Your Worst Kitchen Disaster [Giveaway]
This giveaway is now closed.
UPDATE: Thank you guys so much for supporting me in this! I am so excited to announce that I won the Pampered Chef Blogger Blunder Kitchen Disaster contest – $3,5000 of Pampered Chef product and a gift card to Spa Finder. I couldn’t have done that without all of YOU.
Even though the giveaway is over now, feel free to leave a comment still if you’d like and don’t forget to read through some of the other disaster stories. There are some GREAT comments in here.
Congratulations to Jeneen for winning the Easy Brie-zy Pizza Set!
Disasters Happen Here Every Day
I say (jokingly, of course) that it’s a good thing that I was asked to share my worst “kitchen disasters” because we all know that I’m too good (I’m totally not) to have a “cooking disaster.”
Eric looks up and says “cooking disasters happen in here every day!” I am baffled, at a loss for words. WHAT? But he quickly recovers saying that by cooking disasters he means big messes.
And he is definitely right about that one, only I don’t view those as true “disasters,” just my genius creativity at work. But I will admit that I’ve never been a very tidy cook and have always felt that the only thing I hated about cooking is the cleaning up part.
My Worst Kitchen Disaster
I’m home from vacation with one day to unload the car, unpack, do laundry, settle the kids and pack myself up again before I leave for another trip, this time work related.
I come downstairs from laundry, quickly rushing to the kitchen. My mind is obviously somewhere else because I’m completely perplexed as to why the floor feels so…disgusting…and crunchy.
It takes a moment for the horrifying scene before my eyes registers with my brain. I realize that what I’m stepping on are tiny multi-colored sprinkles. And there aren’t just a few. There are a lot more than a few. A whole heckuva lot more.
Upon further inspection I find that not only has Madeline emptied several once full bottles of sprinkles onto the kitchen floor, but that she’s sitting on the counter rubbing her sweet little hands together like she’s putting on lotion…only she’s used an entire bottle of green food coloring for the job.
She must be pretty satisfied with herself because she stops rubbing those hands to flash a toothy, chubby cheek smile my way before continuing on her merry way.
The next task at hand — dumping curry powder into some concoction she’s got brewing nearby. Unfortunately, more curry makes it onto the counter than into her bowl. Which then ends up all over the seat of her pants.
At the time I’m feeling all sorts of things: annoyed, concerned, furious… that my 2 year old has figured out how to push a chair from the kitchen table over to the counter so she can get into the spice cabinet.
I’m so beside myself that I call Eric and tell him that I don’t care how tired he is, that there will be child locks on all the kitchen cabinets when I’m home from my trip.
I have too much to do still, and so I leave the mess as evidence but not before I take the chair and the bottle of curry powder away.
The only thing I can think to do is send Madeline out back in her diaper with the sprinklers on and popsicle in hand so she can wash off while I pout about my circumstances.
Payback Time
Only now months later do I realize that this is just payback for the occasion that I, as my 3 year old self, found it quite prudent to create my very first cake on the kitchen floor. Like mother, like daughter.
I think my parents must have known back then that the kitchen would be always be my most favorite room in the house, because after that disaster I certainly made many, many more.
I can only hope that Madeline will one day find the same joy in the kitchen that I do. And that maybe she’ll get a little payback of her own too.
P.S. We now have child locks on every single cabinet in the house, in or out of the reach of little hands.
P.P.S. Every word of this is the absolutely truth.
Now it’s your turn – SPILL IT – what is your worst kitchen disaster?
Were you the cause or someone else? Did it involve a recipe failure, a gigantic mess, or something else crazy? Was it a major holiday recipe disaster or more every day run of the mill disaster? DO TELL! I am so curious!
Even if you don’t have anything to share, I’d love your comment. Comments on this post count as votes on my entry in the contest.
Giveaway Prize (1 winner):
Easy Brie-zy Pizza Set (valued @ $115)
Giveaway Requirements:
- Leave a comment on this post telling me about your worst kitchen disaster.
- You may NOT enter using multiple email addresses. Automatic disqualification.
- Additional entries must leave a separate comment.
