I will never again . . . (Part 3)

[miladyinsanity]

I keep a cup of water around to stick in the probe once I take it out of the pot.

So far, I've not tried to clean it with my fingers yet.

So far.

←

But the fresh caramel is just so tempting! The burn mark on my thumb, and the blister on my middle finger will remind me that temptation can be a bad thing...

And I have more than 300 papers to mark still...It hurts just holding a pen! (typing isn't much better...oh the pain I will endure for eGullet... )

←

Well...If you gotta, you gotta.

I think mine's a different kind of thermometer from yours. It's like this one. So I'd rest it, face down, until the caramel cools.

[prasantrin]

Well...If you gotta, you gotta.

I think mine's a different kind of thermometer from yours. It's like this one. So I'd rest it, face down, until the caramel cools.

←

Mine is like this one. If I rest it, the caramel stuck to it gets wasted, and at the time I thought that was a bad thing.

[miladyinsanity]

Well...If you gotta, you gotta.

I think mine's a different kind of thermometer from yours. It's like this one. So I'd rest it, face down, until the caramel cools.

←

Mine is like this one. If I rest it, the caramel stuck to it gets wasted, and at the time I thought that was a bad thing.

←

That's what I thought.

Wait, is the end that goes into the caramel, is it stiff enough to rest across a cup/bowl? Then you could have your caramel and eat it too.

The caramel tastes best when it's just cool enough to eat.

[sazji]

I poured a whole carton of vanilla flavored soy milk into my beef soup. The recipe called for regular, plain soy milk. I tasted the soup and just couldn't quite figure out where the gross sweetness was coming from. And then...it hit me! OOPS!

←

I was at a music camp in rural New England once; since the theme was Greek music and dance, they wanted tzatziki. They gave the recipe to the kitchen staff. The tzatziki was the most bizarre awful thing - they had used sweet vanilla-flavored yogurt.

So my stupid one today is: I had cooked some sausage in a cast-iron pan the other day, on my heating stove (it's a cookstove type). The fat had congealed and as my hot water wasn't ready yet I just put the pan on the stove to warm it, to make it easier to wash. As I was sitting here engrossed in Dometic Goddes' Korean foodblog I became vaguely aware of a smoky smell, but what really made me aware of it was a sudden flash of light as it ignited. Luckily there wasn't really anything handy around to burn, as I didn't have a potholder near me (hehe I've grabbed hot-from-the-oven cast iron pans enough times not to fall for that one!); I had to run to the kitchen to grab a towel and a metal tray to cover the pan. No harm done in the end but nothing like a grease fire in your living room to get the old adrenaline rushing. Sorry, no pictures this time.

[miladyinsanity]

I poured a whole carton of vanilla flavored soy milk into my beef soup. The recipe called for regular, plain soy milk. I tasted the soup and just couldn't quite figure out where the gross sweetness was coming from. And then...it hit me! OOPS!

←

I was at a music camp in rural New England once; since the theme was Greek music and dance, they wanted tzatziki. They gave the recipe to the kitchen staff. The tzatziki was the most bizarre awful thing - they had used sweet vanilla-flavored yogurt.

So my stupid one today is: I had cooked some sausage in a cast-iron pan the other day, on my heating stove (it's a cookstove type). The fat had congealed and as my hot water wasn't ready yet I just put the pan on the stove to warm it, to make it easier to wash. As I was sitting here engrossed in Dometic Goddes' Korean foodblog I became vaguely aware of a smoky smell, but what really made me aware of it was a sudden flash of light as it ignited. Luckily there wasn't really anything handy around to burn, as I didn't have a potholder near me (hehe I've grabbed hot-from-the-oven cast iron pans enough times not to fall for that one!); I had to run to the kitchen to grab a towel and a metal tray to cover the pan. No harm done in the end but nothing like a grease fire in your living room to get the old adrenaline rushing. Sorry, no pictures this time.

←

Might have made a great vid to put on YouTube.

I'm glad no one got hurt though.

[The Blissful Glutton]

I will never accidentally use wax paper instead of parchment paper while baking. The boxes looked so similar!

[DCP]

I will never again skip getting out the cutting board in laziness to halve a chunk of soft sourdough... against my hand. The bleeding didn't stop for half an hour. Such an idiot.

[sazji]

I will never accidentally use wax paper instead of parchment paper while baking. The boxes looked so similar!

←

I used to do that all the time (for cakes etc.). What happened?

[Kouign Aman]

I will never again assume that the face-cover on the thermometer is glass. Stuck the probe in the bird, closed the oven. Came back in 10 min to check temp - smooth now-opaque-white blob of plastic melting off the face and heading for my bird! Got it out of the bird in time, and let it blop onto the cutting board. Oh my.

[The Blissful Glutton]

I will never accidentally use wax paper instead of parchment paper while baking. The boxes looked so similar!

←

I used to do that all the time (for cakes etc.). What happened?

