we went to see what it was, we found disaster!
Three of the bottles (in the front of the row), had exploded and sent
glass and bottle caps flying. There was beer everywhere, mixed with
peaches and strawberry jam, whose bottles had been caught in the shrapnel.
After we got the mess cleaned up. my Mom wanted Dad to dump the rest of
the batch, but he convinced her that any that were going to explode
probably had...and it was great beer...so they left it.
The next day, we left for a three day visit with my grandparents. When we
returned home, we found that 6 more bottles of the beer had exploded.
Peeeyeewww! I still can't truly enjoy beer to this day. Thankfully, my
Dad got bored with brewing fairly quickly, but not nearly quickly enough
for the hometown cleanup crew (my brothers and I).
Michele
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deedeep1@juno.com (Deanna Polakowski)
Since we are into kitchen war stories, I thought I would add my 2 cents!
All my life I had been used to Corning Ware. When I got married, someone
gave us a Pyrex casserole dish. I stupidly thought it was just like my
Corning. I took the casserole dish filled with a rice dish out of the
refrigerator, and placed it directly on the flame to heat. Within minutes
there was an explosion! Rice and bits of Pyrex everywhere! Months later,
I could still hear bits of glass going up the vacuum!
Until that time, I had never seen a dish explode.
Deanna
DeeDeeP1@juno.com
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CHAPTER SIX CALL 911....QUICK!!!
"Anna Zapral/David Sudmalis"
Had a younger sister who decided to surprise everyone by making dinner and
burning the oil in the saucepan, tried to put it out and successfully
burned the kitchen curtains and melted the vinyl rollerblind.
Anna
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Sooz Kirkland
I had those metal burner covers on my stove. I was getting ready to put
something on to simmer when a plane started crop dusting in the field next
to my house. My kids were little and I thought they would love to go stand
out under it and watch it fly. So I put my stuff on the stove and turned
on the burner and flew outside. When we came back in the stove was
burning. I had turned the burner on under one of the covers instead of the
pan. It melted it and really scarred up my stove but luckily that was the
worst. I was very lucky. ( I also do NOT use those covers anymore!)
A friend of mine put baby bottle nipples on the stove to boil and then
they decided to go out to eat. She forgot she had them boiling. When they
came home their house was burned...they lost most of their kitchen. She
got a new kitchen out of the deal but it was really not worth that!
sooz
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Ksharples@kktv.com
My grandmother was a great cook. She always made home made cinnamon rolls
and dinner rolls. She warmed them up by putting them in a brown paper
bag, putting a little water on the bag, and then putting the bag in the
oven. They were so great!!!!
Well, one year (just a few years ago) my sister and I decided we'd warm up
the dinner rolls the way grandma did it. We put them in the bag, put on
some water, and popped them in the oven. In a few minutes we smelled
something burning.........you guessed it, we opened the oven door and
there was our bag of rolls engulfed in flames!!!! I'm sure grandma would
have had a good laugh at us!!! :)
I've never tried it since.....I'm too scared.... We ruined my sister's
oven in the process.......Her hubby wasn't too happy with me!
Kim
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PookyPook@aol.com
My DH wanted me to be sure and write this!! It IS kitchen related! I know
some people have written in their funnies about kitchen disasters, and
this is a kitchen disaster, but not funny.
Two days ago I started to melt a stick of butter in a frying pan, and,
having to use the bathroom immediately, I turned the burner to what I
thought was Lo. Well, it wasn't!! I literally flew out of the bathroom
when our smoke detector in the hallway went off!! I found the house
filling up with smoke and a very nice blaze on the stove!! Keeping with
being stupid that day, I put the pan on the floor and found something to
smother the flames which was a pizza stone. We had snow on the ground and
I should have just thrown the pan outside. I called DH and he immediately
came home. I had to open Every window and door in the house to get rid of
the smoke. Fortunately, all it did was to put smoke on the fridge and
cabinets which we were able to wash off. But we now have three kitchen
floor tiles with the shape of the pan on them!!!
If we had had a smoke detector in the kitchen along with a fire
extinguisher, this disaster would never have happened!!! PLEASE get a
smoke detector and fire extinguisher for your kitchen!!! They make both
specifically for the kitchen!!!! We are now very strong advocates of
both!!!!!
Ruth
PookyPook@aol.com
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Sooz Kirkland
Last Monday night decided to make my Japanese Chicken Salad that I have
posted before. In the recipe you cook the sai fun noodles in a large
skillet of hot oil. I cooked my noodles in a pan on the right front
burner. I then turned off the burner and moved the pan to the back left
burner. I'm not sure what I did but suddenly I bumped a baking dish I had
sitting on top of the coffee maker which is beside the stove ( I know, I
know..don't pile dishes on appliances but I had to put it SOMEWHERE!!).
The dish fell off and hit my olive oil bottle which then fell over, the
lid flew off and it pumped olive oil all over that hot burner. Well, it
started smoking and I started screaming and cussing. Jim came in and
said...throw some water on it! I'm yelling NO NO..you don't put water on a
grease fire!! He yells..it isn't a grease fire it is olive oil! I
yell...isn't that the same thing???? Well, it just smoked up the house a
whole lot (nothing worse than olive oil smoke...P U!!) So, I calmed down
and finished my salad. When done I decide to deal with the stove and low
and behold....when all this was going on...somehow my plastic bottle of
Creole seasoning had fallen off the back of the stove and landed right in
the middle of the pan of hot oil.
It had melted and was sealed to the bottom of my pan!!!! I was able to
save the pan but not my Creole seasoning :-(
Oh, BTW....the salad tasted great!!
sooz
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CHAPTER SEVEN LET'S TALK TURKEY
"Glen G. Hosey"
Several years back, I was an instructor with the Army in Texas. I decided
to cook a huge Thanksgiving dinner for a lot of the Army folks who had no
families in the area. Mind you, this was a huge dinner, turkey, ham, all
the trimmings, fixings, etc., and several types of bread: Date-Nut,
Zucchini, Pear, Cranberry-Orange-Nut.
