I'm interested in knowing some of the crazy things you've done in the kitchen. (No, not that, you perv.) These could be things that happened when you were first learning to cook, bake, etc. or just learning a new technique.

I made an apple pie once and forgot to peel the apples.

Also, I forgot to add salt when canning deer meat one time...no biggie there, as I am not allowed to have a lot of salt. It turned out fine.

A few years back, I had to have kidney surgery. I could lay down or stand, but sitting was out! My hubby moved my sewing machine to the kitchen counter and I stood and made 2 quilt tops that way! One counter held the machine and the other had my cutting board! Everyone had to learn to work around them for 2 months! My kids still tease me about the time i shut down the Kitchen so I could sew! :lol: :lol: Nothing stands between me and my quilting! Ninnie in NC

My sister made a turkey once. Then called me to ask Where are the giblets? I told her they were INSIDE the turkey! She said she couldn't find them and stuffed it and it was in the oven already. She found them...AFTER the turkey was done lol

I was making pumpking pie from scratch and forgot to add the gelatin and it turned out watery. At a later time, I didn't know that you are not supposed to use hand dishwashing liquid in the dishwaher, not even a little bit. I swear, I still see bubbles coming out of it if I look very carefully.

Maria

You know what!? I did that once. I THOUGHT I looked in there good enough...Mom said, "Where's the neck and stuff?" I said, "There must've not been any with this one!"...........well, let's just pretend that was a secret to making the turkey nice and juicy!
I don't usually put stuffing in my turkeys. I make it on the stove, that's what DH likes best...and I do, too...but I put onions, carrots, celery, garlic, etc. in my turkeys before roasting. YUM! The juices have so much flavor for gravy! And, yes, each Thanksgiving I make gravy from the juices from the turkey even though it's such a no-no! Gotta watch the fat and cholesterol!

Yes, just a little goes a long way. I learned the hard way, too. I only used maybe a teaspoon since I was out of dishwasher gel....now I'm afraid to put something in the dishwasher if it's been in the sink soaking and there's been dish liquid in there!

I'm just telling all my "dumb" moments, but it's fun. My DH killed a wild turkey one time, and I had no experience with wild turkeys, not much with store bought ones at that time....and I baked it upsidedown. After it was done, I couldn't find the meat. I was upset and crying. I thought I'd baked it too long and dried up all the meat....
I've had several people tell me that that is a good way to bake a turkey because it "self-marinates" with all the juices in the bottom of the pan, and the breast doesn't get dry....I just use an oven bag these days! LOL!

I decided to make Sauerbraten once and found 3 different recipes. Unfortunately, I used parts from all three and apparently they were not compatible. It was the worst dinner I EVER made. Even DH couldn't eat it. My mouth still puckers at the thought of it.

When I was pregnant with #4, I had a really bad day and was trying to talk DH into just going out for dinner. He decided to cook. He made a pork roast, pulled it out of the oven and set it on a glass platter. He then went to heat some string beans. Instead of putting them in the microwave (come on, I'm a quilter, not a cook!), he put them in a pan and on the stove. Unfortunately, he turned on the burner under the pork roast. After a few minutes, he heard the roast sizzling. He turned off the burner, grabbed the platter and it EXPLODED!! We had glass shards imbed into the wall behind the stove, into the linoleum on the floor, and land on the countertop. The three kids and I had just walked out of the room. Don wasn't hurt, but dinner was destroyed.

We went out for dinner that night!

And insurance paid for a new floor.

Not that?!? Ummmmm...... nope... got nothin else! LOL ;-)

Shelley, my hubby did the same thing with a pan of brownies, :shock: I found glass for 6 months behind fridge, stove, cabinets.

Well let's see when I got married 34 years ago I did not know how to cook. I would boil eggs and forget them and they would explode and decorate the ceilling.
I tried to make biscuits and they were so bad the dog wouldn't even eat them. My DH would tell people you could bounce them off the wall.
My prowess in the kitchen was so well known by my BILs that they would bring food with them when they came so they wouldn't have to eat my cooking!!! They were young when we got married so I kinda helped raise the younger 4 so I got teased alot.
My youngest BIL was 7 and he would eat anything I made even if it was burnt!

I did learn to cook and even cooked for a daycare I worked at so I do cook from scratch 30 years later and I do some baking.

I also have a mental block when I bake cookies. I can make the best trays of cookies until I get to the last tray or two and I burn them every time!!!

I have gotten so I put part of the dough in the freezer and bake it as needed and I don't burn it as often but I still do sometimes!

