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I will never again . . . (Part 4)

Darienne

By Darienne
in Food Traditions & Culture

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Darienne

Darienne

Posted
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Posted

MelissaH, any chance you would share your spreadsheet freezer inventory?  I can always use a better idea than the one I am currently using.  Thanks.

 

Darienne

 

learn, learn, learn...

 

We live in hope. 

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lindag

lindag

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I'm ashamed to admit that I have two big, bulging freezers that are totally out of control! 

Things are always falling out, and I can never find anything I need until I buy its replacement.

What's worse is that I have a Schwan's order coming next week in addition to an order of frozen dog meat and I don't know how I'm going to shove all that in too!!!  I guess I'll have to get busy in the next few days and do some serious culling.

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MelissaH

MelissaH

Posted
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Really, it's just a spreadsheet. Nothing fancy, just columns for Class, Specific, Approx Wt, How Many, Location, and Date. Everything below that is entered and modified as added or used. The advantage of the Google spreadsheet is that everyone in the house has access, and we can make changes via phone or tablet.

MelissaH

Oswego, NY

Chemist, writer, hired gun

Say this five times fast: "A big blue bucket of blue blueberries."

foodblog1 | kitchen reno | foodblog2

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ecclescake

ecclescake

Posted
Posted

Thanks to everyone who has shared their learning experiences to help preventing others from sharing the same fate and to those who have provided advice on how to prevent or mitigate said fate if the situation comes up despite that.

 

Here are a couple of mishaps that have not yet been mentioned.

 

I will never again melt some butter to grease my springform cake tin which I had lined with baking paper in said tin. I heated the cake tin for a while on the stove. I thought it was a bit strange that the butter was taking so long to melt, but it was not until I smelt the fumes of overheated non-stick coating that I realised what had happened. I had lined the tin by putting baking paper over the bottom and  locking it into place with the spring ring, this held the paper taut slightly above the bottom of the tin, thus creating a lovely insulating layer of air.

 

I will not cut with a chef's knife without a cutting board underneath, I got a lovely cut mark in my newly resurfaced table.

 

I will not leave a mug of bean cooking water (or other hot liquid) near the edge of the bench where a small person could reach it and pour scalding liquid all over his face, arm and chest (he was fine after a long lukewarm shower, but, it was quite a shock).

 

I will not turn on the stove elements of the stove my portable induction units sit on. (I read of someone else doing that on another forum, so I have taped all the stove knobs up in the off position with blue painters tape so that I, and especially my houseguests don't turn them on by mistake).

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lindag

lindag

Posted
Posted
43 minutes ago, ecclescake said:

 

 

I will not turn on the stove elements of the stove my portable induction units sit on. (I read of someone else doing that on another forum, so I have taped all the stove knobs up in the off position with blue painters tape so that I, and especially my houseguests don't turn them on by mistake).

 

I did the same thing only mine was an electric pressure cooker sitting on top of my (then) glass top range.

Went outside to get the mail or something and came in to find that I'd bumped the knob on the range and the burner under the PC was glowing hot and the pot was melting! 

 

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liuzhou

liuzhou

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Posted

My portable induction cooker has a very prominent sign warning against using it on a stove top. But I still do sometimes. I have caught myself turning the gas on underneath it more than once, then rethinking.

...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

"No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot"
Mark Twain
 

The Kitchen Scale Manifesto

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Anna N

Anna N

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36 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

My portable induction cooker has a very prominent sign warning against using it on a stove top. But I still do sometimes. I have caught myself turning the gas on underneath it more than once, then rethinking.

 When I was using  portable induction hobs on my stove I simply removed all the knobs from the stove. You may not have this option. 

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Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

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Tri2Cook

Tri2Cook

Posted
Posted
On ‎1‎/‎20‎/‎2016 at 8:48 AM, Shelby said:

You guys are making me feel terribly disorganized.  Stop it.

 

 

:P


Me too. My freezer organization system involves opening the door and saying "Huh... wonder how long that's been in there?" Or sometimes the even more scary "Huh... wonder what that is?" It's odd to me that my organization skills with my home freezer are the complete opposite of what I do at work. So to tie in with the subject at hand... I will never again publicly admit that I have no real idea as to what's going on in my home freezer. :D

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It's kinda like wrestling a gorilla... you don't stop when you're tired, you stop when the gorilla is tired.

