Disaster in the kitchen...

Today, I tried to wing it in the kitchen. Sometimes, this turns out well.
I dragged out a bunch of ingredients, mixed them together, and ended up dumping the whole thing in the trash.

Had to wonder...is there a similarity in writing? Put some junk together, mix, and either end up with a new delightful thing or want to hit the delete button so fast it makes you dizzy?

Suppose I am just feeling creative. I need to stick to writing today. Seems the kitchen is not the place for me.

It was a pie, by the way. And it was not fit for even the dog.

I think you have the right idea, Rhett. Maybe you wind up with something brilliant, but you don't know until you have mixed, cooked and tasted!

Does that ever sound familiar, Rhett. A friend recently told me about having her ‘club’ over for lunch, and she served tuna casserole. Now I love tuna salad sandwiches, but the thought of tuna in a casserole leaves me cold.

But for some ungodly reason, the other day I wanted something different, so I decided to make one. I mixed this, added that, and it looked pretty good. I even topped it with crushed potato chips.

I took one bite, chewed, and, hmmm. It wasn’t very good. I wasn’t ready to give up, so I tried another bite. Then I realized it was horrible, so I dumped it all down the garbage disposal.

And yes, I’ve done that with stories, a ghost story, in particular, that I’d started a year or so ago. The storyline is dull, so I added this and mixed in that, but it’s still not very good. I dumped it all in a file. Perhaps one day I’ll come up with the right ingredient, then I’ll try it again.

I only make two or three dishes, and while I do change the recipes now and then, they usually turn out to be eatable. I make chili, spaghetti, and meat loaf, and haven't had to toss any out yet. Anything is possible, however.

As far as writing goes, most everyone knows I did most of my professional writing as a songwriter in Nashville, and while the new crop of entertainers in country music don't know it, true songwriting is a discipline that requires quite a bit of learning, and quite a bit of practice. One of the first things you have to learn is to know when something is not good enough to finish. Sometimes, in spite of a good hook and a decent verse or chorus, the song just doesn't work, and you have to just forget about it and start a new one. I learned how to do that many years ago, and it's a practice that still stands me in good stead. I know that some of my writing is not good enough to keep, and I never have any problem cutting some it loose. Some is good but doesn't fit in, and it also has to go. I like my words, at least I like most of them, but as a general rule once I put something out there for the public it's reached a stage where I think it's a keeper, and while I never stop polishing on a story or book, I only finish the ones that I know deserve to be finished.

A lack of confidence has never been my short suit, and so I honestly think that a lot of the time I can turn a phrase reasonably well, but I do toss out a lot of ideas, and a lot of pages.

I like throwing things away. The best dress I ever made for myself almost went in the gabage can in the miidle of the night.


Now I wait until morning to think about it. Thngs look better in the daytime.

So just what happened in the middle of the night?

Rhett, did you ask the dog for his opinion before you threw that pie in the trash?

Dick Stodghill wrote:

So just what happened in the middle of the night?

Rhett, did you ask the dog for his opinion before you threw that pie in the trash?

In the middle of the night things appear more hopeless than in the daylight.
Especially sewing projects.

My wife has pneumonia. She was almost recovered, got impatient, exerted herself, and it came back full force. Now she must remain in bed while I do the housework and that includes cooking. I think she's too sick to complain about the food. Perhaps it will be an incentive to follow the doctor's advice and recover fully so she can prepare something good to eat.
I'm an expert at frying eggs. Unfortunately when I was frying an egg for each of us this morning, the yoke on hers broke.
Don't know what I'll make for supper tonight. Got to check the freezer for some frozen stuff that I can't mess up. Cooking for myself is easy. Cooking for someone else is difficult.
I just brewed a great pot of filtered coffee. That should buy some time before the cooking begins.

So sorry to hear about your wife, Abe, and hope she recovers quickly. Don't fret about the broken egg yoke. Women will happily turn a blind eye to many things as long as their men do them with love.

I couldn't help but chuckle, tho. I noticed you said 'her' egg broke. Eggs don't have 'his' and 'hers' scrolled on them.

Have you tried to make hobo dinners? They're fantastic and little clean-up.

