Am It the Only One … who can’t seem to follow a recipe

By Donna Hale Chandler

I love cookbooks.  I read them as if they’re a novel of mystery and suspense.  I also enjoy trying new recipes.  (Fortunately I have a ‘better half’ that never complains, no matter how the end result looks or even tastes.)  I have good intentions when I choose a new dish to try.  I carefully read the ingredients and add them to my grocery list – the one on my phone – the one I’m not likely to lose or leave behind.

It seems with each recipe I end up missing at least one small item – usually something that I thought I had in the cupboards but when I reach for it, it’s not there.  (Has the List Gremlin branched out to stealing from the kitchen?)  I don’t allow myself to stress over such a small dash of this or that, I simply substitute something else that I suspect might be similar.

For example, I recently ran across a tasty-looking recipe for apple crisp.  It appeared easy to throw together, even had a picture of the end result.  (Yum – looked delicious).  Right off the bat I was in trouble with the flour.  I had self-rising flour and it called for all-purpose flour, “Oh well, that shouldn’t be a problem,” I said to myself as I continued to add items to the mixing bowl, thinking that if that was the only substitute I needed to make I’d be just fine.

However, it wasn’t the only substitute I made.  The recipe called for a 9 x 9 baking dish.  My dish is 8 x 8.  Again – no problem.  Cover the bottom with sliced apples, pour the batter over the apples and pop in the oven, set the timer and wait.

Do you want to guess what happens when you use self-rising flour instead of all-purpose flour and a smaller baking dish?  When the timer buzzed, I learned yet another lesson.  One I have proven by past experiences that I may never get through my thick head.  Recipes should be followed to a tee!

I opened the oven door expecting to see a nicely browned, delicious-looking apple crisp.  Instead I saw that my concoction has risen over the too-small baking dish, had spilled out over the sides where it baked onto the glass, onto the oven rack, and of course onto the bottom of the oven.  It looked like a major mess  AND it wasn’t nearly baked through.  I simply closed the door and let the whole disaster continue to bake, thinking I’ll deal with cleaning the oven  later – maybe tomorrow or even the next day.

The end result was that the apple crisp really was tasty.  It wasn’t very pretty and of course neither was the inside of my oven.  Oh well, it’s time to find another recipe to botch. (AFTER the oven is cleaned.)

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Gramps use’ta say
R.L.King2012 #363

About: Consequences

“When you desire a better ending,
seek a better beginning.”

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