- Contest ends April 15, 2011 at 12:00 p.m. CT.
- Contest open to US States only.
- Winner will be chosen via random.org and will have 3 days to respond before disqualified and a new winner chosen.
Extra Entries:
Additional entries can be earned by doing any of the following, giving you a total of 3 entries. Leave a separate comment for each of your entries.
1. ReTweet the following message: Win a @pampered_chef Pizza Set (val. $115) and help @goodlifeeats win the Kitchen Disaster contest http://su.pr/1Kft6v #giveaway
2. Become a fan of GoodLife Eats on Facebook.
Contest Info
The Pampered Chef has asked me to share my very worst kitchen disaster with my readers in a little blogger contest. I own several Pampered Chef products and have always been happy with them so I agreed to participate. Plus, this is a good disaster story and something I’ve never shared here before.
I was not compensated for sharing my worst kitchen disaster in any way, but the winner — you need to comment on my post to help me win — winner gets $3,500 The Pampered Chef kitchen tool makeover and $125 towards SpaFinder.
To follow along with The Pampered Chef SPILL IT! Contest, “Like” their Facebook Page and share your worst story there, too (by Wednesday at noon CT) for a chance to enter this same contest.
Leigh Vandewalker says
My best kitchen disaster involved my twins, Erin and Eric. I fell asleep while they were napping- bad idea! I awoke hearing giggles- the quiet kind, like someone’s trying really hard not to laugh out loud. It was those two little gremlins “ice skating” in the kitchen. That’s what they called it anyway. What it really was amounted to two three year olds running and sliding through an entire gallon of laundry detergent that they poured out onto the kitchen floor for just this purpose. Do any of you know how hard it is to mop up that much soap?! The suds are just never-ending! One good thing, my floor had never been cleaner!
Martha Artyomenko says
Mine were probably the time I messed up a cake mix and forgot the eggs…..or when I put baking soda instead of baking powder in pancakes…..I am usually pretty careful in the kitchen, so trying to remember if there are any funny ones. One of the worst ones my mom did was when she put onions somehow in our pudding. We hated onions and when we told her they were in there, she thought we were imagining things and being picky. We ate part of it before finally showing her the onions.
Brooke says
liked on facebook.
Traci says
When am I not having a kitchen disaster? Just a few of my kitchen disasters are listed on my blog, Burnt Apple. I’ve taken a knife to the bum, had a disasterous feta cheese experience, and my most recent one? A disagreement between the fettucine sauce I was making and myself. It never seems to end, but I am determined to not give up! http://burntapple.wordpress.com/burnt/
Carrie Wolford says
After reading some of these disasters it seems as though experiences of my own I thought were horrible weren’t really so bad….my cousin; however, now she’s got a story. Her husband had been wanting some pinto beans and corn bread so she bought a bag of beans and corn bread mix to fix for him. She called her mom to get directions on how to make the beans because she’d never made dry beans before. My aunt tells her “you have to pick through the beans because there may be rocks in them and then you have to wash them because they’re dirty, then soak them….”. So Christie follows my aunt’s instructions very well. Her husband came home and they both commented on how “pretty” that pot of beans was, they ate their dinner and shortly after her husband ran to the bathroom where he sat for quite awhile. Christie calls her mom and tells her what happened “mom I just don’t understand what happened I did exactly what you said to do…” my aunt asked her to tell her what she had done…Christie said “well I picked out the rocks, I washed the beans…” My aunt says “you didn’t” Christie said “well mom you said they were dirty when things are dirty you USE SOAP” That’s right she WASHED those pinto beans with DISH SOAP!! She still says “IT WAS THE PRETTIEST POT OF BEANS I’VE EVER SEEN!!” LOL
Alexa G. says
I’m already a fan of goodlife {eats} on FB
Alexa G. says
My worst kitchen disaster so far was when I was in middle school. My sister and I used to freeze peaches and then blend them in the blender and eat them like you would apple sauce. One day during our summer vacation we put some peaches in the blender and I have no idea why but we stuck a spoon in the blender while it was on to loosen up the peaches. The flew everywhere. The kitchen was full of peaches from the ceiling fan to floor. It was a huge mess. Luckily we cleaned up the mess before my mom got home.