Well, there were pots and pans and spices all over the kitchen. After
putting a couple of loaves of the Cranberry bread in the oven, and timing
it, I noticed that it still hadn't browned. No problem, probably needs a
few more minutes. After 15 minutes, decided I had better take it out of
oven. It was rather firm. No time to think about it, making lots of other
goodies.
Served the dinner, all was great, except you should have seen the faces of
those who partook of the cranberry bread—can you imagine what it tasted
like with all those fresh, tart cranberries and absolutely no sugar in
it???? Yep, I had inadvertently left out a really key ingredient -- 1 cup
of sugar!
And I don't mind if you include my name in your collection 8-)
Glen Hosey
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DWhiteBarn
I had just been transferred to a new town mid-summer. A new acquaintance
I worked with invited me to come to her in-laws home for that Christmas
dinner. I came home late on Christmas eve and popped one of those
deeeelicious
EABoz
One Christmas when I was visiting from out of town at my mother's house,
she gave me the duty of making brownies. These are my brother's favorite,
and mom considers this job very important ;)
Have you ever been making a recipe and thinking to yourself, "Gee, this
just doesn't *seem* right." Some how you just can't put your finger on
it, but you know something is wrong with the recipe! Well, I was very
dubious, but poured the batter into the pan and baked for the allotted
amount of time. (Which looking back I should have realized was not long
enough.) The cook book said to invert the brownies onto a wire rack.
(Okay, another alarm should have been dinging in my head). Well I flipped
the pan over onto the rack and watched as molten brownie goo dripped
through the wires and all over the counter. Since it was still boiling
hot I had to wait until it cooled to clean it up. (Nothing worse than
having to stare at a kitchen disaster for an extended amount of time!)
::sigh:: I thought maybe I could clean up the evidence and make a new
batch. But, Noooooo. There wasn't anymore Cocoa! I had to fess up to
everyone that I had botched the brownies. (Okay, the only thing worse
than staring at a kitchen disaster is having to tell your mother, who has
cooked professionally for 25 years, about it!) LOL.
I get my brownies from a mix now.
Ellie
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"Lynn Ratcliffe"
Years ago as a new cook, one of my friends mother gave me a recipe which
she always made at Easter time. It was a bread with either an apricot or
nut filing. I mixed up the dough and set it on top of the refrigerator to
rise. An hour later, I went to check on the dough. I found that it had
risen over the top of the bowl, down the refrigerator and was creeping
along the kitchen floor!
The reason - the recipe called for a cake of yeast. I did not know that
yeast came in different sizes. Apparently, I'd purchased the large
economy size which was about 30 times the amount that I needed for the
recipe. I never did make that recipe. :))
Lynn
mcgrew@ntr.net
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"Mimi's Box"
I have a tip: Never, ever, put your hot bowl of the best Thanksgiving
Stuffing you've ever made on the edge of the sink—right next to a pan full
of dirty dish water!
I was in tears! :(
Mimi :]
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"janet toomey"
Here is my horror story for Thanksgiving.
I had a house full of people and relatives to boot. For a sit down
Thanksgiving dinner my first one. Ok Turkey was in the oven and that
Thank God went smoothly. I had the pies done the day before. I was about
to peel 10 lbs of Idaho potatoes which I had forgotten being that I had a
brand new baby to care for. so I slipped my little body into the kitchen
with apron on and proceeded to peel away. My mom was also there and she
was helping me. All of a sudden the garbage disposal quit working and
potato peels were coming back at us. We turned off the disposal and
yelled for dh to come to my rescue. Of all nights it was pouring rain
outside cats, dogs kinda rain.
I was smart in one way, I had prepared a lot of finger foods in advance.
These were to be for Xmas. We got them all out cookies and all. The men
about six were outside trying to clear the trap of potato skins. They
were soaked, and the little women were having a party inside resetting my
table for a buffet type dinner. We did have the potatoes by peeling them
into a bucket and then cutting up and putting into a steamer, microwaved
some, cooked some on the stove. They all got done together, don't ask how
because at that point I was determined this was going to be ok. We put
all the fingerfood and the rest of the turkey dinner and veggies and
stuffing, cranberries etc. out for a buffet. My Christmas Baking saved
the day.. It kept everyone talking and eating playing games etc. for two
hrs. That was a day I will not soon forget.
Remember: Whatever goes wrong can always be fixed especially in the
kitchen.
Jan
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KateyKC@aol.com
After all the horror stories I just had to add mine. I'm so glad there are
others like me out there. Well, maybe not quite, as you'll see! It was
the first Thanksgiving my husband and I would be together after two years
of spending it apart. We lived with my mother and he had begun to realize
things weren't normal, but this really put him to the test. Aside from the
good natured arguing (at the top of our lungs), the frenzy of the many
cats and dogs that refused to leave the kitchen, and the really sappy
movies we watched (not quite the football he was used to), the highlight
came when he was on the phone to his parents and looked over when I yelled
to my mother "Is it baking soda or salt for a grease fire?" I had pierced
the store bought tin foil roaster with the carving fork and grease had
poured over the bottom of the oven and caught fire. He wasn't sure what
upset him more, the fire or the fact that it didn't upset my mother or me.
I know his parents must have thought things were crazy when he said "I've
got to go, there is a fire in the oven. No, she doesn't seem to mind!"
Anyway, we put the fire out and had a wonderful dinner, the first of many
for us. Remember - Anything that goes wrong makes a great story
afterwards!!
KateyKC
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Dogface44@aol.com
My disaster story happened after I had been cooking for quite awhile. We
were living in Hawaii and my bother - in-law and sister-in-law wrote and
told us they were coming for Thanksgiving. (Whoopee!!!) She is a very
nice person, but she thinks that she is the only person in the world that
has been introduced to a stove. Food is expensive in Hawaii, and to
compound it I went all out! I ordered a fresh turkey from a very pricey
market, pies from the best bakery in town and waited for them to arrive.
