People who read this
blog, or come to the house for a nice lunch or dinner, ask if we eat like this
all of the time. No. We probably do most
of the time, and by most, I mean about 75%. The other 25% is made up of BLTs,
scrambled eggs, fruit and cheese plates, or carryout from the local barbecue
joint.
Another thing I'm
asked is if I have any failures. Oh, yeah! I just don't tell you about those.
(Here is one
exception that eventually worked
out favorably.) Last week, in fact, when I made a recipe for jambalaya, but
mistakenly halved the first part of the recipe without halving the second part,
it resulted in a sticky, gloppy, rice-filled disaster. Hello peanut butter and
saltines!
I've also had
successes that turned into failures, which brings to mind this article from the
St. Louis Post-Dispatch that ran a
few years back, and that I happened upon recently in my files. (It was actually
in the file that holds the owner's manuals for small kitchen appliances; don't
ask me how it got there.)
I have no idea how
the food editor of the Post got my
name, or learned of my blog, but when the offer came to be a featured cook in
the Food Section of the paper, I reluctantly accepted. I say reluctantly
because, largely, well, entirely, I am not a seeker of publicity; I am the
queen of the low profile, and I like it that way.
Choosing a recipe
for the feature was no easy task (and I still regret taking my own picture for
this, which resulted in my looking like a stern science teacher). I wanted
something simple, make ahead, that would plate attractively, and have a wide
appeal, so chose my salmon
cakes. I had made these
so many times that absolutely nothing go possibly go wrong. Nothing! By the
time the photographer arrived to photograph the food (and, really, I think I
could have taken the picture myself), I had them ready, cooled, plated, and
waiting for their photography session. I'd made the sauce ahead of time and, as
I do, had poured it into an icing bottle for easy and even dispersal on top of
the cakes. What I did not realize, in my rather jittery state, was that I had
put the wrong top on the icing bottle. Instead of the top with the wide
opening, used to accommodate thicker sauces, I used the pointed top that is
used for icings and glazes.
As the photographer
stood by, I pulled out the bottle to dress the salmon cakes. I squeezed gently,
ready to drizzle the sauce back and forth with great aplomb. Nothing happened.
So I squeezed again. Nothing. Once more, and kaPOW! The lid blew off, sprayed
glops of sauce onto the salmon cakes, spattering both the photographer and me
in the going. I can still see bits of it hanging from her hair. Needless to
say, I was mortified. I had to rinse and dry the salmon cakes, re-plate them,
and scrape up what remained of the sauce to then apply with a small spoon.
I don't think the
photographer, a young woman half my age, was at all amused, but we thought it
was screamingly funny, still laughing after her departure while removing bits
of sauce from the walls.
The lesson here of
course, is to not let little upsets deter you. Embrace your uniqueness and press
on!
This post is linked to:
You are one fascinating gal! Great article about you, but your back story is hilarious. I love your photo - no stern scientist, you look pretty!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun story!
ReplyDeletePattie, your post is both funny and horrifying. I have been cooking for a long time and it still upsets me when I have a failure. I need to adopt your attitude.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your recipe and story. I can't say which I enjoyed more!You are featured this week at Ivy and Elephants. Feel free to grab a featured button!
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Patti