Amy Spicer says
I can’t think of one specific incident. Holidays always leave a messy kitchen especially when my mom and my two sisters are involved. Half the fun is getting to make the mess together!
Amy says
I am not so sure the latest misadventure in the kitchen wasn’t the worst I have ever had but the circumstances couldn’t have been worse! I had entered a Holiday Recipe Contest sponsored by our local paper. There was 6 categories so I entered 1 in each as the contest allowed. I am well known as a baker & I consider myself a fairly good cook too. I was very confident that one of my baking or sweets recipes would be choose for the contest. I was pleasantly surprised & also a little shocked when I got a call saying that the only recipe I submitted that was choose for the contest was one for a Chicken/Bacon Appetizer that has an awesome dipping sauce. I was told the date & time of the contest. I was to bring my fully prepared dish for judging. This recipe was one that I had adapted from a similar recipe I had read somewhere years before. I had made it numerous times over the years with rave reviews. A few years ago after a divorce and my long battle with MS left me unable to care for my own house I moved in with my widowed father. Living with him for the past few years I had not done the entertaining that I had done in the past. So it had been awhile since I had made this recipe.
I had purchased all of the ingredients for the recipe & did all of the prep work the night before. Because I have to conserve my energy to be able to do physical things the only thing I had left to do the morning of the contest besides getting myself ready was to broil the bacon wrapped chicken “bites” & re-warm the sauce to take to the contest. Having my own home for years & working I had the kitchen of my dreams in my own home complete with an electric oven. My father’s stove & oven worked perfectly fine but it was gas. I was so happy that I was so well organized I had myself ready to go with the exception of finish the hair “do” when I put the first tray into broil. The bites only took about 5 minutes because all you really needed to do is crisp the bacon, the chicken is already cooked. I went into the bathroom to finish up. Just as I was spraying my hair I heard an ungodly noise from the kitchen/pantry area. I rush (as fast as I can rush) towards the kitchen to be met with a wall of smoke! The noise was all of the smoke alarms in the part of the house going off. My Dad & I both made a beeline for the oven. When I opened the door the “bites” were burned black, the toothpicks that held them together were in ashes & the foil on the cookie sheet was on fire from the grease! I managed to get it out of the oven & into the sink to get the fire out but my “bites” were ruined & the house & I smelled like burnt bacon! My poor father was running franticly from smoke detector to smoke detector fanning them with a dish towel trying to get them to stop squealing!
The thought that a gas broiler might be different than my electric broiler never crossed my mind! A broiler is a broiler right? Thank Goodness that I had prepared an almost quadruple batch because I was worried that there wouldn’t be enough because I wasn’t sure how many judges there would be. After readjusting the rack in the oven a little further away from the broiler & watching them very closely I was able to broil up the rest of them perfectly but the house, me & my beautiful Christmas blouse that I really didn’t have time to change all smelled to high heaven! Needless to say my recipe won the appetizer portion of the contest & a $50 Gift Card! Another fantastic Ruben Casserole won the grand prize that day. Everyone was coming up to me to tell my how wonderful my bites were & raving about the sauce. One of the male judges came up to me & said “ This was all great food here today but I have to tell you that the only one of them that I can smell is your Chicken/Bacon Bites!” I wanted to burst out laughing & tell him that it wasn’t the bites he smelled, it was me! When the recipes & story was published in the paper I did burst out laughing. The judge wrote that he wanted to pour the dipping sauce on everything he ate that day & that he still couldn’t get the smell of the bites out of this mind! I have to say that I ended up making that recipe repeatedly over the holidays after it was announced in the paper that it had won. You can be sure that I didn’t have a repeat of the contest entry that almost wasn’t! Who knew that a semi-disaster almost missed me having a prize winning recipe! I wondered if anyone that had them over the holidays ever wondered why they didn’t experience the smell that they couldn’t get out of their heads. If they only knew!
