Friday, February 25, 2011

GIVEAWAY - VinylLiving Tea Towel

To celebrate the launch of VinylLiving's new range of Tea Towel, we have one to giveaway to a lucky blog reader. Winner to choose design.

All you have to do is leave a comment below letting us know of your worst cooking disaster.

You have till Wednesday 2nd March to comment!

The winner will be published on the comments, please include your email if you comment anonymously or pop back on Thursday 3rd March to see if you have won.

To see the full range of VinylLiving homewares & gifts visit their madeit shop here.

44 comments:

  1. Love your work. My worst cooking disaster - by a long shot - was the day I decided to add fish stock to pumpkin soup. That was ten years ago and I will never forget the soapy taste. I would need one of your delectable teatowels to take that bad taste away (please, please!)! Rosemarie

    ReplyDelete
  2. I frequently get a bit too liberal with the salt; I really ought to learn that too much salt is not a good thing! My worst cooking disaster was probably serving a sloppy mass of vegies and goop (lasagne) to guests we didn't know very well. Housewife fail!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think the worst cooking disater that I ever had was having my sister and her boyfriend over for dinner and cutting into the roast chicken I had made and realising that it wasn't cooked in the middle! We laughed about it in the end!

    ReplyDelete
  4. They are really cute!!!! Love the cups!!! Worst cooking experience!!!!? Ok many many years ago...I had a store bought pizza..but I wanted to make it better...so I picked up some cheese which was fine...but then I found extra pizza toppings in a bag....spread it all around nice and neat...looked wonderful...tasted like......
    was not edible and my little boy at the time...said Mom? did you make this?... never again...hugs

    ReplyDelete
  5. Worst cooking disaster may be leaving the brown sugar out of choc chip cookies and thinking I could add it at the end- miserable cookies! Or the mashed potatoes with overcooked potatoes that had practically disintegrated!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Would have to be my son's first birthday cake. Was meant to be a soccer ball - but didn't even resemble a ball! Didn't mind so much when he put his hand through it!

    ReplyDelete
  7. my worst cooking disater is loosing the greatest curry recipe I have ever had - every time I try to recreate it it never tastes the same and my husband always complains lol!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Love your teatowels!...... Back when I was a teenager I decided to cook a chocolate cake in an old fuel stove/oven we used to have when we lived in Katoomba. There was no temperature gauge and I just kept adding logs to the fire. When I finally opened the door to see how it was going, the cake just flowed like a volcano up and out of the cake tin down the shelves and onto the floor - the worst part was having to clean it all up before my parents got home, while my older brother just kept laughing at me. I still chuckle each time I think about it!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I made a cheesecake but accidently doubled the gelatin mixture. It didn't set so I put it in the freezer but then it didn't freeze in time for dinner. It ended up a half frozen, half sloppy cheesecake mess!
    We didn't finish it that night so put the remaining slices/blobs in the freezer for another day except it froze so hard, it ended up inedible!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I was away on a retreat last week. It was the first time I'd been away from my husband and kids for about 10 years. Anyway, on the last day, I invited them on my retreat to cook them breakfast. I decided to make a whole lot of yummy food and one of them was dark chocolate covered strawberries. The kitchen at my retreat was VERY BASIC and so I didn't have the option of a double pan to melt the chocolate or even a big enough bowl to put over a saucepan of water. So, I improvised and did it in a saucepan over a very low heat. I was continuing with my coursework when I smelled one of the most disgusting smells I've smelled in a long time. I had turned an ENTIRE BLOCK OF Valrohna chocolate into charcoal. Oh dear! Had to go and buy more chocolate and start again. The funniest part about the story is that whenever anyone in my family says that something is "impossible"... my 9 year old daughter pipes up with "well no, if mummy can make chocolate into charcoal, then anything is possible"

    ReplyDelete
  11. The first time I tried to cook a roast chicken for someone, I completely forgot about it. By the time I remembered it was black. But hey, they say charcoal is good for teeth haha!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Gorgeous tea towels! My worst cooking disaster would have to be trying to cook rice in a saucepan!! Totally ruined the saucepan and burnt the rice so badly it left burnt grain patterns on the bottom.

    Have always used my electric rice cooker since!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Too many to choose from. One of the most recent was when I was busy writing school reports and I left my bf in charge of cooking a pre made pizza from the supermarket. Firstly he didn't know how to turn the oven on (seriously and he's 30!) when he put the pizza in he didn't remove the black plastic from under the pizza. 20 mins later the house smelt like burnt plastic and his excuse was that he didn't realise he had to take it off. So my easy dinner turned into a disater.

