Nothing quite puts me in a foul mood like putting time, energy and money into a new recipe, only to toss the disgusting thing out.
I’m always craving a good chicken pot pie. The other day, I decided to try a Campbell’s Soup recipe I found online. I decided to be brave, but it was billed as an “ultimate chicken pot pie” that called for cheddar cheese. Cheese makes everything better, right?
Except for the flavor of the cheese, the recipe was fine. However, the refrigerated pie crust I used was just horrible.
My husband and youngest son were at work and the youngest daughter was napping upstairs.
I texted the three of them at 7:34 p.m.: “I made chicken pot pie. It’s kinda terrible.”
An hour later, I decided that I just couldn’t feed anyone else this thing and moved it from the fridge to the trash can.
A similar thing happened a couple of weeks ago when I decided I wanted waffles and scrambled eggs for dinner. I had kindly left myself a half cup of boxed waffle mix. What was I supposed to do with that?
Determined to still have waffles, I searched online for a recipe with good reviews. I picked one from a well-known site with great reviews.
It was like eating cardboard. Frustrated, I still served the waffles that were totally lacking in flavor to my daughter and myself and drowned them in butter and wannabe maple syrup.
Looking back at the reviews, I saw that most people who gave it a good rating said, “It was a great recipe, but I changed this and I added this.”
I wouldn’t rate any recipe as good if it’s lacking something.
And since I was multitasking to cook the next day’s dinner, I used the psycho stove burner to cook the scrambled eggs. Doesn’t everyone have one burner that has two settings, low and super-hot? The eggs weren’t awful, but they were overcooked. I added more cheese and they were fine.
It’s days like these where I am certain I am an awful cook.
I do have my good days. The days where I can cook a good pork chop between the thin line of underdone and dry.
My husband has a favorite keto chicken recipe that I can normally cook without messing up. There’s a cheeseburger soup that I can usually not goof up.
But my best – maybe only – recipe that I can … knock on wood … cook well consistently is meatloaf. In addition to the usual ingredients, my meatloaf recipe calls for milk, onion and green pepper. Normally, the only criticism I get, from the husband, is that the edges aren’t crispy.
Speaking of recipes with ground beef, I made Salisbury steak for the first time last month. It was good but my husband assured me it was not Salisbury steak, despite what the recipe said. The problem, he speculated, was my choice of meat and the little bit of ketchup the recipe called for. It tasted great to me but I will admit the color of the reddish “gravy” was a little odd.
Speaking of recipes: The Leader’s Holiday Recipe Contest is underway! It’s open to home cooks of any age throughout Jefferson County, Eureka and Wildwood. For this contest, we want your recipes. Believe me, you don’t want anything I could come up with.
Recipes that are family favorites, recipes that use ingredients in novel ways or that have a history or story attached are preferred.
Recipes taken directly from websites or cooking shows will not score well.
Entries will be accepted until 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 3.
Recipes may be entered into five categories: Appetizer, soup, salad, side dish and dessert. Readers are welcome to submit a recipe in any or all the categories, up to a maximum of five entries per reader.
To be eligible for the contest, entries must include the following information:
■ The submitter’s full name and address.
■ A daytime telephone number.
■ Complete instructions for the recipe.
■ The category in which the recipe is submitted.
■ Any information about where the recipe came from and why it’s special.
Judges will choose the top recipe in each category to win $50 cash. Those five recipes will be prepared and served by the Jefferson College’s Culinary Arts Department at the Leader Holiday Dinner on Friday, Dec. 1, where diners will vote for their favorite of the five dishes, and that winner will receive an additional $250.
The dinner will be held on the first floor of the Jefferson College Student Center, 1000 Viking Drive, in Hillsboro. Doors open at 5:30 p.m., and dinner is served at 6:30 p.m. The dinner benefits the Culinary Arts Department.
Tickets are $25 a person and include a six-course meal, live music, food demonstrations and a chance to sample and buy the college culinary department’s infused vinaigrettes.
Tickets that include all of that, plus three drinks (beer or wine) from Villa Antonio and a commemorative glass, are available for $40.
To buy tickets, go to the site bit.ly/Leader-Dinner-2023.
As a relative Leader newbie, I’m looking forward to attending my first Leader Holiday Dinner. I’m really looking forward to seeing the recipes that are submitted.
Maybe I’ll give a few a try.