←

I am glad I am not alone! I was making some pizzas on my stone and noticed the strong smell of melting wax permeating the kitchen. I ran to the oven and the wax paper had adhered itself to everything. I had to throw out the stone and pizzas!

[GreekCook]

I had just finished frying a couple of potatoes and decided to save the oil. I had a nice glass jar and poured the extremely hot oil into it(it was the middle of winter!!!) you can guess the rest,the jar exploded and there was oil everywhere, luckily I got away with a few minor burns.

The stupid thing is that I KNOW you never pour anything hor into a cold glass container it was just a typical "blonde"moment

[Domestic Goddess]

I poured a whole carton of vanilla flavored soy milk into my beef soup. The recipe called for regular, plain soy milk. I tasted the soup and just couldn't quite figure out where the gross sweetness was coming from. And then...it hit me! OOPS!

←

So my stupid one today is: I had cooked some sausage in a cast-iron pan the other day, on my heating stove (it's a cookstove type). The fat had congealed and as my hot water wasn't ready yet I just put the pan on the stove to warm it, to make it easier to wash. As I was sitting here engrossed in Dometic Goddes' Korean foodblog I became vaguely aware of a smoky smell, but what really made me aware of it was a sudden flash of light as it ignited. Luckily there wasn't really anything handy around to burn, as I didn't have a potholder near me (hehe I've grabbed hot-from-the-oven cast iron pans enough times not to fall for that one!); I had to run to the kitchen to grab a towel and a metal tray to cover the pan. No harm done in the end but nothing like a grease fire in your living room to get the old adrenaline rushing. Sorry, no pictures this time.

←

I take no responsibility for that.

[GTO]

I will never again...

Neglect to check my ribbons of pickled carrot before eating. Being ribbons, spices and such get hidden away amongst them. So today, I was in mid-lunch and then, I ate a clove.

[Jon Savage]

Sliced a block of lard held in my hand I remember thinking as I was slicing into it that this was not the brightest idea in the world.

Dinner prep resumed several hours (and some sutures later).

It has been 20 years since then.... thankfully I still have not managed to top that one.

[Chris Amirault]

Is the oil smoking madly? If so, don't insert that vintage blown-glass oil/candy thermometer that maxes out at 400F. They blow up real good.

[DCP]

I will never again...

Neglect to check my ribbons of pickled carrot before eating. Being ribbons, spices and such get hidden away amongst them. So today, I was in mid-lunch and then, I ate a clove.

←

This reminds me of one I conveniently forgot: I will never again...

Use my mother's tiny (~2") porcelain mortar and pestle (normally for pill crushing, I suppose) to attempt grinding whole cloves when out of the pre-ground variety. Worked on it for a solid half-hour, before calling what I had 'good enough'. People liked the pumpkin spice cheesecake, but everyone got (and pointed out) at least one larger chunk of clove in their crust!

[jbh]

Last night I reduced "chillable red." I made a passable imitation of grape jelly, which of course wasn't the goal....

[sazji]

Is the oil smoking madly? If so, don't insert that vintage blown-glass oil/candy thermometer that maxes out at 400F. They blow up real good.

←

...I would have liked to have been a fly on the wall the day you learned that!

Lately my only really dumb thing has been "catching up on other little kitchen tasks while waiting for milk to heat for morning coffee." Just as I'm putting the last cup back on the rack, I find myself thinking, "hmmmstrangefizzingsoundwhatisit...." and by the time I turn around to find the source, it's followed by the sputtering of milk hitting a hot burner. I'm not sure if this belongs here, as the header is, after all, "I will never again," and I've done it three times in the last two weeks. Something about my early morning pre-coffee state-of-awreness I guess. Or a simple case of what one of my friends calls "Alzheimer's Lite."

[DCP]

Or a simple case of what one of my friends calls "Alzheimer's Lite." 

←

My family has taken to calling that state 'some-timers'.

[judiu]

Or a simple case of what one of my friends calls "Alzheimer's Lite." 

←

My family has taken to calling that state 'some-timers'.

←

Me, too!

[lexy]

… stem and de-seed hot peppers, and then apply eye makeup. Mmm, tingly

[GTO]

I never got the one about guys and taking a pee after chopping chilis. I can see where the potential problem lies but I for one, don't go poking "in" and "around" "there" when I'm done.

[hummingbirdkiss]

I will never again forget to pierce an eggplant before roasting whole it in the oven .....

it sounded like a gun went off in there! and the aggplant was MIA!!!

Edited March 30, 2007 by hummingbirdkiss (log)

[Domestic Goddess]

Ha ha ha... this happened to my eggplant that I roasted over my gas burner. it exploded, spraying me with eggplant bits all over.

[sazji]

Ha ha ha... this happened to my eggplant that I roasted over my gas burner. it exploded, spraying me with eggplant bits all over.

←

Heheh...here there's a built-in prevention mechanism for those who speak Turkish - the name, "patlıcan" is associated with the word "patlamak," to explode. I'm not sure this prevents all incidents of eggplant bombing though...