Kitchen Nightmares: Another Perspective

It looms before me every day. I cannot avoid it, despite how much I try. Whenever I am forced to enter its presence, I feel a hopelessness bordering on despair. I attempt to fight my aversion with every ounce of my being. I try to make the best of it, even when it mocks me. I hear it whisper; sensing my inadequacies. ”Nice try, faker,” it hisses, “You know you can’t do it.”

I am talking about my kitchen.

Thus begins: The Kitchen, a post by The Underground Writer, which literally had me laughing until tears formed in my eyes. I recently shared a few of my kitchen mishaps that occurred within the early years of learning to cook. Often, people who know me or follow me here still think that I can do no wrong in the kitchen. For anyone still thinking such a marvelously ridiculous thing, I present to you this:

lola rugula burnt buns

I don’t make a habit of photographing my kitchen disasters but this one was so funny that I had to grab my camera. And anyone who’s toasted bread or buns under the broiler knows that there’s a very fine line between perfectly toasted and incredibly burnt. I lucked out with this particular occurrence, as I had more buns for my lamb burgers with pesto and goat cheese. They were delicious and this first batch of buns fed the birds and the squirrels.

Even though I have moments like the photo above, I still love to cook. Love it. So I’m always fascinated by people who hate it. I mean, I get it; some people just don’t like to cook. I, for one, don’t like to ski. Some people love it. I do not. But I still love to hear WHY people don’t like to cook.

Which is one of the reasons I enjoyed The Kitchen so much. The other reason is that it’s simply hysterical. Thank you to The Underground Writer for letting me share an excerpt of your work – and for everyone else, I hope you’ll read some (or all) of her other stories while you’re visiting her; she has a terrific sense of humor and also compassion.



10 thoughts on “Kitchen Nightmares: Another Perspective”

  • The stories I could tell. My own personal favourite was when I tried to make Crunchie Bars, Total disaster. And I tried it 3 times. Never again…

    • 3 times? I give you credit for that! – at least you’re persistent! 🙂 Most of my nightmares involve baking, which is why I try and stay away from it. ha!

  • I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that you took a picture of those burnt buns. I have actually served buns like that to my family because I just don’t have the gumption to try again. Once my husband said, “It’s okay. I like burnt things.” I think he is just growing used to them. Soon, my kids will assume if it’s not burnt, it’s not cooked.
    Thank you for sharing my kitchen story! I am flattered. At least SOME good is coming out of my horrible cooking…

    • I’ve burned a lot of buns in my time…along with some other things. I cried once when I over-cooked a prime rib roast and then I bought a probe thermometer and life was looking up from there on in. Best $20 I’ve ever spent. 🙂 Thanks again for letting me share your story – I’ve had precious little time to catch up lately but I always look forward to your posts! I hope you have a great weekend!

  • It is often great to enjoy a good read and to be able to laugh at the same time. I often end up with the good intention of preparing my meal then putting it a slow heat only to be distracted or engrossed in some posting or my own work, to reallise that I have the dinner on the go nearly half an hour ago……Omg! It is happening again…fortunately it is a slow cooking curry so no need to worry just yet.. I hope you have a wonderful weekend Lola and I did so enjoy this post…

    • Oh, I have a very short attention span so I’m easily distracted also. It’s amazing that I’ve not actually set something on fire yet. I’m glad you had a food laugh and hope you have a great weekend too James!

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