Holdiay Hits: Kitchen Klutzes of America Day

Blackened vegetables (those burnt bits were once summer squash 😞).

Sometimes I think certain holidays were invented specifically with me in mind!  June 13th is Kitchen Klutzes of America Day, and I certainly have my fair share of klutzy kitchen disasters that qualify me as a member of this group.  Just last night I put a pan of vegetables in the oven to roast and, as I usually do, after they were done I left them sitting in the turned-off oven with the door open a few inches to let the residual heat evaporate some of the excess moisture.  Unfortunately, I forgot to turn off the oven when I did this, so they continued to roast, albeit very slowly.  Also unfortunately, I forgot the pan was still in the oven until several hours later.  Miraculously, they were not burned to a crisp, but they did become more like vegetable chips than roasted veggies (and were actually very tasty, but definitely not what I had in mind!).

Our beloved Gia was quite the food thief!

My most recent holiday mishap was on Thanksgiving several years ago (Thanksgiving is my least favorite holiday to cook for, because for me it is always a disaster waiting to happen!).  I do not normally make mashed potatoes for this holiday because there is always the turkey stuffing as the carb-heavy side dish, but my husband loves mashed potatoes and I decided to be nice for once and add them to the menu.  When they were done I had no counter space on which to place the pot.  I ended up having to put them on top of the refrigerator to keep them away from one of our dogs at the time, who was a shameless counter surfer and could not be trusted for even a moment.

Unfortunately, my husband decided to be helpful and fill the water and wine glasses on the table, so he opened the fridge to get out the drinks.  Our fridges sits in a cubby hole, so the potato pot was sitting on the narrow edge that sticks out.  Part of that edge is the top of the fridge door, so when my husband opened it the pot came crashing to the floor and mashed potatoes spilled everywhere.  Needless to say, we had no mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving, the counter-surfing dog got the potatoes anyway, I now have a permanently dented pot, and I will never to make mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving again!

There are several more kitchen disasters from my past that I could mention (like the frosting that wouldn't die!) and I am sure several more in my future as well, but I will spare you those details.  You can read about the kitchen calamities of a few other kitchen klutzes here.  Have you ever had a catastrophic cooking experience?  If not, then you are one lucky cook and probably deserve some sort of award! 😄