Tuesday, 03 August 2010

  • It's All Good - Crazy Baking Mishaps!

    The sweet lyrical stylings of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young were serenading me this morning, telling me, "Don't let the past, remind of us of what we are not now...you are free."  It was so beautiful to hear and although I've always known that certain behaviors or acts do not necessarily define who we are, I once allowed perfectionism to adversely affect my mood when it came to cooking. 

     

    Then, something happened.  I had kids.  I spent the last 27 years with the most influential teachers about patience, kindness and "goin' with the flow" -  ever to come down the pike.  Not my early childhood school teachers.  Not the wise sage college profs.  For me, it's always been my children. 

    Some believe that those they perceive to be great cooks are those who never make a mistake.  People think that one false move means the whole thing is ruined, and all that.  I happen to believe the kitchen is one of the safer places for mishaps in life.  My cooking flubs were how I learned.  I discovered my likes, dislikes, bold experimentation, instant creativity, and when presentation was truly important: how to keep it simple, and to go with the flow.  Fix the mistake if it can be fixed, morph the damn thing into something else, or just chuck it in the trash and whip out the PB&J.

    No food mishap that I had ever experienced prepared me for ...  last summer!  On the day of our eldest daughter Jennifer's wedding, my husband Wes and I were rushing to finish the table set-ups and put the finishing touches on the wedding flowers. 

    In addition to offering to take care of those things for this DIY wedding, we were responsible for the wedding cake.  It was a destination wedding at my sister's place in Estes Park, so we had brought the wedding cake to the location and were keeping it refrigerated in the walk-in cooler at a friends' business.  A call came, informing us that the cake had tipped over and that two of the four layers appeared to be impossible to salvage.  Our only option was to work with the remaining 2 layers. 

    We were under a serious time crunch, and barely had time to repair the frosting.  My husband rushed to pick it up and when I saw him pull up in the truck with it, we snuck it in the back door and set up a cake-repair camp on the washer & dryer in the laundry room.  I improvised and used all the champagne grapes, packages of blackberries, kiwi and candied mango that were intended for another use. 

    And I surprised myself.  Rather than allow stress to consume me, my husband and I were doing the unthinkable.  Laughing!  We had so much fun plopping fruit all over that cake and rushing it out to the cake table to ooohs and aaahs with no one the wiser of our maniacal mishap.  Our daughter Jen and her fabulous new husband John thought it was beautiful.  I smiled,  and recalled the phrase Jennifer frequently said growing up, "It's all good."  She's right.  Everything happens for a reason, and still turns out the way it was supposed to.  Best to enjoy and embrace the foibles and imperfections of our lives.  Cheers - here's to the mishaps becoming blessings!

    And remember, if you're responsible for that wedding cake...when all else fails, you can drink a toast to that back up sheet cake you were smart enough to order. 

    Have you ever had happy accidents when it comes to cooking or decorating food?

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Comments (5)

  • babybug329@xanga

    I once tried making these mini chocolate chip muffins to take to a family gathering, but I didn't have the paper liners...so they still got stuck to the pan after being sprayed with nonstick spray.  So I pryed what I could out of them and made it into a trifle with pudding, whipped cream and sliced strawberries.  But yeah, it's always good to have a back up plan!  When you need to take food some place, I always stick to failproof recipe that travel and store well.
  • shes_lump@xanga

    Ummmm I don't cook, but I love Crosby Stills and Nash...


    and Suite Judy Blue Eyes..

  • beasit@xanga

    I was baking a chocolate cake and I didn't have frosting so I thought it'd be great to do a marshmallow frosting instead (since I don't generally like too sweet and boring frosting) So, I used marshmallow fluff and used my fingers to give it little spikes.

    It still looked a little boring and I wanted to toast it like meringue or give it a smore like roasted marshmallow flavor. So, I put it in the oven on hi broil.

    **Keep in mind that this is 4am and I still have school. 

    So I put it in and I look outside at the big full moon and suddenly - I realised it's been a few minutes at least and the rooms is smoky. I opened the oven door and a mushroom cloud of ash and smoke comes out of the oven. I get a wet cloth and take the cake outside while my living room is now a death chamber.

    The cake looked  like someone was cremenated in my oven. it would have come out sooo well too.
  • cryholy@xanga

    Glad it all worked out! Thanks for sharing :)
  • ohletitbe@xanga

    Yeah, once I tried to make sorbet (my first time) it was a little too thin, so I just said "f it" and added a little more sugar and it was just like a orange julius :P

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