They arrived on a Friday and the day before we were told be radio, TV and
whatever that we were going to be hit by a hurricane. Sure enough, we
were inundated with Hurricane Iwa, which produced brown-outs by the
electric company. (They turned off the electricity every other hour. I
scurried around and tried to get everything ready( as much as I could)
with the part time electricity. Did I mention that we were living in a
14th floor condo? Welllll, Saturday, my husband and I went and got the
turkey and the three pies and all the other crud that I had to have. When
we got home, the first thing that happened is that they turned off the
electricity unexpectedly and we hoofed, panted and perspired up the darn
steps. Did I mention that this darn fresh bird was a WillieBird and cost
48. dollars? Hawaii, you know. Well, thanksgiving arrived and everything
was under control, I thought. I asked the DH to check on the beautiful
bird, and he very calmly said, "I think it's burning". Sure enough, the
last time I had checked on old Willie, I must have turned the oven knob
up instead of down. We had burned Willie. My sister -in-law still thinks
that I have never been close to a stove!!!!
Joanne
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Kara9718
I have to cook if I want to live. my mother's food makes me want to gag.
she can bake but that is about all. One thanksgiving she made a turkey
and it caught on fire!! The fire started to spread up the walls and
kitchen curtains. The first thing she said, as my stepfather reached for
the fire extinguisher, was don't hurt my turkey!
kara
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SatinsBack
Years ago, the first Thanksgiving dinner I cooked was for two people -- me
and
my then boyfriend. I decided to make stuffed baked chicken, various
frozen veggies, and a frozen pumpkin pie.
I should have known it was to be bad since I took a fork to pick up the
chicken so I could gather the juices to baste it and the chicken fell off
the fork, bounced off the oven door, and hit the floor with a thud --
spraying me with bits of cold stuffing and juice (operative word is COLD).
I just put it back figuring my floor was real clean and the heat would
kill any germs anyway (of course, I was dressed only in my undergarments
cause I was cleaning and cooking and all at the same time so he cracked up
laughing at the way I
looked -- 1/2 naked with stuffing and juice dripping off of me). A few
hours later I
checked the chicken again and it was just barely turning gold, so I again
basted it -- without dropping it. After 9 hours of cooking at 350 (yes,
the oven was right and yes, the chicken was frozen to start but I did not
know this) the outer skin was a beautiful shade of brown but the pop-up
timer still hadn't popped. I was sure something had to be wrong with the
timer because all my research (re-read EVERY cookbook I owned for times of
cooking) said the chicken should have been done 6 hours earlier -- so I
touched the timer with
the fork to see if it worked and IT POPPED!! We took the chicken out,
gathered all the veggies, and put the pie in. I quickly tried to make a
gravy that ended up looking like a thick liquid with baby dumplings (we
did not even try to eat it) then we sat down, said grace, and my boyfriend
sliced the first piece off the breast. It looked beautiful. He sliced
the second slice and I noticed a very slight hint of pink on the chicken,
and by the third slice it was no longer a hint!!! Tears started to run
down my face and John said it
was o.k. -- we still had the veggies and stuffing which was more than some
others had. He scooped out some stuffing and one look sent me running to
the bedroom to fling myself across the bed and sob. There were clumps of
blood on the stuffing -- I had never known you had to wash the inside of a
bird -- just remove the bag! After much cajoling he got me back out to
the table -- while quietly laughing to himself. Finally, I told him to
check the pie -- I was not ruining any other part of dinner. He opened
the oven door, grabbed the
shelf and PULLED. The shelf had been stuck but broke free and pumpkin
went flying all over the kitchen. For some reason to this day I cannot
cook a whole bird. No matter how hard I try it never works.
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CHAPTER EIGHT KIDS IN THE KITCHEN
Lulubel2
My husband was out of town and I was headed to
Tampa for a Christmas party the next morning so I ordered pizza for the
kids. Well my daughter decides to warm up another slice in the microwave.
I'm pounding away on the computer and she asks me, " how long to cook it"
I told to start off at 20 seconds and if it wasn't warm enough try another
ten seconds. (She just turned 8) Well being a child who does exactly
what she wants without asking, decided "20 minutes" was too long and nuked
it for "10 minutes". I start to smell smoke and a yucky smell..and she
yells MY PIZZA!!!! The slice and the paper plate where completely burnt
and the smell was unbelievable. Remember the smell of burnt microwave
popcorn bags? Only a 100 times worse. It's cold and rainy...the
beginning of a record December in rainfall....my kids are running around
outside in T-shirts and no shoes. I have a handicapped step daughter who
thought playing outside in the dark and rain was fun. It's about 10:00 at
night and my house stinks sooooo bad!!!! Needless to say it took a lot of
vinegar and water, baking soda, potpourri, and air freshener to get rid of
the smell. About 3 days of airing out the house in the rain. The
microwave is still sitting in my garage waiting for hubby to put it
outside for the garbage but I have a nice new microwave sitting in my
kitchen. I went about a week without one. I don't know what we did before
microwaves were invented. Besides suffer!
Lulubel
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Rodeo46898
When I was about 15, while pretending to be deathly ill, I played hooky
from school one day . I was hungry and decided to fix myself some hard
boiled eggs. While they were cooking, I walked down to the school bus
stop to "socialize" completely forgetting about the eggs. When I finally
came home, about an hour later, smoke was billowing out of the house, the
smoke alarm was blaring and my uncle (who had come by to check on his
"sick" niece) was on the phone with my mother trying to find me. The eggs
had completely busted and were splattered on my mother's 15 ft cathedral
ceiling, all over the walls, counter and cabinets!!! The smoke was coming
from the pot which had a hole burnt in it from being left empty on high
for so long. By the end of the evening I was starting to doubt I would
ever see my 16th birthday!!!
My mother still lives in the same house and even now claims to find egg
pieces on the top of the cabinets whenever she cleans them.
:-)
Kimberly
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Cynthisa
Here's a recipe I developed all by my self at about age 12:
CHICKEN BRIQUETTES
Take one package of Swanson's Frozen Chicken Nuggets (in an ALUMINUM pan-
all
frozen foods still came in aluminum back then, thank God!) Pre-heat oven
to 300 degrees, place nuggets in oven, go to bed. By morning, they should
be perfect chicken charcoal briquettes. (That is if the Fire Department
doesn't get to them first!)
