[PickyPrincess]

Have you ever witnessed a cooking catastrophe so epic it's forever etched in your memory? Care to spill the beans on your most embarrassing culinary fail?

Do you have a funny kitchen mishap that still makes you laugh to this day?

 

[PickyPrincess]

I am forever scarred by my attempt to make macarons. I don't know if it's because my kitchen is too hot, my house too humid or what...but after half a dozen failed attempts, I stopped. I need to see if I can dig up the pictures of my first failed batches.

 

[Wooleybooger]

Hmm, offhand I'd say a focaccia on the grill that nearly needed a saw to cut.

 

[PickyPrincess]

My MIL brought me a king ranch casserole one day to help with the cooking as my husband, her son, had just had surgery.

I took a bite and had to spit it out! She had used cinnamon instead of chile powder! She later told us she thought it tasted funny but couldn't figure out what had happened and then proceeded to get mad because we told her we had to throw it out. 😅

 

[Wooleybooger]

Another I remembered. Popovers, I made them three times from two recipes, this is the best and none of them released from the pan. It was a challenge to clean the pan.

 

[Steve-o]

No pictures (partially cuz it was a long time ago; partially cuz I want to forget it) but I made a mango pudding from scratch for an important dinner with a woman I was dating and it came out like soup. It never set. We had a laugh about it at the time but I think that's the recipe that taught me to follow the recipe at least once before I start taking liberties with it. (We dated for a while but, like the pudding, it never gelled.)

 

[Shane R]

It took me a while to get a handle on using my gas oven when I moved into my current residence. I tried to do an English roast in a dutch oven one day and that poor piece of meat ended up charcoal on the exposed surfaces. I trimmed it heavily and ended up with enough edible meat for supper but I lost about 50%.

I put part of that on it being hard to find a roast that weighs more than 1.9 lbs these days due to the high price of meat. My last meat manager used to lecture me about a package costing more than $12. I was prone to lopping off a real roast in the 3 lb. range.

 

[Old Gnome]

I no longer remember the dish, but it was one of the first meals my wife made us after we got married 37 years ago. We each took a bite and decided it was inedible. We gathered all of our spare change and went to McDonald's.

 

[PickyPrincess]

No pictures (partially cuz it was a long time ago; partially cuz I want to forget it) but I made a mango pudding from scratch for an important dinner with a woman I was dating and it came out like soup. It never set. We had a laugh about it at the time but I think that's the recipe that taught me to follow the recipe at least once before I start taking liberties with it. (We dated for a while but, like the pudding, it never gelled.)

I tried to make a mousse-like grasshopper pie and I remember it didn't set so I stuck it in the freezer and it was amazing. I wish I could find that recipe again but I guarantee I couldn't make the same mistakes again and that's exactly how I'd want it again. 😀

 

[Steve-o]

I suspect my issue had something to do with enzymes interacting with gelatin (or something like that). Oh, well. The rest of the meal went well.

 

[Colbyt]

Not my moment and she will hate me if she ever sees this post. My daughter who later became a chef cooked us a meal @ 12 or 13. Mixed up T and t for the salt. The pizza we ordered was good.

 

[Shane R]

There was a home ec requirement each year at my Jr. High. The first year was sewing and laundry and similar tasks. The second year was meal planning, budgeting, and cooking. I no longer remember her name but the teacher painstakingly drilled the cookbook abbreviations in class.

 

[Wooleybooger]

And I used to be able to remember that 3 big Ts equal 1 little t, or is it the other way around.

 

[KitchenWench]

I think I was 10 or 11 years old and decided I'd make beef stew for supper. How hard could it be? I mean I'd seen Mom make it and it was usually pretty good. (Bear in mind that beef stew is 1 of the 3 or 4 thing she can cook well) I knew she used the beef, carrots, potatoes, and onions. She cut up the vegetables and tossed them in the crock pot, and tossed the beef in something white before putting it in. So I grabbed the first white thing in a bag I saw, tossed the meat around and dumped it in.

8 hours later I found out I'd grabbed the sugar and not the flour like Mom used and I didn't brown the meat before tossing it in.

 

[Colbyt]

I think I was 10 or 11 years old and decided I'd make beef stew for supper. How hard could it be? I mean I'd seen Mom make it and it was usually pretty good. (Bear in mind that beef stew is 1 of the 3 or 4 thing she can cook well) I knew she used the beef, carrots, potatoes, and onions. She cut up the vegetables and tossed them in the crock pot, and tossed the beef in something white before putting it in. So I grabbed the first white thing in a bag I saw, tossed the meat around and dumped it in.

8 hours later I found out I'd grabbed the sugar and not the flour like Mom used and I didn't brown the meat before tossing it in.

That reminds me of probably my worst personal goof ever.

Pork chops aren't real tasty when you salt & pepper them and bread then in CX sugar.

That is why the lid to the CX sugar jar is clearly labeled.to this day.

 

[Shane R]

I think I was 10 or 11 years old and decided I'd make beef stew for supper. How hard could it be? I mean I'd seen Mom make it and it was usually pretty good. (Bear in mind that beef stew is 1 of the 3 or 4 thing she can cook well) I knew she used the beef, carrots, potatoes, and onions. She cut up the vegetables and tossed them in the crock pot, and tossed the beef in something white before putting it in. So I grabbed the first white thing in a bag I saw, tossed the meat around and dumped it in.

8 hours later I found out I'd grabbed the sugar and not the flour like Mom used and I didn't brown the meat before tossing it in.

Did it work? I could actually envision this being a Medieval recipe. Some of the cookery from that period calls for sugar in everything.

 

[KitchenWench]

Did it work? I could actually envision this being a Medieval recipe. Some of the cookery from that period calls for sugar in everything.

I don't remember if it did, but somehow I don't think so. I asked Mom and she doesn't remember either...lol

As for Medieval recipes, if you'd like I'll be happy to post some. I've got TONS of them from primary sources. Some are redacted, some aren't, and some are adapted for the modern pallet. I'd scan the original and follow that with the redaction typed out (with my notes if any about substitutions or modifications).

 

[Wooleybooger]

I don't remember if it did, but somehow I don't think so. I asked Mom and she doesn't remember either...lol

As for Medieval recipes, if you'd like I'll be happy to post some. I've got TONS of them from primary sources. Some are redacted, some aren't, and some are adapted for the modern pallet. I'd scan the original and follow that with the redaction typed out (with my notes if any about substitutions or modifications).

Please post some of you Medieval recipes. I can remember once coming across some on the internet. Don't remember what I was searching for at the time though.

 

[KitchenWench]

Be happy to! I'll grab the books and start a new thread in the Recipe Box this evening.

 

[LeonardoDaBenz]

How to cook a medieval feast: 11 recipes from the Middle Ages

Whip up a medieval feast with 11 recipes from the Middle Ages. Meat, vegetarian or vegan - we've got you covered!

www.britishmuseum.org

move this over if you like 😁