I'm so embarassed to admit this-but I will

[KristiB]

I spent all day making stock...

Put my colander in the sink to strain...

And poured my stock right down the drain!

I don't know WHAT the heck I was thinking!

Anyone else want to share their most embarrassing cooking mistakes?

Can anyone else top mine?

***hangs head in shame***

[Grace]

OMG! <shaking my head in disbelief> Poor Kristi!! I've definitely done some dumb stuff - can't think of anything off the top of my head only because it's been awhile (and I like to forget those unfortunate "incidents"! :D ), but I just want to say I'm so sorry all your time and hard work was for nothing. :mad: :(

[hockeymom]

Well, once I made stock and decided to freeze it - so I put the gallon ziplock freezer bag on the counter - NOT in a container or pot or anything - just on the counter. Well, I started pouring and of course it filled nicely for a bit and then collapsed and ran all down my cabinet fronts, inside my stove, and all over the floor.

Oh did I mention I was nine months pregnant at the time - getting down on the floor to clean that up (and it was something like 11 p.m. at night too) was no picnic!

Laurie (who feels your pain!) :o

[KristiB]

Thanks!

There's nothing I can do at this point but laugh.

And I won't make that mistake again!

Kinda like when I had flour in the mixer and turned it on high.

[kima]

I echo Grace's sentiments Kristi! That is a shame!
I used to things like that all the time when I had two little girls playing in the kitchen while I cooked (well away from the stove etc.)
I was so busy those years that I lost things, left my purse on planes and poured stock down the drain.
The scary thing is I am doing dumb things now and I don't even know it!!!:o :rolleyes: :eek:

[Aubergine]

aw, gee, kiddo, i feel for you. in fact, i think i almost made that same mistake once but caught myself in time. recently the dumbest thing i've done was to forget to put the cocoa in a chocolate coffee cake recipe.:D

[doglady8]

The dumbest thing I ever did was to open the oven door part way to take out a pan, reach in to grab it without an oven mitt, then hit the partially open door with my body which slammed the HOT door onto my arm and held it in the oven.
Needless to say, that was very painful and I still have the scars! And, there was no alcohol involved, - just a very distracted cook. Hmmm, well, maybe one glass of merlot, a la Julia Child.

Sorry to hear about your stock - all that hard work...down the drain, so to speak...

Nancy

[Cookin4Love]

Oh, man...there have been so MANY things, just starting with how many times I've nearly sliced off the end of my ring finger on my left hand with my Santoku knife, taken a hot pan out of the oven with a wet potholder, turned around to talk to someone while I was "measuring" cream into a cup (talked a little too long--cream all over everything), and dumped steaming hot pasta into a colander with the pot facing toward me so the boiling water that splashed like a tidal wave immediately soaked into my clothes. There have been several threads on the stupid stuff we do. I tried to find them (as yet another diversion to keep me from writing this stupid research paper I'm working on), but finally gave up. Did come across some interesting reading, though. :)

[PattyG]

OMG! I am literally laughing out loud at this thread! I do these things, too! I made some quick breads last week, put them in the oven, turned around and saw the eggs on the counter...um...they were supposed to be in the breads! LOL

You have to laugh at yourself when these things happen! Thanks for reminding me I'm not the only one who has these calamities! :p

[Middydd]

I've done that with stock, I've also blenderized wooden spoons and forks (more than once), smashed a plastic jar of habanero powder while shutting a drawer (we still cough if things in that drawer get too stirred up, after it happened we thought we might have to evacuate), and thickened a curry sauce with baking soda instead of cornstarch.

Then there was the time I turned a muffin pan of miniature molten chocolate cakes upside down to get them out of the pan. The chocolate was molten alright, all over my counter. Not in the centre of the cakes anymore...Ooooppss!!

[tholbrook]

If I'm making something with couscous, rice, or other small grain, there is a 99.9% chance that I'm going to spill it on the floor. Or not tighten the bottom of the blender when I'm pureeing a batch of fresh pea soup (boy, was that a mess!). I followed that disaster with setting the blender base in the sink since it was covered with green soup - and then turning the water on. Oops :rolleyes:. As you can guess, it stopped working. Fortunately for me, my DH is quite brilliant when it comes to fixing stuff, so I still have the same blender. Not kitchen related, but my cell phone has been through the washing machine (it didn't survive).

