I thought it would be fun to share some of my cooking adventures that have kept my family laughing over the years; most ending up with us ordering pizza or going out to eat (yes out of desperation to get something edible).
- I bought chicken with some sort of filling from the butcher. I put these little bundles in the oven, started the rice and veggies in hopes to get all the ingredients for a lovely dinner ready for my dear husband to come home from work. I peered in the oven and the chicken was glistening. My dear children were ready for dinner, I had the table set and waited for my husband and children to regal me with kudos for a dinner well made. Instead my husband came home and asked why the house smelled like melting plastic. He went around the house searching for the melting plastic until he came back to the kitchen. He opened the oven door to see the beautifully browned chicken breasts. I had left the plastic on the chicken and melted the plastic all over our dinner.
- I made meatloaf that even my Irish Setter, who ate everything, wouldn't eat the meatloaf we couldn't eat. He walked away.
-I forgot I had potatoes boiling in the kitchen (lets say it took a while for that burnt potato smell to go away - I even had to toss the pot)
-More than I can mention: I have made so many dishes that I couldn't serve to my patient family or where my family tastes these dishes and nicely suggest that we order pizza in which I heartedly agree!!!
- I have burnt, over salted, under salted, forgotten ingredients, undercooked, over cooked many a recipe that I can't even count. I have always had a sense of humor about these adventures and I can't tell you how many times I have laughed with my family on how "bad" my dishes can turn out. Those mistakes taught me so much!
A little note about my grandmother. When she was 17 she moved to Paris to work for a family. The woman of the house told my grandmother she would have to cook for the family. My grandmother was terrified. The woman gave her a cook book and left my grandmother alone in the kitchen not because she was being mean but because she believed my grandmother could learn to cook. My grandmother always spoke kindly about that family. I am sure she made many an awful dish for that family on her road to becoming a great home cook!
Life is too short to take things so seriously. I have found we learn by our mistakes and laughing a little along the way can make any journey so much more fun.
Dinner at my house: Dorie Greenspan's Asparagus Soup and a crostini of red pepper, goat cheese and capers.
It's amazing how Dorie Greenspan can take simple ingredients of asparagus, water, butter, creme fresh, onion, shallots, leeks, salt and pepper that brings spring to your table in this delicate Asparagus soup.
The other part of our dinner: I had left over herbed goat cheese and toasted french bread that needed to be used up and not many people to cook for (only two tonight).
I don't have a set recipe so here it goes:
- I took 1/2 a red and yellow pepper (seeds removed) sliced thin.
- Saute slowly in a bit of olive oil (it took about 15 minutes),
-I added a small pinch of sugar and 1 tablespoon rinsed capers and saute it about 5 minutes more.
-Add a bit of salt/pepper (to your taste).
-At this point add 1 to 2 Tablespoons thinly sliced basil and mix.
- Spread a nice amount of herbed goat cheese on your toasted french bread.
-top goat cheese with pepper mixture.
- If needed add a small amount of fleur de sel to top of your crostini
Lovely dinner and stories. Yes, I think we all have stories like that to recount. As long as you can look back at them with a healthy dose of humor, its all good :-)
ReplyDeleteso true... it's all good! :o)
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