I had everything cut up and waiting in individual serving dishes on the counter for tacos, and we eat a super supreme taco. When reaching in the cabinet above to get a plate, I dropped it, and it broke all over in the food! I had to start all over again!

I did the giblet thing the first time I made Thanksgiving dinner. I was so embarrassed. :oops: :oops: :oops: My husband teased me soooo much. That was til his mom told him if he knew it all he could make the turkey next year. I really loved that lady.

Made a cake tonight and the darn thing ran over the side of the pan and into the oven. The only thing I can think of is that the new stand mixer fluffed up the dough too much. Yikes! Now the whole house stinks because I have to run the self-cleaning function on the oven. grrrr.

I think I give up housework all together and stick to quilting.

I used to cook for a daycare and had large professional ovens. I decided to try to make a lemon desert bar and you had to bake it. It took vinegar and baking soda. I went to check on it and all I could see was yellow clouds of dough in this oven that was probably 3' x 3'. There was batter dripping off the top and when it began to subside the whole oven was a great big sticky mess!!! I apparently had used the wrong amounts!! It was like a volcano blew up in there!

This isn't from learning anything new,except that I did. I never knew that potatoes could explode until one did - in my brand NEW oven! I guess it just couldn't take the heat. I had poked it as usual. Now I know why people wrap them in foil. What a mess! Dinner was delayed and I will use the microwave on potatoes from now on!

I didn't know that either. Thanks for the heads up.

When I first started to cook I decided to make home made biscuits, I mixed the flour, baking powder, salt, shortening and milk together. Then I rolled them out and baked them. I was so proud of them that I took some to my mother. She said, "oh, you brought me some cookies". I told her they were biscuits not cookies, I had rolled them too thin. I now make a pretty good home made biscuit, and they don't get mistaken for cookies anymore.

I always stab my potatoes to death, so hubby says. Then sprinkle with sea salt and pepper and toss in oven. Never had one explode. Had it happen in microwave when I forgot to stab one to death lol

My parents remodeled my childhood home when I was growing up. All of my dad's friends would come over and help and my mom and I cooked meals for them. One evening we made a gigantic pot of beef stew to serve. Somehow a large cricket had landed in the stew and boiled for a while. It turned bright red like a lobster. Mom and I were horrified, but we ladled the cricket out and served the stew. Needless to say, my mom and I filled up on salad and cornbread! We still laugh about "Cricket Stew."

When we were first married we had no stove just an electric skillet and a coffee percolator electric. So I decided to make DH some pancakes but got the big idea to make one big one. Needless to say it didn't get done in the middle and he still kids me about it after 45 years.LOL There have been a lot of mistakes since then too.

I sometimes bake potatoes in foil in the oven. We slice them and place butter between the slices.Then put in foil salt and close the foil Put the foil wrapped potatoes in a pan so it won't drip on your oven.

This is a favorite of ours and you don't get the exploding potatoes. Yes I have had potatoes explode but I still much prefer oven baked potatoes they just taste better.

I made a pecan pie but accidentally used molasses instead of corn syrup. Yeeccch! My wonderful husband felt so sorry for me that he made me another pie, and he had never made a pie before.

Rhonda,

Sorry, My DH got me a new laptop and I'm still negotiating my way around it.
Anyway, Rhonda, I seem to usually forget the last tray or 2. I just figure that's my offering to the Oven Gods. LOL

Sorry, My DH got me a new laptop and I'm still negotiating my way around it.
Anyway, Rhonda, I seem to usually forget the last tray or 2. I just figure that's my offering to the Oven Gods. LOL

I had a recipe for Beef And Noodles I wanted to try. The roast was to cook for a couple hours, then shred it, add the noodles, simmer for a while, add spices,then serve.
Everything was going great, smelled wonderful, everyone could hardly wait. Then I added the spices one of which was cloves. The smell immediately changed to the strong odor of cloves. Everyone gamely tried to eat it, but it was AWFUL!
Needless to say, we threw it out, and I haven't tried that recipe again.

If i catch the cookies before they get too bad my mom will eat them. She likes things darker and more done than I do. I like my cookies between crispy and chewy.

But if I really burn them....they get thrown out! Once in awhile I let the dogs have them but I don't give my dogs table food very often as it really isn't good for them.

Good to know I am not alone!!! Thanks Julie!

