Bloopers

Balloon-Sized instead of Bite-Sized

Bloopers in the kitchen:  Mom's Goulash, Ina Garten's Puff Pastry appetizer, Queso dip, Spiced Nuts, Toasted Oatmeal Muffins, Quinoa with Coconut Milk and Veggies, just to name a few.

Not everything turns out.

We cook all the time, both of us, usually rotating whose turn it is.  

Tom makes mistakes, too, but usually doesn't classify them as such. Recently, there was an incident where 1 tablespoon of salt instead of 1 teaspoon became "I know what to do the next time I make this."

We mostly post things that we want to make again.  Sometimes things just don't work out the way we thought they would.

Like the puff pastry appetizer I made for David's birthday.  The flavors were great---soppressata salami, Gruyere cheese, and Dijon -- but impossible to cut and eat.  Later, Tom reworked it into a mini-version without the puff pastry for another birthday party.

This week it was Chef Marcus Samuelsson's Quinoa with Broccoli, Cauliflower and Toasted Coconut.  With all of these ingredients I thought it would be packed with flavor, but it was blah.

Mom's Goulash. I remember her making this --- a homemade version of hamburger helper.  Better left to memory.  

Not worth the effort

Spiced Nuts:  I thought it might be nice to have an alternative to our usual cashews to serve with drinks. I made two versions of Ina Garten's recipe.  Her way and then I made a middle eastern version.  Both were over roasted, heavy and just not worth the effort to make. And expensive. 

Toasted Oatmeal Muffins:  I thought this would be a home run.  Toasted the oatmeal. The house smelled fantastic.

Ground it up, as the recipe specified.  And then the whole thing turned into a texture and taste similar to cream of wheat. Yuk!

Never melted

Queso Dip:  This one was a real disappointment. 

We had been to a hip taco restaurant in Buffalo where they served an appetizer of melted cheese in a small cast iron pan along with tortilla chips. Everyone loved it.  All ages.  Dipping in the hot cheese was fun.  What a good and easy idea!  And I had just gotten 2 small cast iron pans from my mother-in-law's estate, so this could be THE new easy appetizer.  The cheese never melted.  I obviously chose the wrong kind of cheese.

The kitchen, for me, is a place to play and experiment --- to try new recipes and make up ones with ingredients we have on hand.  And Tom likes to "improve" every recipe he makes, with his own touches and embellishments.

I think that's how we avoid cooking becoming a chore, as I know it is for many, many people who have to put a meal on the table day in and day out.

---Barbara