Now What?

Hosted by "Designs by Gollum"
Well, today, Friday, our gracious host, Gollum asked all of her participants to post about our Foodie Friday disasters. I think this is one theme I can rise to the occasion each time. LOL

For a recipe that called for cornmeal muffins, I used grits instead. Well, now they are petrified grits muffins! They are hard!!!

Here are the cakey sugar cookies... It was a pain getting them off the pan!

The extra that no one else wanted and practically got hollowed out from getting off the pan! LOL

Michael, thank you for hosting and to those who visited, you all so rock!!! What was your foodie disaster this week?

TABLESCAPING IDEA: ("Brain is saying yellow not grits, yellow...) Don't let mistakes bother you just find an alternative. Then set the table using your successful recipe (just like I did with my "honey wheat muffins with sausage on TT's post) as the main centerpiece!

Chocolatey Trainwreck

Hosted by "Designs By Gollum"

Well, today is a little different for Gollum, she also invites pictures or stories of food disasters. Boy, do I have one for you! (Get your reading glasses on, "Brain" knows you're gonna need it if you want to read this trainwreck of a tale!)

On Sunday, March 22nd, I'm going to join Cielo of "The House in the Roses" for her cookie parade to show all of you, but since I have all thumbs when it comes to baking, it wasn't surprising that I would mess up the recipe I got from her blog!

I didn't have any bittersweet chocolate chips, so I substituted some Heath toffee bits out of a new package that hubby got from a Hershey's convention at the Phoenician Resort when he used to work there. I followed the rest of the recipe but it still looked too wet. Not thinking anything might go wrong, I refrigerated the dough for one hour and patiently waited. Fifteen minutes in, I preheated the oven to 350 degrees. After it beeped, I checked on the batter, it thickened slightly so I thought, "this must be what it's supposed to look like" and proceeded to scoop it onto a baking sheet.

Well, if you must know, I am a peeker when it comes to baking. Yes, I am that unsure about my skills! I noticed that each scoop spread out like it threatened to spill off the sheet! So when the timer beeped, I quickly grabbed it out but the suckers stuck to it like it was part of it! We managed to get them all out, and in the spirit of recycling the kids ate it up and suggested that it would make a great ice cream topper! Yeah right, but one taste and I had to agree!

I left the rest of the batter in the fridge overnight and this afternoon, I tried to make Cielo another batch using another close recipe since I still don't have any bittersweet chips. I decided not to waste what was in the fridge and added more flour to it to give it body. Well... how do you think it fared?

A big second round of "YIKES!" I don't know what happened but unlike before, I caught it a little sooner and got them out while they were still softer, scraped them all off and this is the mess I collected on a plate!
Behold, I give you... "FAILURE" COOKIES!!! (My children gave it its name, lol)

Alright, alright... All you seasoned bakers can stop laughing and give me pointers for next time instead, lol! Just to let you know, I did manage to bake a great batch for Cielo's Cookie Parade, so watch out for mine, ok?

TABLESCAPING IDEAS: (This idea was inadvertently given to me by my teen's boyfriend when he joined us for dinner last night and "Brain" loved it!) Take a picture of your failed baking adventures and frame them. During a rainy day or any time you have free, make a great batch of delish cookies, bring out the picture and set it in front of you next to a beautiful floral centerpiece and enjoy laughing at your own self while you savor your success! Doesn't that sound great? "Brain" knew you'd love it!

I love that you visited with me again... and had a good laugh at the same time. Make sure to tag along as I visit others' blogs for some trainwrecks or luxury tours over their chosen edibles!

When Flatware Flattens...

Hosted by "Between Naps on the Porch"
Thank you Susan for hosting another great Met Monday!

Have you ever been plagued with inferior flatware? I have!!! In less than one year, I went through two patterns! So this is a good Met Monday post for me to do today because I am absolutely beside myself about all of these unfortunate events over flatware! Yikes!

First, back in October 2008, just before Halloween, I was fortunate enough to find in Ross, Gibson's "Chrome Bamboo" for $38 for a service for 8. It is a very similar style to Hampton's "Bamboo Mirror" from Target that I just couldn't afford at almost $70 for a service for 8 with serving pieces. But in a month's time...

Several pieces, started to rust!!!

Then, while I waited to have these pieces reviewed and hopefully replaced by Gibson USA, I decided to take on the Cambridge pattern called "High Rise Sand" that we found from Kroger for $44 for two 20-piece boxes. Beautiful pattern isn't it? But wait, this one is also not meant to be! Why, because after three washes, yes, you are reading it right, three washes in the dishwasher, the chrome plating came off and stuck out like a thistle! Aaarrggghhh!!!


Well, after we returned the flatware back to Kroger, the lady at the Customer Service said, "you know, you may as well fork up a little more and grab the style and name you really want." We wanted some Oneida, but found no style we really agreed on, so... After a fruitless trek to the mall, we found ourselves back to Walmart, placing two boxes of 40 piece set of Hampton's "Lace" pattern in our cart.
I hope the quote, "three's a charm" work for us this time because dh and I both love this pattern and for the same price we paid for the other two patterns, we can now entertain up to sixteen (16) people! Yay, we average about that on any given month, so it all works out.

I love the graceful crisscross pattern... Just beautiful!


Ok, everyone, chant with me... "No rusting, no chipping. No rusting, no chipping..."

Happy Met Monday everybody!