[Disclaimer: While this actually happened, I don't recommend actually
trying to repeat this recipe!!!!!! It could genuinely be dangerous!]
=) Cynthisa@aol.com
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"Lynn Ratcliffe"
I was 14 and my sister 11. We decided to bake a cake for my mother for
her birthday. This was precake mix days!! My mother gave us one of her
cake and frosting recipes to use with instructions to follow the recipe
exactly. Unfortunately, my mother used a shorthand system since she was
an experienced cook. The icing recipe called for 1/3 cup crisco and
vanilla. Guess how much vanilla we used. It sure tasted terrible. I
never forget how much vanilla to add to a recipe. :))
Lynn
mcgrew@ntr.net
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"Pauline M. Marshall"
I was in Home Ec, grade 9, and we were going to make pies. Well, we made
a coconut cream pie, and it looked wonderful.....we went to taste it, and
it was DISGUSTING. Well, we complained to the teacher, and she went over
all the ingredients.....all there, and then she tried it....and spit it on
the floor.
Turns out that the janitor kept his turpentine in the refrigerator, right
beside the lard, because it kept better.....but what he didn't realize,
was that it tainted the lard for our pies. :( Needless to say, I have a
HARD time eating a coconut cream pie now. :)
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Sooz Kirkland
Here is one from me. When I was a kid in high school I was seriously
getting into trying and cooking new things. I decided to make a cake using
a recipe of my mom's. The cake batter called for lard. I made my cake and
decided to dye the batter green and the frosting blue. Well, being a
novice I didn't realize how intense colors can be after cooking!! What an
obnoxious looking cake and to make matters worse...turns out the lard was
rancid. Not only was it the worst looking cake ever...it tasted even
worse!!!
sooz
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"Christopher E. Eaves"
Speaking of kids in the kitchen.... I was at a friend the other night &
they have 3 kids 17yo girl, 15yo boy & 8 yo girl. They were always
complaining about not liking what mom or dad cooked, so mom says 1 night a
week each child gets to cook the meal, that night was the 8 yo's turn. She
opened a can of V-8 & shredded a couple carrots into it & added a
can of mixed veggies, nuked it for 10 minutes and called out "Come & get
it!!!! The Minestrone's ready!!!!!"
Chris
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CHAPTER NINE MEN............
Susan Rappaport
My Mom had a friend who was a bachelor. He decided to cook a can of beans
to go along with some hot dogs he was boiling. He took the UNOPENED
beans, put the can in a saucepan with a little water in the bottom and put
it on the stove. He left it cooking and went to take a nice long bath. ?
After a while, he heard a tremendous explosion and found that the can had,
of course, exploded. There were beans on the ceiling (hanging down like
icicles) and on the walls and everywhere. I remember when I got to see it
(about a week later), after he had cleaned a million times and there were
still beans here and there.
I thought it was pretty funny till the egg thing happened to me a few
years later. I'll tell you, the beans didn't smell as badly as the eggs
did!
susan :-)
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Bill Amend
Several years ago my son, who was about 26 at the time, wanted to "bake" a
potato in the microwave. He asked my wife how long should he 'wave it
for. She told him "12 minutes".
Well he put the potato (is there an "e" here....I guess I'll ask Dan
Quail) in, set the timer and let her go. We all were busy doing other
things when we smelled smoke. We all rushed to the kitchen to find a fire
blazing away in the microwave. Fortunately, we had a fire extinguisher
handy and my son put the fire out.
We now have a new microwave ;-)
Bill Amend
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"Valerie Whittle"
The funniest story that comes to mind is one that I'm unsure if I should
tell or not... It does deal with cooking, and it is an actual recipe....
You let me know what you think, ok? Several years ago (back in the good
ol' days) a friend of mine was making marijuana butter (on the grounds
that it's not bad for you if you cook with it, rather than smoke
it...).... This is a lengthy process where you simmer the marijuana for a
couple hours in butter, then strain it and use the butter in recipes...
Well, he'd cooked it and then took the finished product over to the sink
where he poured it into a strainer. The only problem is he forgot to put
a bowl under the strainer, so he poured an entire pound (and an entire
ounce!) of marijuana butter down the drain. hehehe I think he'd sampled a
bit of the product beforehand... A very expensive, and hysterical, lesson.
;-) (I was there. I about died laughing!)
So, you think that's ok to tell? I'll try and think of something else
that's sure to be acceptable, in the meantime. :-)
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Cathleen
I don't have a dehydrator, but I have dried herbs in the oven before (just
set it to very low and watch it carefully), although I bet it's not as
good.
My boyfriend tried to dry some chives a couple of months ago and kind of
forgot about them in the oven. He refuses to throw them out, so now I
have this huge jar of tiny, black, charred chives hiding in the back of
the cupboard. I'm waiting for him to forget about them....
~~Cathleen
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Sewgoode
A girlfriend of mine had that same problem years ago. One night, after
cooking a wonderful meal (she gave us the leftovers - take my word for it,
it was wonderful), her husband picked it apart. She told him fine -
tomorrow night he would cook dinner. So when he got home from work, of
course nothing was done for dinner. She was sitting in the living room
watching TV. He went into the kitchen and fixed (should I say burned?)
the worst dinner! After that, anytime he complained about her food, he
had to cook dinner the next night. (He didn't know that just before he
got home, she went out and had a hamburger and fries so *she* wouldn't
starve). His complaining got fewer and far between until he was so happy
she was cooking he starting eating as soon as he sat down!
