From the category archives:

Kitchen Disasters

When recipes fail

February 25, 2010

Dull winter days. Steaming hot bowls of soup. A hunk of cheese and a slice of bread makes it a meal. Wouldn’t you just love the recipe for this delicious, nutritious, palate-pleasing cold weather solution?
Well, I’m not giving it to you.
Not because I’m mean or precious. I’m withholding the recipe because my would-be fabulous creation [...]

22 comments Read the full article →

Leaky Pipes

February 22, 2010

Technically, our leak wasn’t as bad as this photo. Emotionally? I felt like I was the Dutch kid asked to stick his finger in the dike. One false move and lives would be lost, houses swept away and my name would forever be synonymous with “failure”.
Those of you who think I exaggerate forget the drama [...]

14 comments Read the full article →

Marcy Goldman’s Apple-Raspberry Patchwork Crostata

January 6, 2010

We have a tradition in our house. One of us usually kicks off the new year with a kitchen disaster. Last year, I discovered dried beans can, in fact, go stale. This year? I botched the pastry. What else?
I learned the hard way parchment paper isn’t always my friend. On the upside, I didn’t burn [...]

11 comments Read the full article →

Microwave mistakes

December 18, 2009

In the immortal words of my disaster-prone husband, “It’s okay! The fire’s out!”
Only it was my turn to bellow this comforting phrase as I doused the flaming object in running water.
Ever wonder what would happen should you soften butter in the microwave and use the foil wrapper instead of a plate? Well, wonder no longer. [...]

32 comments Read the full article →

Moroccan-Inspired Nectarine and Plum Chicken

September 24, 2009

I wish you could reproduce this recipe exactly as I made it. But you can’t. Unless you mess up your preserves like I did.
A few weeks ago, I attempted a homemade mixed-fruit ketchup. But I was so busy “multitasking” I missed the small but crucial word “EACH” in the ingredient list. Instead of adding 2 [...]

10 comments Read the full article →

Humble Pie

August 31, 2009

No photo today. I had hoped to wow you with stellar shots of what my friends dubbed the Pound of Butter Cake — a Paula Dean concoction layered with impossibly rich buttercream. And yes, the recipe takes a whole pound of butter.
As you can likely tell from the long block of text below and no [...]

14 comments Read the full article →

Smoked Paprika Beef Kebabs and The World’s Longest Barbecue Round Up

August 3, 2009

I survived World’s Longest Barbecue. My grill was left a graveyard of charred wooden skewers and guests left happy and full of delicious local food.
Now before you get on my case about nutrition, I assure you, guests brought a wide variety of fresh salads. We had a bathtub’s worth of leafy greens, fresh cut-from-the-cob corn [...]

8 comments Read the full article →

Daring Cooks – Zuni Ricotta Gnocchi

May 14, 2009

One of the hardest things about writing a food blog is coming up with ideas. I constantly walk the line between indulging my whims and keeping it real. So, for a monthly infusion of inspiration, I decided to join the Daring Cooks, the Daring Bakers’ newly launched sister challenge.
The rules are simple: Make the monthly [...]

39 comments Read the full article →

Broken

February 10, 2009

After hearing the crash, my holler and ascertaining no one was hurt, Andrew’s only comment was, “Make sure everyone understands I’m not responsible.”
Okay. For the record, Andrew’s not responsible.
Not exactly the exoneration he’s looking for. Allow me to clarify, Andrew didn’t break the dish pictured above. I did.
This is what’s left of a Corelle Livingware [...]

11 comments Read the full article →

Roasted Chickpeas

January 29, 2009

When you get a flash of genius for something like, say… caramel coated chickpeas — and can’t find a single hit on Google under the term, don’t take this as a challenge. Take this as a hint. There is a reason no one makes them. I’ve seen the evidence. Right in my kitchen.
The moisture in [...]