I love to cook and most of the time I am a fairly decent cook, but I've had a lot on my mind lately and some recent efforts have been... not typical.
However, sometimes the thing you screw up ends up being pretty good. A lot of foods are salvageable, even baked goods.
I am famous for being distracted by a writing project and letting things burn on the stove. Michael said once about something I'd burned, "It's an acquired taste." Poor kid.
Of course, whenever he is being picky about eating I have a surefire method of getting him interested in food. I take a red onion and chop it up and saute it. The smell of that onion will bring him running from anywhere in the house.
I made a pumpkin pie the other day. I was watching the Georgia Bulldogs bulldoze Kentucky and I knew we would win. Makes for a not-so-fun game. So I finished folking clothes and made a pie.
My aunt Myrtle made the best pumpkin pie in the world. We always make her recipe.
above, Myrtle on the far right next to Mother
You buy a piecrust. Don't give me any crap about making your own piecrust either. (Bought are always better than mine and I've learned to live with that.) Take a bowl and mix up 1 can of pumpkin, 1 can of sweetened condensed milk, 2 eggs, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and a lot of cinnamon, ginger, cloves, etc. Bake at 425 for 15 minutes, then 350 for 35-40 minutes.
I made the pie. It smelled wonderful cooking. As soon as it had cooked I took a piece to Mom in her room. She ate it and made the appropriate noises. As I was leaving she said diplomatically, "How much cinnamon did you use?"
I stopped and thought. NONE. Dang. DANG. SHIT! I left out cinnamon. What an idiot.
But here's the thing: it was still good pie.
Michael asked me last night as he was eating the last piece, "This is good, but next time could you put in some CINNAMON?!?" Hahahaha.
Not.
So tonight I am trying to be ambitious and make roasted eggplant. When you dice it up and toss it in olive oil and garlic powder, sea salt and pepper and roast it at 325 for about 25 minutes, it ROCKS. Oh, and add parmesan for the last 5 minutes. Of course, I forgot to spray the foil. So it also sticks.
I have done that so many times my family knows automatically to carefully peel the veggies off the foil. Very tasty.
While doing that, I forgot and cooked the pasta too long.
Now, my Mamaw didn't believe in al dente macaroni. Nor do we.
Pasta needs to be SOFT, y'all. I would even say flaccid.
Flaccid is good, when it comes to pasta. Cook it 3 times what the directions on the box say.
However, I cooked these noodles until, well... when I put them in the colandar, they congealed into something like a solid mass.
So not pasta salad quality. No no no no....
However, I saved the day. I tossed the noodles with about a cup of mayonnaise and a cup of colby jack grated cheese.
Here's a tip: I always buy pre-grated cheese. Grating your own doesn't save you any money. We've studied it. It will be softer, but not necessarily better.
Michael ate a LOT of my mac & cheese. He also peeled up a good portion of eggplant and ate it.
Anyway, just because you screw something up in the kitchen, it's not the end of the world.