My most common mistake is not reading the recipe instructions closely enough - I usually forget to "reserve" something and either throw it out or it ends up with the rest of the recipe. I've also burned myself too many times to count. The only really bad one was when the oven had just finished its self-cleaning cycle and I decided I wanted to wipe off some stuff off the bottom. So I grabbed the heating element with my bare hand. Yes, it was still VERY, VERY hot.

My very worst kitchen-related incident was when I pulled open the top rack of the dishwasher and a chef's knife came flying out and landed IN my bare foot. Followed by a trip to the hospital for stitches and then surgery a week later. That was really a bummer. Needless to say, I'm a little more careful with my knives now.

[JanetJ]

I just got done making the Buttercrunch Lemon Cheese Bars and had a little incident in the process. I had processed the filling and was getting ready to pour it onto the hot crust. I have a smaller (5 cup?) KA food processor and it was pretty full. I decided to take the blade out before pouring and of course a ton of the filling poured out the hole in the middle onto the kitchen floor - much to the delight of the dogs. Ooops.....

[KristiB]

Originally posted by tholbrook

My very worst kitchen-related incident was when I pulled open the top rack of the dishwasher and a chef's knife came flying out and landed IN my bare foot. Followed by a trip to the hospital for stitches and then surgery a week later. That was really a bummer. Needless to say, I'm a little more careful with my knives now.

Yeah I caught a falling knife once and sliced my hand. It's best to jump out of the way and let it fall that's for sure!

[donnam]

Can you believe I made this mistake??

A few years ago, my New Year's Resolution was to learn how to cook -my family knew of this plan and consequently Xmas gifts were given accordingly - One of my gifts was a wok and a cookbook for stir-fries.

As we know, many stir fry sauces are thickened with cornstarch. Now, I knew what cornstarch was - that blue and yellow box my mom used to make shortbread cookies (and many other things). I also knew what corn MEAL was . . .but for some reason, the first few times I made stirfry dishes, I thickened the sauce with Corn MEAL . . .couldn't figure out what the substance coating the whole dish was . . .

Thankfully I have I come a long way since then!

[mbrogier]

I have asbestos hands...not because I'm used to the heat but because my fingers are covered in scar tissue. :p I HAVE chopped off the end of my finger with a Santuko knife, being on Coumadin added to the fun. I have dumped stock out of ziplock bags all over the counters and floor just like Kristi. I will try to strain something small like Orzo in a strainer with large holes. I have dodged more than one falling kitchen knife or hot liquid. I put a 1/2 cup of baking soda in brownies once, but that was when I was a kid. I also made double chocolate chip cookies by forgeting to add the flour, figuring it out while they were "baking", scraping the mixture back in the bowl and adding the flour. The molten chips made the batter chocolate. They were pretty good, actually. :D

[Kayaksoup]

I grabbed the cumin instead of the cinnamon once (my spices are alphabetised, so they are side by side). You don't want cumin flavoured cookies, trust me.
Then there was Linda vs the blender and Vindaloo sauce. You can guess who won that round:rolleyes:

YOu are so not alone. The disaster threads are everywhere. Cookin4Love, this ones for you:D
http://community.cookinglight.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=56953&highlight=disasters

[Cookin4Love]

Originally posted by Kayaksoup
YOu are so not alone. The disaster threads are everywhere. Cookin4Love, this ones for you:D
http://community.cookinglight.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=56953&highlight=disasters

Ah, yes. A walk down memory lane. I didn't think of searching with "disaster." There was another, older one I was trying to remember, but couldn't find. Perhaps when I need to waste more time when I'm supposed to be writing a paper...

:D :D :D

[tbear1923]

hmmm my worst one... I put a CUP of SALT in a cake recipe instead of a cup of refined sugar. And...... after I tasted it and found it was too salty, I remade the cake and did the same thing again!!! It wasn't until I bent down and tasted the "sugar" from my jar that I realized it was salt and not sugar....:rolleyes:

[cher48603]

How about these mishaps? (http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=9096&hl=mishaps):eek:

[Angela]

I've done tons of stupid, little things in the kitchen , but one that stands out is.... reaching into the oven for my sheet full of cookies without pot holders!! Owzers that's HOT! Luckily I didn't lose a single cookie, but all ten finger tips hurt for days.

