Oops

Way back when Julia Child was new to American television, she talked about how to make a proper crust on French bread. You need steam in the oven. If I'm not mistaken she put a roasting pan on the bottom of the oven, poured boiling water into it, then placed a brick that she had heated on the stove into the water. Steam arose.

I made the dough according to her recipe, used a roasting pan, poured boiling water into it, then placed something I had heated into it (I don't remember what I used, only that it was not a brick). Steam rose immediately, but I had pulled the rack that held the roasting pan halfway out, and still had to push it back. I did so, but with too much force, and the boiling water sloshed over the sides of the pan, some of it pouring onto the floor of the oven and beneath it, dousing the gas flame.

I had to take everything out of the oven in order to remove the sides and bottom, mop up the water, etc., and meanwhile the dough was becoming a giant blob as it continued to rise on the kitchen counter. No bread that day.

One does have to be careful in following recipes on TV. Julia made everything look easy.

I guess no one else here makes mistakes?

This thread isn't doing a lot for my boredom.

Eggs make interesting noises and smells when you boil them and all the water boils away. Minor explosions and brimstone smells.

I only did that once - many years ago. Put me off of hard boiled eggs for a long time.

Your favorite snack sounds delicious - sorry you burned that batch. Mention of green salsa reminds me of the first time I cooked with adobo peppers. An easy/quick toaster oven baked chimichangas recipe called for " 1 chipotle in adobo sauce (1 T minced) ". I used a blender to puree the contents of a can of adobos and put about a tablespoon of the resulting sauce in each chimichanga before baking. The chimichangas smelled and looked wonderful when removed from the oven 20 minutes later. But one bite proved them to be so spicy/hot that they were indedible, and the residual aftertaste took several rounds of toothpaste and mouthwash to neutralize. My spouse has made me vow to NEVER put adobos in ANYTHING, ever again.

Recipe - Rachael Ray Smoked Turkey Baked Chimichangas - Food Network Episode#: TM1D28
recipe here

Cooking tips I have amassed over the years:

4 cups of cooked rice is a (literally) huge difference from 4 cups of rice, cooked

Read the recipe carefully. Do not, for example, miss the direction to peel the pumpkin before mashing it and turning into pumpkin pie.

Follow the directions if you haven't made the recipe before. There is a reason why you are supposed to scrub oyster shells before using them to cradle oysters for baking. All that algae and plankton bakes, too, and you and your guest may not enjoy Eau de Dead Tidepool as a fragrance.

Do not trip while carrying a pot of boiling pasta to the sink. Especially if you are barefoot.

Raw food may be the latest fad, but putting a chicken into the oven and failing to turn it on is not the way to do it.

Ignore the kitchen timer at your own peril.

There is a reason why you are supposed to scrub oyster shells before using them to cradle oysters for baking. All that algae and plankton bakes, too, and you and your guest may not enjoy Eau de Dead Tidepool as a fragrance

I don't know about anyone else, but around here the oysters we buy also tend to have some mud on them. Washing them is crucial. Any good mistakes nutrax?

The thing was, I washed the oysters, but did not get out a brush & scrub them, as directed.

By "good mistakes" do you you mean something like accidentally using a wrong ingredient & discovering that it tasted better that way?

I usually end up scrubbing them with a brush. Otherwise the grit of the mud tends to stay on - yuck,

I was actually looking for good stories about bad mistakes. But, as this is mostly just a thread for entertainment, a story about a good mistake would be cool.