    ReplyDelete
  14. my worse cooking disaster was when i used a packet pastry mix instead of a cake mix (we had a few mixes not in boxes), then i cooked in the microwave for 15mins on high. I even iced it, when it was obvious that it was a failure.
    However, I didn't have a chainsaw to cut it up..haha and even the chooks didn't go near the "brick"

    ReplyDelete
  15. Mine was not so much a cooking disaster as a fridge disaster. I made a magnificent trifle with all the works. It would have fed an army, by the way . Hadn't made one in years. As I was taking it out of the fridge, I promptly discarded the contents all over the floor :(

    ReplyDelete
  16. My worst ever cooking disaster was when cooking a quick snack for the kids on xmas eve 11 years ago.
    I thought i would cook up some nuggets in oil for the kids while my 8 month old was asleep.
    I got distracted and ended up out the front chatting to my neighbour somehow forgetting they were cooking until one of my kids ran out the front and told me the kitchen was on fire!!
    Lisa Nicholson

    ReplyDelete
  17. Well, I've had plenty of glass dishes explode on me in the oven...you'd think I'd get it after the first time. Thank goodness it has been a while since that has happened.
    Love tea towels...I won't be mopping up after any messes with those.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Mine is not really a 'cooking' disaster, more of a 'cooker' disaster. About two weeks ago my oven broke, the element went. five days after reporting it the real estate comapny someone comes out to take a look. The element had gone. So off they go to get the part, come back with the part and fix it. All great I thought... right up until the part when the dropped the door and the glass smashed and went eveywhere! Now 8 days later I am still without oven waiting for the new glass to arrive from Adelaide, we live in Country WA and it's coming by road, the road that has been flooded out and closed since cyclone Carlos came through last week Yay!!!

    Cute towels!

    ReplyDelete
  19. My favourite worst cooking disaster was when I baked some yummy shortbread... it was when they were baking in the oven and I was cleaning up that I noticed the cup and a half of sugar I had forgotten to include in the biscuits :S

    ReplyDelete
  20. Gorgeous!! I once made a carrot cake with no sugar and tried to add it once it was half cooked. Needless to say it ended up in the bin and I didn't attempt it again for quite a few years.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Well, mine is bad ... but good. My then boyfriend came over for a home-cooked meal - pan-fried flounder. We'd only been going out for maybe 3 weeks so while I'd popped the fish on to sizzle, things got a bit warm in the lounge-room too. I didn't know at the time that the fish only took a few minutes each side to cook and we soon smelled smoked coming from the kitchen ... that was the meal ruined. Not only that - I found out he didn't actually like to eat fish.

    But it didn't deter him - we've been married for 20 years in April aaaand - he took over the cooking!

    ReplyDelete
  22. My cooking disaster was when I pre-cooked a huge potato bake for a family BBQ, put it in the oven to re-heat so it was ready when the meat was and discovered when I took it out that I had left the cling wrap on - total disaster! :o

    ReplyDelete
  23. nearly 16 years ago hubby took over cooking dinner most nights. One of the fist dishes he cooked was a Chinese dish which called for a quarter tsp of chilli powder. As we ate and my mouth burned and the sweat ran down my face and my eyes watered I glanced at him a few times and wondered how the baby would be after his next few feeds copping this second hand. Thank goodness he said after a few mouthfuls omg I can't eat this. Phew I thought. He had added a tablespoon instead of a teaspoon.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Beautiful tea towels..hope I win! My worst cooking disaster...several years ago a lovely friend who had lived in Thailand gave me a recipe that I had tasted at her place...a Thai Red Curry. I made the red curry, put the lovely big chunks of beef into the frypan, stirred and simmered for hours..and the flavours and the saltiness were so intense that nobody in the household could eat it. The spices were so strong and the meat was totally infused with the salt so I couldn't dilute it. We tried to perservere because the meat was expensive and it had taken me all afternoon to make..but we had to give up after a couple of mouthfuls...disaster!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Potato Bake is my enemy i've tried several recipes for it and can never get it right it's either to dry not cooked in the middle or just a plain disaster!

    wozsam@dodo.com.au

    ReplyDelete
  26. I can't remember any specific occasion but potatoes are so often my tragedies. I seem to be able to catch them just as the pot runs out of water but there are many times I haven't managed. Ity doesn't seem to matter which pot I use either. It's just me and potatoes. Cherrie

    ReplyDelete
  27. I love cooking with my class of Pre Primary students and one time when I was particularly rushed I accidentally grabbed out the salt instead of the sugar to put in the blueberry muffins we were making. Of course, none of the kids could read and I didn't realise until we all bit into our muffins. Eugh. Needless to say I changed the containers so the salt and sugar weren't in the same type and we had to recook to recipe the next day at school because the kids were so disappointed!

    ReplyDelete
  28. My worst cooking disaster happened when I was an exchange student in Germany. My host family and I had been invited to afternoon tea at a distinguished professor's house and I was the guest of honour. I had to bring a national dish.