Ramona
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Kara9718
O.K. time to make fun of men . my brother called me just now and told me
he was cooking some kind of chicken recipe that called for peanuts. well,
apparently he didn't have any in the house and was too lazy to go get some
(he lives maybe a block from Ukrop's!!!) So, being the genius tat he is he
decided to take the peanuts from crunchy PB and just wash the PB off. He
called me to ask me how to get all the PB off. Only a man (no offense to
Kevin and all the other wonderful male cooks on this list.) would think
that it would be easier to take all the peanuts out of crunchy PB then to
go to the store and buy some!!
kara
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Dogface 44
I have to tell you about a dear friend that decided one day to make her
own Lemon Chicken. It's not hard, but she said not only did it take the
better part of an afternoon to get all the stuff together, but she used
every pot and every pan in the kitchen. When her DH got home and they had
dinner, she only served white rice to go with it because she was so
exhausted from all the preparations of the lemon chicken.....The first
thing that popped out of his mouth was"Well, where's the rest of dinner"
and..............the lemon chicken is good but it is not as good as the
chicken we had in Hong Kong......"I think she said something about shoving
Hong Kong in an undesirable place. It was funny when she retold it.
Joanne
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Kevin Kirkland
I discovered a recipe of a kind of eggplant lasagna that called for goat's
cheese and a lovely béchamel sauce. I served it and my roommate kept
exclaiming and said it was the best lasagna I've ever made. He asked what
was in it. I listed off the ingredients including the "chevre" and he
said "You're kidding? Cheese from a goat?" I guess I didn't help that I
bleated my response. He made faces like Dame Edna does when she's getting
sick, and to that day I've never been allowed to make anything with goat's
cheese in it.
BTW, if there's those of you who'd love the recipe, I'll post it.
Kevin
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"Valerie Whittle"
I don't remember if I told the one where hubby went in to boil the tea
kettle of water, turned the wrong burner on and came back to watch our TV
show. When I smelled smoke I went in to look and the front burner was
bright red (instead of the back burner, where the
tea kettle is...) and the plastic canister of sugar that was next to the
stove had warped and melted so badly that the sugar poured out of it all
over the burner, and it had caught on fire!. So the place smelled of burnt
sugar and burnt plastic. Yuck. I made DH clean up
the mess, too! lol
Valérie (Vale'rie)
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"Brenda H. Alcorn"
Well, back in the prehistoric days..before cell phones..*S*..My husband
decided to stop and get gas..I was ahead of him..so, he went on the off
ramp and I didn't see him and I kept going. When I looked into the rear
view mirror, he was gone. Therefore, I got off about two ramps later..(I
tried slowing down, but "inaction" drives me crazy)...and, then passed him
going back the other way. Finally, caught up with him. Typically, he had
no problem with the whole situation. From then on, though, we "arranged"
our stops. That was kind of an eerie feeling, though. Kind of made you
think of one of those UFO stories..just dropping down and sucking the
truck right into the space ship and it disappearing. *S*
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CHAPTER TEN MY AREN'T WE MESSY!!!
"Diane Geary"
Hint: Never measure and sift flour under your kitchen ceiling fan.
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From: SAS890@aol.com
I was newly married and expecting two other couples for a quiet New Year's
Eve of cards and refreshments. The only experience I had ever had with
pizza was of the cardboard frozen variety. I decided to make pizza "from
scratch" to serve to my guests. I made the dough, added pizza sauce and
toppings, and topped it all off with sliced mozzarella cheese. So far so
good. I wanted a nice, crispy crust, so following the guidelines on the
box of FROZEN pizza, I slid the pizza directly onto the oven rack and
closed the door. No pizza pan needed here. Well the dough was softened
by the heat of the oven, the whole thing "melted" through the oven rack
onto the rack beneath and onto the floor of the oven. My guests arrived
to the most horrible smell imaginable. Anyone who has ever had a little
cheese drip onto the bottom of the oven knows what I mean. We opened
doors and windows to the December cold of an Iowa winter just to be able
to breathe. After the air cleared we had a nice evening, but the only
thing I served them was the chips & dip. You know, I honestly have never
attempted "from scratch" pizza again. Maybe someday.
Nah.
:-) Sue
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Terry Pogue
Have you ever drained the pasta by pouring pasta and boiling water into
the colander when you forgot to put the thing in the sink? Major HOT mess.
Slippery pasta all over the floor steaming away. Good thing the dogs were
not underfoot!
terry
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"Pauline M. Marshall"
In response to Terry Pogue's story above:
Once, and I repeat ONCE, I put the colander on the stove and did
this....Oh my, what a mess. Needless to say, my colander STAYS in the
sink now. :)
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Badams
OK, now for my fav K.A. story. Always wanted a Kitchen Aid mixer, but was
too cheap to buy one. Found an old AVOCADO green (!!) at a g.sale for
$35. Works great, but bowl doesn't (apparently) hold enuf.
Going for major campout with in-laws and they like goooey desserts. I
wanted to take something (pre my mc and eat-lf list days) wonderful,
gooooooey, but not high in fat. I decide on Angel Food cake, with thawed
frozen strawberries and some whipped cream. So, in my too small K.A. I
begin to make angel food cake from a mix. Start with the egg white
(sugar?) packet and liquid. I throw those in the machine (whip). But
wait, bowl doesn't seem to keep stuff inside it - splashes out, so I (oh
bright one) cover the machine with clean dish towel. Daughter calls from
adjacent garage (cleaning??) and I go assist.
A few minutes later, I return to the kitchen (get a far as opening the
door) and stand there aghast!!!!! At the other end of the room, this
out-of-control THING—the dish towel and the mixer—have become one.
And on HIGH (have u ever seen how fast these things spin?????) they are
flying circles, well, the dish towel is, of white foam round and round the
room- this STUFF to the ceiling....everywhere THE ENTIRE KITCHEN is white
with foam and the stuff is sailing thru the air like it's a giant snow
storm in my kitchen!! I can't even work up the courage to enter, but I
know I must!!!!! By the time I fight my way thru white to get over to
the mixer to turn it OFF--- I am covered in foam. I'm screaming, you can
imagine, and the daughter by now is standing in the doorway—watching in
horror.
"jan toomey"
Mom was going to make me some cream puffs and use my new Kitchenaid Mixer.
Well she followed the directions and when it came time to add the flour to
the mixture she turned it on high and had flour and butter and yuk all
over the freshly painted kitchen walls, ceiling, floor etc. I was working
and when I came home about a half hour after her ordeal..she looked
exhausted. We had many a good laugh over this one, and she never again
wanted to use that machine.
