Throwback Tuesday — A promising idea ends in a kitchen disaster

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This post is from 2018. I’ve almost completely stopped trying new recipes unless they are from a place that actually tests out recipes before recommending.

These were four perfectly formed burgers.

I enjoy cooking. I like trying new things. Back in the day you could try a new recipe and be somewhat assured that it would come out. Maybe you wouldn’t like it but it would resemble what it should.

Not so much anymore. I stopped clipping recipes…mostly. If the recipe has a spice that I don’t carry, I don’t look twice. Some things are better bought like Chinese food. I can made a good stir-fry but my local take-out makes the best.

Once in a while, I’ll be intrigued with a cooking concept. It must be the writing style because the results aren’t there. The article invokes joyous times and happy people. Who doesn’t want that especially if you can get it by cooking up a meal? Who said there isn’t power in the pen?

Over the weekend I read an article about burgers. With a national holiday coming up everything is red, white and blue and food is all grilled.

There was a recipe included. The story recommended marinating hamburgers (more on that soon) for 30 minutes to 24 hours. I think of marinating as putting something into a liquid to soak up flavor. In this case you mixed the marinade in (or that’s how I read it).

I like seasoned burgers so I thought I would give it a try. I cut back on some of the liquids because it was a lot. Hamburger meat is loosey-goosey and can fall apart easily all by itself.

After I shaped the burgers which were still too wet, I put paper towels (notice the plural) on them to sop up the extra liquid. I mixed in breadcrumbs to dry it up.

At the appointed time I delivered them to the beloved husband for his magic on the grill. Ten minutes later he brought in scrambled burgers. The taste was good but there wasn’t a big piece anywhere. We ate them and had a good laugh. I learned a long time ago that it’s best to try a recipe before serving it to guests. That was reinforced.

I again resolved to stop clipping new recipes. They don’t match up to the old ones. Maybe test kitchens went the way of department stores and CD rental shops.

Want to share a kitchen disaster?

50 thoughts on “Throwback Tuesday — A promising idea ends in a kitchen disaster”

  3. Drat! I really hate recipe fails. As it turns out, I had one this weekend when I made a German chocolate birthday cake for my son. It seemed like the recipe called for a LOT of cocoa which I cut back because it really seemed too much. It turned out still too chocolately. Everyone else liked it but I couldn’t divide it up amongst the family. Don’t get me wrong, I love chocolate but too much makes it seem bitter. German chocolate shouldn’t be bitter.

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  4. At least they tasted good. I seldom try a new recipe unless I’ve already eaten it someplace else or been given it by someone I trust, because I hate putting all the work and effort into it, not to mention the money, and then not liking it, but then I’m fussy with my food and most newer popular things are inevitably too spicy for me.

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  7. Now that is something that would happen to me. I made slice-and-bake cookies once … all you have to do is peel them from the tray, put them on the cookie sheet, then set the timer – I burned every single cookie. How do you do that? My mom was a good cook/baker and I wanted to learn how to cook, but she said “if you can read a cookbook, you can cook, that’s how I learned” … that was a lie! She was critical of how I did food prep too. When she was recovering from a hip replacement, she’d eye me making salad at the countertop and say “bring the plate, knife and cukes over to the table and I’ll slice them – you’ve peeled off so much, there won’t be any cukes left by the time you’re done!” She complained I sliced tomatoes too wide … I’m not handy at all with a paring knife to this day, but it’s only me who eats the stuff I make. :)

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    • I only made slice and bake once for my granddaughters. OMG! Burned on the bottom and I make cookies all the time. I have no idea what happened. We threw the entire batch away! My mom was critical of my slicing abilities too but she was a great cook — TV worthy cook. My onions slices were never even and the tomatoes were smushed. I have learned you need a very sharp knife for both of those.

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      • I think the slice and bake cookies were sliced too thin – a mere half-minute too long in the oven and they were dark brown and not edible. I didn’t eat mine either. That’s funny about our moms being critical of our slicing abilities – yes, onions were problematic for me too. I’d always have smushed, fat slices of tomatoes from using a little kitchen paring knife. Salad prep was always a nightmare for me!

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  14. Oh Honey I could write a book…..! I remember moving into my first apartment and calling my Mom to ask her how to make a baked potato. DUH. Anyway, over the years I’ve become a lot more “user friendly” to the kitchens I’ve had and loved cooking – even became adventurous with recipes. Now that I’m ancient I spend LESS time in the kitchen or even WANTING to. I suggest going out to dinner more. I do hamburgers/hot dogs…..fried chicken…easy peasy stuff. I prefer EASY all the way around at “almost 80″…….I deserve it after surviving this long!!!!

    Hugs, Pam

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  16. Oh my gosh, I’m with you on this!! During covid our library offered cooking classes in conjunction with our health department; you drove up to the door and were handed a bag with all the dry ingredients, spices, etc that were needed. Easy right? Not so much.
    I signed up for a soup class, picked up the bag of ingredients and went my merry way. After working through the recipe at home I think I used every food measuring tool in my kitchen as well as every mixing bowl to make an unimpressive bowl of soup. I should have taken a picture, because my kitchen was a disaster, my daughter laughed herself silly.

    I’ve never signed up for another of their classes……lol

    Pauleen Driscoll

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  17. No actual disasters . . . but I have experienced lots of bad recipes on the internet and even in cookbooks! Marketing is big business, so people who have name recognition try to milk it for all its worth by publishing books, and cookbooks that are not worth the paper they are printed on.

    If I see a recipe idea that sounds promising, I search for other similar recipes to compare amounts of spices, seasonings, and liquids . . . then I cobble the info together, often with delicious results. (But not always).

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    • I usually google recipes too unless it’s an old standard. I’m packing up a lot of my cookbooks because I don’t use them. My cooking is simple and fresh. Don’t want to buy spices I use once every 5 years!

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      • I agree, Kate. My spice rack is full of my regulars and I tend to focus on those.

        That said, I have explored a couple of new-to-me jarred seasonings that I keep in the fridge once opened: gochujang (a spicy, savory, and slightly sweet Korean fermented chili paste made from red chili powder, glutinous rice, fermented soybeans, and salt), chili crisp (a spicy, savory Chinese condiment made from chili peppers, fried aromatics like garlic and onions, and other seasonings infused in oil, providing heat, crunch, and umami), and Thai red curry paste.

        I use them all the time to spice up sautéed greens (kale, collards, broccoli, cauliflower, etc.)

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  18. Yes, test kitchens are mostly a thing of the past now, other than America’s Test Kitchen, the TV show, along with professional food photography. Test kitchens are extraordinarily expensive to run for very little payback. (I managed a food photo lab/ test kitchen at one point in my past career.) They cannot begin to compete with internet influencers and cell phone images. Sad.

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    • Ah ha! That explains why so many recipes don’t turn out right. Good Housekeeping (the magazine) used to have great recipes that were thoroughly tested before printing. For this recipe the liquids they said to add were too much even with a breadcrumb binder.

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