Tear off some tin foil, enough to cover a hamburger patty with room to spare, spray it with oil, and make the patty. Place the patty in the middle of the foil, then add veggies to the top of the patty. I like onion, some sliced carrots, a sliced potato, sometimes a little cabbage. Season, then fold or tent the foil over it and place on a cookie sheet. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about an hour.

Sometimes I eat it in the foil, sometimes I put it on a plate, add salad, etc.

Thanks Brenda,
the "her yoke broke" was deliberate. Glad you saw the humor.
And thanks for the cooking tip. That means I can appear creative without my wife knowing it was suggested.

I won't tell if you won't.

That's because you never realized they weren't labeled, Marie. It's amazing how we smarten up, tho, so there's still hope for you.

The hobo dinner sounds a lot like the chicken packets I make. They turn out great every time.

The dog will eat almost anything, Dick...she drinks from the toilet and will harvest the liter box, given the opportunity. She took one sniff of the pie disaster, looked at me, and left the kitchen. Nuff said.

I think it was a mood thing, actually. Hormonal? Hm...perhaps. I notice whenever I create a disaster in the kitchen or in a storyline, I am "in one of my moods". Do men have these, too? You know...when you could easily start an argument if you were locked in room alone.

Sorry to hear your wife is ailing, Abe. There is always take-out.

Here's another version of that hobo. Put a chicken breast on the foil. Ad a spoonful of cream of mushroom soup. If you have some dried herbs around, add a sprinkle of thyme and tarragon. Fold the packet as Brenda suggested, and bake for about 45 minutes. In the meantime, heat up some instant rice. If they are available over there, just use a packet of Uncle Ben's Ready Rice - it's already cooked; you just open the pouch and nuke it for 90 seconds.

Ann

Rhett, I posted without reading yours carefully. Is your chicken packet similar to mine? I got that recipe from Mrs. Hardy - the wife of the guy with the elephant gun - and used it for my first married woman dinner party. Served it over Rice-a-Roni. It was a big hit.

Ann

Rhett, how do you make chicken packets? Ann's sound good, but how about yours?

I am fortunate in that Al likes his yoke broken. If I put an egg in the pan that breaks, it is automatically his!

Sorry to hear of your wife's distress, Abe. I hope she recovers quickly. Do you have chicken soup on hand, or know how tomake it? It's hearty, warming and well known as being a good substitute for penicillin.

My chicken packets (I have done it with a thick cut of fish, too) involve a few simple layers.

Skinless, boneless chicken breast or fish filet on bottom(lightly salted and peppered). Then, a layer of either grated mozarella or swiss cheese Layer with strips of sweet onion and red or green bell pepper on top, then pour about an ounce or two of good bottled Italian dressing over the mound.

Seal and bake...

Serve over rice or noodles.

It is important to put the cheese in the middle. If not, it sticks to the foil and you lose most of it.

We used to cook these on the grill at campouts. Very easy!

Simple and fast is best. I have gotten back into using my old slow cooker.

Not long ago, Al brought home some rather tough pork roasts. I sliced them into 'steaks' before cooking and froze them in packages suitable for a meal.

Now, I take out a package, dump it into the pot with some chicken broth or cream of chicken soup (Cream of mushroom is good, too.), set it on low and let it simmer at least 3 or 4 hours and it is tender when done. Not only that, but the 'gravy' is great over rice or noodles, and 'spuds', too.

Of course, this doesn't work for low sodium diets.

I use the 'slow cooker' for beef cuts as well, but use canned tomatoes and sliced onions to smother them with. Really yummy, and not too much fuss or standing over the stove.

A Panda walks into a restaurant and orders the special of the day.
He eats the food, gets up and shoots the waitress dead. The Hostess
runs over to the Panda and says, "What did you do that for?"
The Panda then says,"Look up 'Panda" in the dictionary,
and you will see..."
And with that, the Panda walked out of the restaurant.
The hostess then rushes to a dictionary, looks up 'Panda' and
reads..."Panda, n., mammal, eats shoots and leaves."

That's a great one, Ahad. I laughed out loud for real!