Jan
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"Brenda H. Alcorn"
I used to have a habit of keeping popcorn in the oven. In my house in
Georgia, the kitchen was arranged with the stove, refrigerator, etc. on
one side and the sink, counters, etc. on the other. I had put the popcorn
in the wall oven to get it out of the way. The next night, I turned on
the oven to preheat it for supper and suddenly realized something was
burning. When I opened the oven door, the big plastic bowl holding the
popcorn was melting down through the oven racks. I grabbed the bowl and
slung it across the kitchen into the sink. In the process, bunches and
bunches of yellow plastic "strings" had developed from the oven to the
sink, and had solidified in the air. This stuff was everywhere. I
finally had to get the racks out of the oven and put them out by the
carport. They looked like modern art or something with all the popcorn
and bowl hanging solid on the racks. I then had to get scissors and cut
through the strings so we could walk through the kitchen...It was a great
mess..but, I never left popcorn in the oven again. Needless to say, my
husband and son came home..crawled through the kitchen..and used that one
great line that I love so well..."Now, why did you do that?"
Let me see...I've also had a can of cat food explode while opening it just
before going to a party. That's a wonderful smell in hair and clothing.
And...
When we were moving..once..my husband was backing the truck up to the
front door and told me to tell him when to stop. The phone rang and I
went to answer it..and he came through the front door. (Made it much
easier to pack..)
Also, lost him on one of the interstates...remarkably, found him.
And...put all the animals..2 dogs and 2 cats in the car, started it,
turned on the air..got out of the car..and locked it in a rest area. No
other sets of keys. Well, at least they were cool while we waited in the
HEAT for the locksmith.
These are just a "few" I thought I would share.
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CHAPTER ELEVEN WHOAAAA DOGGIES!!
"Christopher E. Eaves"
The first time I grew zucchini I put in 6 plants. There are 2 of us. I
had more zucchini than I could possibly use. The couple next door came to
my rescue by helping with the daily harvest & taking it to their church
for distribution to the needy. The next year I put in 1 plant & got
exactly 4 zucchini the whole season. The reason you ask? During the winter
we adopted a Greyhound. She loves zucchini & would go into the garden &
help herself!!!! I'd see one looked like it would be perfect for
tomorrow's dinner. Go out the next morning & Cinnamon had already made it
her breakfast snack!! Now I plant 1 in the garden & 1 near her doghouse.
We get enough for us & she has plenty for her.
Chris
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Lulubel2
My chow used to spit cherry tomatoes down the driveway and chase them.
Lynda (Lulubel)
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CHAPTER TWELVE IT'S ALL IN THE TIMING!
"Anna Zapral/David Sudmalis"
My husband plays in a band, and often works late. He likes muffins, so I
thought I'd make him some. Now my mother has gone overseas for a while,
and my sister is staying at home alone. She decided to clean the
cupboards a s my mum is a hoarder, and found a nice apricot and walnut
muffin mix. I took it home and baked it one night while Dave was at a
gig. The recipe called for it to be baked for 20 minutes, and half an
hour had gone by and the muffins still hadn't risen or turned brown. I
decided that that was the way they must be, and took them out anyway. I
went to bed, and left Dave a note that there were some muffins in the
kitchen if he wanted to have a snack. The next morning I asked him how
they were, and he gave me a funny look, and said that they were raw in the
middle, but because I had made them, he had eaten a whole one anyway. I
told him of the cooking time, and he was at a loss as to what had happened
until I sheepishly told him that the expiry date on the packet was, wait
for it, March 1992. I have laughed hysterically every time he has whined
and complained to people that I have no pride because a) I make things
from packets (albeit rarely), and b) I ignore the use-by date. It was
funny.............really!!!!
Anna
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Lulubel2
I made a sirloin tip roast the other day and it took over 3 hours to cook.
Who knows why? The kids ate corndog nuggets and fries and I went to bed.
My husband finished everything for me.
Lulubel
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Roserairie@aol.com
My very first dinner for my husband was his favorite dish - fried chicken.
It was absolutely the most beautiful golden color but raw inside. It took
our appetites away!
Rose
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N8ugz@aol.com
Had a good laugh once my self with my grandmother and family.......It
seems that frozen pumpkin pies had just come out on the market so my
grandmother figured that she would save time and bought some. Being the
good cook that she is she took them out of the freezer.........served
thanksgiving dinner........then went to serve dessert.........Well,
needless to say she kept saying about how runny these pies were but served
them any way..........She NEVER baked the pies........thought all you had
to do was take them out of the freezer.
Mary H.
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"Sharon Crawford"
Shortly after my husband and I married, I was at the store and saw these
beautiful big blueberries in quart containers art an unbelievable price.
So, since Mark loves blueberries, I bought some to make a pie. Well, I
get them home and I'm cleaning them and realize these ain't blueberries.
I have a gallon of concord grapes.
So, I dig out my trusty cookbook and find the recipe for concord grape
pie. I follow all the directions, including skinning the grapes etc. Bake
the pie, and as I'm pulling it out of the oven I'm thinking I pulled it
off. Pie falls mysteriously out of my hands and splatters everywhere.
Husband gets home at just that moment; my yellow wallpaper is permanently
stained purple as am I and everything else and all he can do is laugh.
I almost divorced him right there.
I should have learned. About a year later I decided on the spur of the
moment to roast stuffed turkey for him...on of his favorite foods. I get
it in the oven at about 5 p.m., and the cook book tells me that this 15
pound stuffed bird will be ready for dinner at 7:30
It's a good thing I'm not in math for a living. Mark gets home...."oh,
honey what's for dinner? It smells wonderful." I tell him and he says I
must have really gotten home from work early to get the turkey in the oven
for dinner. I say "no it's been in about 45 minutes, will be done at
7:30"
Well needless to say, he ate his turkey dinner at about midnight, after I
had gone to bed.
Since then I have stopped surprising him with his favorite foods.
Sharon
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CHAPTER THIRTEEN "GET ME A BANDAID...QUICK!!