Oh, Rhonda and Julie, I'm kin! I always burn the last tray of cookies for some reason. Luckily Roy likes things burned. lol lol

I tried to make pear jam once. My SIL had a pear tree in her yard and she sent me pears, pears, pears. Well, I'd make jellies and jams with my mom for years starting at about 9 or 10 yo. I was tired from work and quartered the pears, seeded them, then put them in the pan with sugar, pectin, fruit fresh, etc. etc. I grew up with natural gas. Electric is NOT a good pan to have to try to make jellies and jams, especially if you're tired from 10 hours of work. Have you ever had a pan burned so badly that you couldn't chisel the crud off? :oops:

I did get a new set of pots and new drip pans the next day though. No pear jam and I never let her send me that many pears again. I gag when I see the pear jam in the stores even. :x

I also grew up making jams and jellies and butchering chickens and home canning.

I don't do any of it anymore except for my favorite sweet pickles because you can't buy them. The recipe was handed down through the family and I won't do without them if I can help it.

I figure it takes less time to buy it than to can it and for most things that is just fine with me. I got tired of all the work!! My daughter is really into home canning everything and she shares! They even make their own salsa and merinara sauce and beef stew and ...... She is reallly hung up on serving her family food without all the salt and preservatives.

I tried making my own ketchup once .. it was ok but it wasn't to my taste and I never got it to taste the way i wanted so I never kept on trying.


I'd rather be quilting than canning any day!!!!

I just talked with my sister to find out what I did wrong with the cake (it is her recipe) The cake tastes OK but it is a little dry and has the wrong texture. DH was listening in on the conversation (while eating a second helping of cake). His contribution: Oh, you mean it's not supposed to feel like a sea sponge?

What a brat.

My most famous disaster: My daughter was pregnant and we were having a small, family baby shower at my house. Lots of people I didn't know. Anyway, my MIL, who used to cater meals as well as cook in a school, gave me a recipe for punch. You used jello, fruit drinks and sherbet. Good stuff, right? Well, what she didn't tell me was that I needed to dissolve the jello FIRST. That punch was really nasty...my MIL thought it was just hilarious but at the time it wasn't a bit funny to me! :oops: :oops:

OH MY GOSH!!!! Did you ever make me bring up a secret I have only told a few close people :oops: When I was 17 first year of marriage,I didn't know anything about cooking except how to fry chicken,eggs and make mashed potatoes. I had bought a beef roast don't remember what kind but I believe it was a bottom round kinda looked like that. :lol: :lol: As best as I can remember. Anyways I ask my next door neighbor how to cook it and she said put it on the top rack of your oven and set the oven on 300 degrees baste it ever so often.
OH MY GOSH :lol: :lol: :lol: I did just that I put the roast on the top rack without putting it in a pan. :oops: :shock: :lol: It started smoking of course. I got it out, had a small fire, common sense took over even for this dumb 17 yr.old. turned oven off shut its door until it cooled. Cleaned up the mess and now the whole world knows about it. But never,never,never even told my DD's or DH. :lol: :lol:
BillsBonBon

Well, I won't tell, if you won't!! :lol: :lol: :lol:

See there!? This thread makes us all feel better because we now know everyone else has done something silly or had a bad experience! I've made a lot of mistakes. You know what I did one time? I had a brain freeze and decided to heat my water, then add eggs to boil for potato salad....UM>>>>they cracked open, boiled out, and were ruined! I guess I forgot how to boil eggs and thought they were pasta or something. Good grief!

Right before I got married in 1975 I was 18 and my future sil was 16. We decided to make gravy. I had never made it but my sil said she knew how. We made it all right it was so stiff you could stand a knife up in it and it did not fall over!! And we had no idea how to fix it!!
This is the time in my life when my bils always brought food with them as they had suffered through some of my cooking!!

My mil taught me to make gravy a few months later and she always used this huge huge wrought iron (2 1/2 ft wide)skillet because she usually fed anywhere from 10 - 20 at any given time(big family) Well as I reached over this huge skillet I managed to burn myself. Mil still teases me about when I learned to make gravy.

This might be rather lengthy, but here goes. I was about 23 or 24 and knew how to cook. One day I decided to make Gumbo. Had all the ingredients cooking away. Smelled good so far. Added the shrimp and things began to smell bad. I went ahead and cooked it, but also cooked some chicken just in case. Well, when the Gumbo had cooked the amount of time the recipe specified, it smell to high Heaven. I had a big pot of it. I put a little bit in a bowl and put it on the landing for the outside cats. One of them came up the steps, took a whiff and flew back down. None of the others would even come close. We finally decided the shrimp was bad. To this day I can not stand Gumbo.