OMG LOL! When making demi glace and you finally get to the straining step, be sure you strain INTO A BOWL and not in a colander in the sink.

Alexa

When heating maple syrup in the microwave, make sure to push the correct buttons for "2" minutes, not "20" minutes.

Don't turn your back on milk you're bringing to a boil!

Did colander with NO bowl once with a BIG pot of chicken stock! NOOOO!

"Did colander with NO bowl once with a BIG pot of chicken stock! NOOOO!"

But the good thing here is.... you only make that mistake ONCE!

LOLOLOLOL!

Alexa

I'm a slow learner....I've done it twice!!
And always ALWAYS taste stuff before you bake it or serve it up. I have forgotten salt in bread, sugar in pudding....subbed a jar of salsa for a jar of spaghetti sauce and subbed rotel for diced tomatoes..and mistakenly dumped chili oil instead of vanilla into the brownies.
Taste everything!!!!
Oh yeah.....and when you put some detergent and water into the pan with the stuck on food and set it back on the stove to get it out of the way.....be SURE the burner is off!!!! Burned on Barkeepers Friend and food is harder to remove than the food alone.
Linda C

When making mini pound cakes for party favors, don't forget to add in the extracts! Does not work well to try to stir it in when the cakes are partially baked!

But, what does work well is to serve leftover pound cake (sans vanilla) as cake "sandwiches" with raspberry jam between two layers of cake.

Teresa

I learned the hard way that the cinnamon bottle and the chili powder were the same size and shape, just after I added chili powder to apple pie filling. I dipped out what I could, and added the cinnamon, but found apple pie with a little bite is not really too bad. LOL My family never forgot tho!

soonergrandmom, in New Mexico they make apple pie with jalapenos in the filling! :)

/tricia

Thanks Tricia. Next time they pull my chain about the mistake, I will tell them that. (grin)

klseiverd, your telling of straining the chicken stock is my greatest fear. I stop and double-check and check again, every time I make stock. Thanks for the laugh (at your expense, I'm sorry).

Coffee beans must be ground before putting in the basket. This only happens first thing in the morning.

And with my Senseo....don't forget to close the pod container before pushing the button.....squirts hot water in your face!!!

I have made many of these little whoopsie's. But I solved the chicken stock issue by wrapping the bones et al in cheesecloth and removing the tidy package after it's done simmering. Only clear stock or broth remains!

Do remember to slash top of Artisan Bread before putting it into the oven...happened way to many times. Still edible but not pretty!

Compumom... that cheese clothe idea is BRILLIANT!!

Do remember to push the proof button on a warming drawer if you want to just proof yeast dough and not bake it at 100 degrees.

Done the chicken stock down the drain at least twice.

Don't walk away from sugar water for the hummingbird feeder. I've ruined nice pans and set off the fire alarms more times than I can count. I finally realized that since it doesn't need to boil or have that much heat for very long. I can just put the burner on high for a minute, turn it off. It dissolves more easily than I realized.

Always check to be sure the oven is empty before you turn it on. You might just have forgotten that you hid the pan of hot bacon grease in there to get it it out the way on a busy xmas morning. It is sure to alarm the entire family when the smoke detectors go off. Again!

Since I set off the detectors regularly with steam and grill pan smoke, and I did once have a small, scarey grease fire, no one knows for sure whether it is just "Mom's cooking again" or if those detectors really mean it this time! I'm being flip, and the grease fire was in the oven and took care of itself, but check the oven for hidden things.

Do put water in the bottom reservoir of the stove top expresso maker; and don't take a nap after turning the stove on high.

Don't walk away from the oven when it's on "Broil".
Family doesn't believe "just very brown....".

I agree with LindaC....taste everything!
If I had, I'd have known there wasn't any sugar in the pumpkin pie. Learn to laugh at yourself, because the family is NEVER going to let it go.

I read the "stock down the drain" thing here awhile back and it makes me check every time (so far). I agree the cheesecloth package is brilliant!! Not only to prevent the stock from ending up in sink, but also ease of removing all the stuff. Sure beats manhandling a pot of hot liquid.
Thanks Ellen!!

Deanna

When baking homemade blueberry muffins for a women's social, make sure you check to see you grabbed the right fruit out of the deep freeze---blueberries instead of the seed-filled concord grapes you were saving for making jelly. (which my mom did. Daddy said they tasted great--if you didn't mind spitting out the seeds).

When making cookies with meringue topping, don't let them sit in reach of a naughty kitty who has a sweet tooth while you answer the phone.

Other memories bubbling up, don't walk away from croutons in the toaster oven, that was a nasty little fire that almost got away from me.
Not ever going to toast coconut in the oven again, that was also a fire though not quite as scary.
I do everything in a frying pan on the stove now. I just can't be counted on not to drift away from the oven. (Its a little better now that I'm through menopause, though that probably won't last for long:)
Bought one of those small point and press fire extinguishers at BBB.

Do not de-christmas house while caramelizing onions!

maid

A lot of these "do's and don't's" are good reasons for a timer on a rope! Peppi gave me one years ago and I rely on it more and more. Especially when multi-tasking like de-Christmasing the house and yard.

Posted here this event before.

The short moral of the story:

If you try to fast thaw a frozen bread-in-a-tube (Pillsbury) by the radiator, do have a painter's telephone number ready to repaint the ceiling.

dcarch

Do open your eyes when making the morning pot of coffee and don't forget the filter before dumping the fresh ground beans in the basket. Do remember a cup of coffee with grounds in it is not appealing. Don't forget! And that is why DH makes the pot of coffee EVERY morning!

Do not rinse and fill the coffee pot, pour it into the coffee maker......then put the empty pot back in the sink

mac, I'm no longer allowed to make coffee in the mornings!