"Diane Geary."
Is this a kitchen disaster story?
I was cutting a Carrot with my cleaver and cut the end of my baby finger
off right up to the bone. You can still see the scar through my
fingernail. My hair was a mess and I didn't want to go to the emergency
so I glued it back on with crazy glue. I kept is clean with peroxide and
iodine and it grew back just fine.
Diane @;^ )
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"bertnevie"
The only time I used crazy glue on this bod was on a bus in
Europe...eating...of course...caramels. My crown came out. My husband
glued it back and it NEVER, ever, came off again. When I finally had to
have it extracted the dentist commented that that crown held fast even to
that point!
Anymore crazy glue stories? Lazy day here, I can listen to all of them.
QE 1
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DWhiteBarn
An eight year old girl had a sledding accident a couple of weeks ago. She
hit a fence pole head first (not an uncommon thing in this part of the
world), and left a gash about 1" long on her head.
Her mother called me and asked if my husband could fix it. She had seen
him close a wound on a boy at church one evening with butterflies, and
wanted him to try this one. He said he could probably use her hair to
pull and tie some of it closed. Of course she'd already shaved off a
square area of hair around the wound. Butterflies therefore not sticking,
super glue was the obvious choice. He glued one side of the butterflies
down to the scalp, and after that dried he pulled it closed and glued the
other side down. Ten days later she was as good as new, although she
could use a new hairdo.
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CuisineArt
A long time ago when I was around 13... I thought the crazy glue cap was
on and I tried to bite it off because I couldn't get it off and I glued
most of my lips shut... OUCH! My family didn't mind because I have always
talked to much... Anyway it took about three days for all the glue to
leave my lips and they were quite raw...
Thats my glue story!
Jamie
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ncanty@juno.com (Nadia I Canty)
I made the mistake of cutting up Habanero's without knowing the danger.
It was years ago and I remember how horrible it was. I had to lay on my
stomach for over 24 hours with my hands in ice water. The fumes had
drifted up to my face, YES, just the fumes, and my face was burning so
badly that the doctor ordered cold packs kept on my lower face also.
NEVER will I use those peppers. It was the same as being burned with
boiling oil the doctor told me. Who needs that in their stomach? Nadia
in Texas
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Sooz Kirkland
My husband was cooking the dinner for his crew while out in the desert
digging dinos. He got to the part of adding the dried chilies. He takes
them between his hands and gives them a good rub to flake them. After
dinner he has to go take a leak. Need I say more? ROFLOL!!
Well, I guess you know that he now washes his hands IMMEDIATELY after
handling hot chilies!!!
sooz
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CHAPTER FOURTEEN A LITTLE OF THIS AND A LITTLE OF THAT
Cynthisa
Speaking of Kitchen Disasters (and I'm a pro at them), there's a great
book written by Marina and John Bear called, "How to Repair Food" (1987,
Ten Speed Press, PO Box 7123, Berkeley, CA 94707) Its great! It includes
chapters such as, "How to Improvise, Bluff or Otherwise Muddle Through,"
"First Aid Supplies," "Total Failure," an alphabetical listing of topics
by food (i.e., Brussels sprouts- over cooked, under cooked, bread- won't
rise, too salty, etc., etc.), as well as appendices on burned foods,
thawed frozen foods, how to store excess foods, and fruit and vegetable
seasonability. For a rank
novice like me, its been a lifesaver on *several* occasions!!! Best
wishes for 1998! Cynthisa Cynthisa@aol.com
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"Valerie Whittle"
Well, I was *so* excited to get the Kenny Rogers Corn Muffins recipe that
I tried them last night (got the recipe yesterday). First, the "good
kitchen tip" that I read here, that I used, that turned out to be a big
help. "Always keep a sink (or dishpan) full of hot soapy water ready."
This came in handy when I had to *remake* the frickin' batter. Here's
another tip that I did *not* use "*Always* crack your eggs into a smaller
dish and then transfer to your mixing bowl." Do this even if you've done
it a zillion times and think it's a really stupid rule. Unless of course
you want a bloody egg (and I'm being *literal* here. Bloody. Gross.)
plopping into the middle of your batter.
Badams
This treasured recipe belongs to Helen who posted it, and the accompanying
story about it, to the TNT (Tried and True) mailing list. Boy, did this
ever make me laugh remembering my own never-will-be-forgotten kitchen
disaster—when the angel food cake mix and my mixer decided to fight it out
(at HIGH speed) all over MY kitchen— aided by a tea towel....but I
digress.... :)
I asked Helen if she minded me posting it to the LU list so you all could
enjoy the recipe and get a hoot too, and she graciously consented.
Thanks Helen!
Brenda
* Exported from MasterCook *
Raspberry-Cranberry Mold
Recipe By : Very Finest Recipes, pg. 231
Serving Size : 12
Categories : Salads
Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
--first layer--
2 packages (3-oz. each) cherry jell-o
1 1/2 cup hot water
1 can (16-oz.) whole cranberries -- with juice
1 can (20-oz.) crushed pineapple -- with juice
--second layer--
1 pint sour cream
--third layer--
2 packages (3-oz. each) raspberry jell-o
1 1/2 cup hot water
2 packages (10-oz. each) sweetened frozen
-- raspberries
In our family, this Raspberry-Cranberry Mold is also known as Mom's
On-the-Ceiling-Salad (see story below). And while the original recipe
calls for using a large mold, I have found it safer (in my case) to use a
13x9x2-inch CushionAire baking pan with lid.;-) -Helen
FIRST LAYER: Mix and let set until firm, the 2 packages of cherry Jell-O,
1
1/2 cups hot water, pineapple (with juice) and cranberries (with juice).
SECOND LAYER: When above is set firm, spread with 1 pint sour cream.
THIRD LAYER: Mix the 2 packages raspberry Jell-O with 1 1/2 cups hot water
and the 2 packages frozen raspberries. Let set until the consistency of
egg whites. (The mixture sets up quickly, so you might want to check it in
about 10 minutes. -Helen) Spread over top of sour cream. Let set until
firm and cut into squares to serve. Refrigerate any leftovers.