Paradai says
A friend’s birthday was coming up and I knew he loved Pineapple Upside Down Cake. So, a coworker of mine loaned me a cute indented pineapple upside down cake pan. I had researched recipes and chose one with the best reviews and decided to try it out. I made the batter and filled with pan with the brown sugar and pineapples and poured in the batter. I had an inkling the pan was kind of too small for all the batter, but talked myself out of that. Baked my cake, and it took longer then expected, but toothpick came out clean. I had forgotten to place the cherries in the pineapples, so I pushed them in after the cake was cooked. The next day when I brought it for my friend, we cut into it and there was batter that just ooozed out! My cake didn’t cook all the way and so it ended up being inedible, but what a laugh we had with the batter just coming out and seeing the cake flatten.
Beth says
I love this, and probably shouldn’t have laughed so hard. I have a a 2 year old and I just know he got ideas from your story. Good luck. Love your recipes! Haven’t tried a bad one yet.
Jackie F. says
I don’t know how much of a full-blown disaster this is, but it was incredibly frustrating at the time. I will preface this with I definitely started making my problematic soup far too late in the day, so I was setting myself up for disaster. It had finished cooking but still needed to be pureed in the blender. I’m currently using my Gramma’s actual vintage blender, with no speed control other than “on” and “off” which is kind of touchy at times. Ideally you don’t want to fill up the blender more than halfway, and hot liquids aren’t the best for it either. So of course, at 11pm I just want to get this done and go to bed, so I decided that “hot” was a relative term and dumped some in. Needless to say, cream of broccoli ended up all over my counter, microwave, and multiple cooking utensils and their holders. At 11:15pm.
Cleaned it up and then went to dig out MY blender that is newer and has a brand new rubber seal on it. Started again with high hopes. This time, the soup leaked like crazy out the bottom of the blender all over the counter!!
This is getting long, so I’ll just leave it at, I didn’t get to bed until 12:30/1:00 that night. Ugh.
lisa h says
worst kitchen disaster: mine have been fairly minor like singeing the Thanksgiving turkey when my potholder caught on fire (I have a gas oven).
However, the one that upset me the most was when I decided to make a lemon meringue cake for my husband’s birthday. The day before I made the sponge cake layers and the lemon curd from scratch. Just before dinner I put the cake together, whipped up the meringue and preheated the broiler. The whites weren’t super stiff but more beating did not make them any better so I carefully covered the 2-layer cake and everything looked perfect!! I put the cake on a baking sheet and popped it into the oven for the required 8 minutes. Imagine my surprise when I opened the oven door and saw the upper cake layer sliding down the lower one and the meringue sliding along the baking sheet and just about to drop into the oven. So with one hand I’m pulling out the pan with a potholder and with the other I’m trying to shove everything back into place with a spatula!!. How could that have happened so quickly?? The cake looked like a kindergartener’s handiwork but at least it still tasted pretty good.Never got a photograph though. Lisa Hamilton
Chicago Cuisine Critique says
My senior year of college I started dating a guy who was as into cooking and the Food Network as much as me. I had found this great recipe from Giada for a pasta bake that I couldn’t wait to try. It was the first meal I ever cooked for him, and I realized after I took my first bite that something didn’t taste right. There was a whole lot of pepper. Came to find out I mixed a tbsp up with a cup. Yikes! Thankfully he laughed it off and ate it anyway. What a good sport! 🙂
crobinkc says
I was cooking a chicken in a pressure cooker. I don’t know how I did it, but I wound up blowing the chicken up….through the hole in the top. I found chicken in the strangest places for a long, long time! Have never used a pressure cooker again 🙂
Karen M says
My Mom helped with my kitchen disaster! My parents were coming to babysit our kids while my husband and I went out for our anniversary dinner, so I insisted on preparing dinner for my parents to have with the kids. I was trying a new soup recipe that involved blending some freshly roasted veggies, but for some reason the veggies took too long to roast and my Mom had to help finish the preparation. As I walked out the door I said, “remember not to put the blender lid on tightly when blending the hot stuff”. For some reason my Mom, who’s mother was a Home Economics teacher and taught her well, COMPLETELY forgot to put the lid on the blender! My kids thought the mess was hilarious and I was cleaning soup off of cabinets for days!!