[Terrytx]

Originally posted by JanetJ
I just got done making the Buttercrunch Lemon Cheese Bars and had a little incident in the process. I had processed the filling and was getting ready to pour it onto the hot crust. I have a smaller (5 cup?) KA food processor and it was pretty full. I decided to take the blade out before pouring and of course a ton of the filling poured out the hole in the middle onto the kitchen floor - much to the delight of the dogs. Ooops.....

I did that once when I was making a full processor full of salsa! My latest was making some bar cookies that just wouldn't get done. Opps-I forgot the flour:eek: The DH is still laughing about that.

[zackaboo]

Originally posted by tholbrook
If I'm making something with couscous, rice, or other small grain, there is a 99.9% chance that I'm going to spill it on the floor. Or not tighten the bottom of the blender when I'm pureeing a batch of fresh pea soup (boy, was that a mess!).

I had the same blender mishap just this week. My immersion blender just died so I am having to do the annoying transferring of half of the soup to the blender and proceessing until I get a new one. When I did that this week (with some fantastic black bean soup, I might add) the bottom wasn't screwed on and when I picked the blender up in a hurry, most of it went all over the floor and cabinets - much to the happiness of the dog and the excitement of my 2 year old.

I guess this has been a bad week because last night as I was cooking with some beef stock that I had in the refrigerator, I kept noticing a bad smell. Halfway through my recipe, I realized it was the beef stock, which didn't last as long as I though it would in the refrigerator! My mushroom sauce went straight in the disposal.

Better luck this coming week...

[VegasDramaQueen]

KRISTI: I can't believe you did that!! I was telling a friend a couple of days ago, about something I did last year. I roasted a pork loin roast and made the best gravy I ever made with the drippings. I put the strainer under the pot and forgot to put a bowl underneath. Just like your broth, I watched the gravy go down the sink. This is one of those things you'll talk about for years to come.

[Irene3R]

When I was younger and newly married I made a big pot of New England Clam chowder. My husband was so happy I made it because it is his favorite. Well for some reason I left it on the stove all night and didn't store it in the refrig. I don't know what I was thinking either. Well the next morning it smelled bad and I knew why. I had to throw the whole soup out. I felt so bad that I told my husband I spilled it accidentally on the floor and had to throw it out because of that. I couldn't tell him I let it go bad.
Another funny story to share (not one about cooking). One day years ago my two little boys where sitting on the floor. One was crying for his bottle and the other older one wanted juice in his cup. I was on a phone call that was aggravating me and while still on the phone I handed the baby the cup of juice and the older one the bottle. The older one just laughed but the baby looked at the cup of juice and turned it over to watch the juice go all over the floor. I couldn't believe I did that. Just wanted to share a funny memory.

[shihtzux2]

I too have made cumin (oatmeal) cookies by mistake, forgotten to add the sugar, eggs and other vital ingredients to recipes, created "white outs" with flour and the KA mixer, set potholders and kitchen towels on fire, forgotten to put the lid on the blender and otherwise burned or maimed myself with my kitchen appliances.

If I were a TV chef, I'd be entertaining to watch. I'd be Dan Aykroyd's impersonation of Julia Child (performing a self-amputation with the cleaver) or Robin Williams' Mrs. Doubtfire (whipped cream on my face or my ample bosom aflame from leaning into the gas burner).

[tholbrook]

I just did a dumb thing this morning – I was putting something away in a cabinet from above my head and knocked over something beside it. Well, it came tumbling out of the cabinet and caught me right in the mouth. Now I have a split lip and chipped front tooth. Ouch!!! Off to the dentist I go!

Seems like every time I have an “incident” in the kitchen, I have to call in the professionals (doctors, dentists, etc.).

[birdyone]

Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa - OMG - too funny! I could easily have set that one up too! FUNNY!