Yield: About 12 to 15 servings.
Helen Simmons
Sooz Kirkland
One time I made a casserole called Glorious Green Beans. I made it in the
old time Corning ware casserole with the removable handles. I just took
the casserole out of the oven and the handle slipped off and ......not so
glorious green beans all over the floor.
My great grandmother had the BEST story. She was well known in her small
community for baking the best bread. Well, one day...something happened.
It turned out so bad that she walked down to the river and threw the bread
in.....and it sank.
sooz
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clbogner@juno.com
Cathleen~
LOL!!!!! That sounds like my first attempt at making a cake from
scratch! I decided that it couldn't be any harder than anything else I
had done, so I assembled the ingredients beforehand (another hard-learned
lesson
Cathleen
I'm like the others, here.... My worst was some bread I tried to make.
Only thing is, mine was opposite: I still don't know what happened - the
dough just didn't rise. But it was my first attempt, so I didn't know
anything was wrong until I took it out of the oven and my little loaf
weighed about 30 pounds and was only about 1" high.
I was going to toss it, but my dad, always trying to boost his daughter's
confidence, told me it was fine. He cut it into tiny cubes (okay, rocks),
which was challenging enough, but then, he ate them like little hard chewy
snacks over the next week.
~~C.
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Peg Baldassari
My first pie crust: could not be cut with a steak knife!
My first toffee recipe: could be cut but only with a hammer and chisel!
My exhusband helping out with chicken stock:
When I saw the bones in the colander but couldn't find the stock, he
asked, "Do you mean that 'icky' chicken water?"
My mother made breakfast for my dad during an electrical power outage - we
had a gas stove. She reached for the plastic refillable bottle of oil and
by accident picked up the plastic refillable bottle of liquid detergent.
Clean food.
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Alan Gould
When I was first married I was dying some material for curtains and used
my large pot. I thought I had washed it out very well and that night
made spaghetti. I became very upset when my new husband refused to eat
the blue pasta.
Mary Nell Gould
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Sooz Kirkland
I just remembered an incident that happened while still living at home.
My mom had made the most wonderful Manicotti for supper one night. She
browned burger and stuffed it in the pasta along with olives, cheese,
don't remember what all. It was excellent. My parents and two brothers and
I were eating dinner and really enjoying the Manicotti when my younger
brother started making faces and really chewing on something. He finally
pulled it out of his mouth and low and behold....it was a Band-Aid!!!! A
USED Band-Aid!!! My mom had a sore on her finger and had a Band-Aid on it
and apparently it had come off while stuffing the Manicottis!! You should
have heard the laughter...from everyone but Dave. He didn't find it funny
at all and he also will never ever eat Manicotti!!
sooz
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From anonymous
One year a neighbor had a Engagement party and made fortune cookies. She
put
those little rubber fingers in them. they looked like little rolled up
rubbers
in there. Do you know what I mean. LOL. You can by them by the box at
Office
Depot.
Not posting that with my name on it. LOL. You can though.
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Kelly
My first weekend after discovering the recipe lists I was all gung ho to
try out
some recipes including the Gooey Butter Cake. I mixed it up and put it in
the
oven to bake while I was preparing our main course. Well the kitchen
started
getting smoky so I checked the oven. Well that cake was cooking over the
side of the pan like you would not believe. I quickly grabbed the
aluminum
foil and put under it but of course that only prevented it from getting on
the
oven, it was burning on the foil too. I turn the exhaust fan up to full
blast and
still the smoke was horrible so I had no choice but to open the kitchen
windows.
Well I let that sucker continue to cook and smoke until it was done.
Turns out I had a brain poot and instead of using a 13 x 9 pan I put in
a jelly roll pan! The cake was good even if half cooked out of the pan!
Can't believe I did that! This cake is excellent please try it but don't
use a
jelly roll pan!
Kelly
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Dane Trethowan
This is more of a dining disaster as in it didn't happen in the kitchen
but rather in the dining room but the kitchen was the cause.
My Nanna had recently purchased some new place mats which had pictures of
various things on them and they were made of laminated plastic. My Nanna
is one of those people who believe that the plate should be as hot (if not
hotter) than the food it is being served on.
Well on this particular evening we were to enjoy my favorite dish Toad in
the Hole and Nanna was dishing up, the plates had been heated to the
oven-mits liking.
My Nanna was showing off her place mats and put all the plates complete
with food onto these. I said that I didn't think what she had done was a
good idea since these mats were made of very thin plastic, would melt etc.
I was told that I should enjoy my dinner and shut up so I did.
2 minutes later a thin line of smoke rose from someone's place mat and my
Nanna realized what was happening. She tried to remove all the plates of
food from the place mats but by then the damage had been done, the mats
were stuck to the plates.
Dane Trethowan
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"Brenda H. Alcorn"
Oh, something else...although it didn't happen in the home..but, in the
car. I was driving from the bank back to my school on my planning period
on one of the busiest roads in town and a huge muscovey duck (and they are
huge!) flew in my driver's window. I was in the left turn lane stopped
with oncoming traffic, on the phone with my husband and I started
saying.."oh, oh, oh"...and he was yelling.."are you having a wreck"..and I
kept yelling "no..there is a duck in my car!" He started with all the
questions..and I said that I would call him back..Meanwhile, the duck is
sitting on the passenger seat staring at me..and I waved and drove across
three lanes of traffic to turn right into a bank parking lot to get him
out. He then started flying..So, as I am turning, he is circling inside
the van. I parked and opened everything in the car that could be opened
and shooshed him out..trying not to hurt him. He finally flew out the
back. He seemed to be fine, although he hurt himself on his foot because
there was a little duck blood on me and feathers everywhere. When I
finally got back to school, you can imagine what I looked like! I was
late for an appointment with my principal and ran in and told her I had to
go wash up...etc..etc. We were all hysterical over that one! Anyway, I
didn't think I would ever
get the duck feathers out of the van! Oh, I did remember to call my
husband back. I'm glad I have the kind of humor where things like this
don't upset me. *S*
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