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kayb

kayb

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Posted

...Order from Amazon at 4 a.m., after I've awaked and read a recommendation in eGullet, from my phone. I had forgotten I had put two potential candidates for cleaver purchase in my cart, waiting to hear what the recommendations were. So, I inadvertently ordered THREE cleavers, $160 worth, instead of one $25 one.

 

Discovered mistake about two-three hours later and canceled the first two, which still show "attempting to cancel" on the order status. Thank God for Amazon's excellent customer service. I can at least return them if the cancellation doesn't go through.

 

Three cleavers. Sheesh.

 

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Don't ask. Eat it.

www.kayatthekeyboard.wordpress.com

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Thanks for the Crepes

Thanks for the Crepes

Posted
Posted
15 hours ago, Anna N said:

 When I was using  portable induction hobs on my stove I simply removed all the knobs from the stove. You may not have this option. 

 

Thanks for this tip, Anna N.

 

I hardly ever use the tiny rear burner on one side of my old GE electric stove. I keep all the electric coils covered with matching white enameled burner covers when not in use. Many more times than one, after more than twenty years, I have turned on the wrong burner. It's so easy, because the pattern is weird to me. Left to right it goes: Left Front, Left Rear, Oven On/Off/Broil, Clock/Timer, Oven Temp, Right Rear, Right Front. Somehow, I have never gotten used to this configuration. I don't do it as often as when I first moved here, but it was still happening occasionally.

 

So, many thanks to Anna, I can now confidently say that I will never again scorch and crack the enamel on my good quality burner covers by turning on the left rear burner inadvertently.

 

I took the control knob, gently popped it off with a spoon handle, and stashed it in the drawer with the oven thermometer and mitts. I can always slide it back on for Thanksgiving or whenever I need it.

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> ^ . . ^ <

 

 

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Darienne

Darienne

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Posted

Interesting discussion about stove knobs.  Since our whatever-it-was stove died a few years ago, Ed has been buying second hand stoves so I've had a few.  It seems to me that every stove has a different knob pattern from the one before and I have to say that I don't like it.  So there.  O.o

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Darienne

 

learn, learn, learn...

 

We live in hope. 

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kayb

kayb

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Posted

Grab a plastic baggie filled with what I thought were bread crumbs out of the freezer and dump them in herbed butter with sauteed onions and garlic, only to discover they are graham cracker crumbs. From now on, I will check first.

 

Grrr.

 

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Don't ask. Eat it.

www.kayatthekeyboard.wordpress.com

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blue_dolphin

blue_dolphin

Posted
Posted
34 minutes ago, kayb said:

Grab a plastic baggie filled with what I thought were bread crumbs out of the freezer and dump them in herbed butter with sauteed onions and garlic, only to discover they are graham cracker crumbs. From now on, I will check first.

 

Grrr.

 

 

I can't remember if I posted this one or not but much like @kayb, I opened the freezer, grabbed 3 cubes of what I thought was sun dried tomato purée and plopped them into my sauce.  Oops.  Chipotle chile purée. Both handy to keep on hand but not interchangeable.  That was one spicy pasta dish!

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Smithy

Smithy

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I once mistook a container of frozen lemon juice for a container of frozen chicken broth.  Oh my, that was a tart pilaf.

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Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
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"Every day should be filled with something delicious, because life is too short not to spoil yourself. " -- Ling (with permission)
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Rebel Rose

Rebel Rose

Posted
Posted (edited)
On 1/31/2016 at 10:05 AM, blue_dolphin said:

 

I can't remember if I posted this one or not but much like @kayb, I opened the freezer, grabbed 3 cubes of what I thought was sun dried tomato purée and plopped them into my sauce.  Oops.  Chipotle chile purée. Both handy to keep on hand but not interchangeable.  That was one spicy pasta dish!

 

Oh Lord, I made the same mistake the first time I opened a can of chipotles. Dumped the whole thing into the chili. Inedible!

That was many years ago and I still remember it--it was a huge pot of chili so I froze it in batches and later tried to break it down and dilute with fresh ingredients and beans. But there's no recovering from a whole can of chipotles. :$

Edited by Rebel Rose (log)
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  • 2 weeks later...
JoNorvelleWalker

JoNorvelleWalker

Posted
Posted

Set the oven temperature correctly for the recipe and then neglect to turn the oven on.

 

Not a big deal ordinarily, I suppose, but I have to leave for work in not that many hours and I really would like dinner.

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Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

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Anna N

Anna N

Posted
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44 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

...mistake a rubber washing up glove for my oven glove.

That is awful. How bad is the burn?

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Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

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