Elaine:D

[amiable_erin]

OMG we do share a lot in common. I like the less painful stories, but that's only because I'm squeemish (I'm sorry for everyone's stiches!)


MY WORSE - I tend to leave the stovetop on without realizing it. Once I left a pan on the stove & was gone for 10 minutes, came back, turned off stove, poured a tablespoon of olive oil in...only to CATCH THE PAN AND THE KITCHEN ON FIRE! Actually, the cabinets just had some char marks on them (luckily). :p

Remember folks, wet towel over the oil fires! I almost ruined my really nice skillet too. :(

I just saw Nigella Lawson speak & she also said she's set fire to many a kitchen...those brits and their deep frying I'm sure!

[jtoepfert100]

Nice to know I'm not alone. I've done most of these things plus some other equally frustrating things. In fact, I poured some first-time homemade chicken stock down the drain just last week. I love my cast irons pans but if I grab one more from the oven without a potholder, I'm throwing them all out! And I have an abnormal fear of any type of peeler. I have lost way too many fingernails due to those contraptions. I think DH is secretly thrilled that I'm a clutzy cook if only because I had to give up the weekly manicures (my old "gift to self" thing). My hands are so chopped up and burnt that it doesn't matter anymore. In fact, when I do get a manicure, the manicurist always looks at me in horror an tells me I should probably give up cooking.

[yorkshirepud]

Oooh KristiB, you can share the shame with me if it'll make you feel better. I did the EXACT same thing a few months ago but with the shrimp stock I made for my risotto. Down the drain it went and left me holding the shrimp shells!

Luckily, DH and I had a good laugh about it!

[tbb113]

[i] I love my cast irons pans but if I grab one more from the oven without a potholder, I'm throwing them all out! [/B]

I had the same problem. I finally bought this and I love it. I put it on the pot when I put the pot on the stove. No more burnt fingers :D
http://altura.speedera.net/ccimg.catalogcity.com/210000/213000/213050/products/6141684.jpg Here is the website (http://www.donkihote.com/catalogcity_detail.asp?num=58068) but you can probably get it somewhere local (Bed, Bath & Beyond, etc)

[mrswaz]

Thank you all for the company.

Last night I was up late working on a craft project with spray adhesive- and pretty much left everything out when I crawled into bed. This morning, as I'm busying myself in the kitchen, I find a cloud of fruit flies hovering around my bananas- yippee! Time for banana bread! (Not yippee for the fruit flies). Anyway, I make two loaves of banana bread, and as they are baking, I am cleaning up, and go to put my cooking spray away- which I'd used liberally on my pans. Um- my cooking spray was still in the cupboard. I sprayed my pans with spray adhesive.

Banana bread and pans went into the garbage. I'm glad I used my cheap metal pans instead of my stoneware.

[zackaboo]

Originally posted by jtoepfert100
And I have an abnormal fear of any type of peeler. I have lost way too many fingernails due to those contraptions

Me too Jen! :) Of course more frequently, I chop off one corner of my fingernail with my chef's knife.

[jtoepfert100]

Originally posted by tbb113


I had the same problem. I finally bought this and I love it. I put it on the pot when I put the pot on the stove. No more burnt fingers :D
http://altura.speedera.net/ccimg.catalogcity.com/210000/213000/213050/products/6141684.jpg Here is the website (http://www.donkihote.com/catalogcity_detail.asp?num=58068) but you can probably get it somewhere local (Bed, Bath & Beyond, etc)

Thanks for the tip! I think I have seen a silicone version of this somewhere but I'm not sure where. I must make a mental note to get a few of these.

zackaboo - yep - do the same with chef's knives. Especially since I got some good ones. In fact, I gave myself a bit of a manicure just last night Wonder when diagnally shaped fingernails will become the latest fashion trend?:)

[melk913]

of all of the many silly things I have done in the kitchen, among my favorites are...the time I painstakingly prepared a chocolate cake batter(for my mom's birthday)only to pour the hot water meant for a water bath into the cake pan rather than the pan it was resting in. Mom said she loved the icecream cake from Friendly's but I think she loved the story more.
This is followed by the time I used the bottle of vanilla to season my chinese food when I thought I grabbed the bottle of soy sauce.
Oh the memories!!