    I attempted to make lamingtons (for the first time in my life) but there was no self-raising flour in the house. The result? Terrible flat little bricks which tasted like cardboard. I had to take them to the fancy afternoon tea and was mortified to see that no one even attempted to eat one. I'm going to tackle them again tomorrow - 22 years later! J x

    ReplyDelete
  29. I've been having a cackle reading about these kitchen disasters! Mine is definitely my Potato Rosti (sshhh, don't say it too loud - people around here still suffer from post-potato stress disorder!) - anyhoo, I have NO idea what I did wrong, but what I served my poor family was more like a purply-grey slimy mush...to this day the "R" word is not allowed in this house! :D

    ReplyDelete
  30. Oh I have many disasters to choose from! My favourite is the one that got me thrown out of cooking classes in school - I was only 15 and I believe scarred me for life.

    It was exam time and I was making a pineapple-upside-down cake. I'd always cooked with gas in the past but on this occasion I was allocated an electric oven. As usual in exams there was pressure, we were all sharing utensils, lots of time was lost waiting around for your turn for a bowl or something. So I was already running a bit late and when the teacher said stop we had to immediately stop and remove our item from the oven. The teacher walked around to each student to watch them serve their dish, she would taste, comment and mark then and there.

    The teacher reached me and I put a plate on top of my dish to turn it upside down, as I turned it I realised straight away it wasn't going to be good. The cake just splattered everywhere. I'd forgotten to pre-heat the oven and hadn't turned it up high enough, so it wasn't cooked. I was mortified!

    The teacher didn't taste or mark my effort, but she did comment "go away and don't come back to my class again".

    Perhaps the lovely tea towel will help make up for the years of overcooked food that followed.

    ReplyDelete
  31. I think the worst cooking disaster was two times...first one was years ago and I was trying to impress someone I wanted to date and I knew that he loved Chinese so I went to the next city over (just incase) and bought what I thought he would like and he loved it..GRIN.....then he was over that weekend helping me with my computer and said he was hungry and asked if I could make him some chinese food like I had previously made...WHAT THE....and I looked at him and sheepishly said.....I can't....I was going to go grocery shopping tomorrow....can we just go out to eat....and as we were leaving he threw something away and saw the to go boxes from the previous night....OMG....I totally forgot......LOL.....

    The other time I was trying to make my boyfriend (now husband) some cookies....he loves cookies....and I was trying to read my granny's hand writing and I tried....turned out terrible...they were hard ask rocks and I was to embarassed to give him the cookies.... But I gave them to the two guys who lived in my apt building who were on the collage baseball team and I had them using them as balls.....(none of them broke...seriously)....LOL


    Shannon Margaret

    SHANNONdotMARGARETdotBROTTatGMAILdotCOM

    ReplyDelete
  32. Coming from a family of chefs I am very embarresed by this blunder. A recipe I got from Better homes & Gardens, which looked delicious and easy...Pasta with Pesto. All I had to do was cook the spaghetti, drain and mix through some store bought Pesto and top with fresh parmesan....my Husband & I took one bite each, declared it was the most disgusting thing we had ever tasted and ventured off to the local Chinese store for some tasty food.
    Shhh...dont tell my chef Dad!

    ReplyDelete
  33. I believe I was making potato salad and I was working on the sauce in the electric mixer.... and stuck a plastic spoon into it while it was on..... Oops.

    ReplyDelete
  34. These tea towels are gorgeous!!

    My worst cooking disaster was when I was living alone. I cooked lasagne but didn't have enough mince to cover the pasta sheets so it would cook properly... the result was very crisp and inedible pasta.. mmmmm!!

    ReplyDelete
  35. Hm. Serving up a almost raw christmas ham for the family christmas lunch...?

    ReplyDelete
  36. many, many, many to tell....
    the number of blenders I have blown up over the last 20 years attempting to make hommous???
    Read 8....YES 8 wonderful blenders have gone to appliance heaven in my endeavours to create delicious dip!!!

    ReplyDelete
  37. Well the worst had to be when I made my friend a chocolate birthday cake. It had been in the oven for about five minutes when I suddenly realised that I had forgotten the eggs! What to do? Well I took it out of the oven, quickly beat in a couple of eggs, put it back in the oven and crossed my fingers. When my friend came around later that day I served up the cake and watched very closely as he took a bite. He said it was the best cake he had eaten. I tried some and you know what, it wasn't too bad!

    ReplyDelete
  38. OMG!! I just burned the eggs I was frying for my daughter's lunch!...I had to come here and share it!...how bad of a cook am I? To burn eggs?! Never happened to me...but finally got to comment

    ReplyDelete
  39. Beautiful tea towels! Perhaps my worst endeavor was 9 years ago as a ten year old girl trying to prove she was more than capable of cooking by herself and baked Anzac cookies not realizing that they don't harden until taken out of the oven and cooled, needless to say they were kept in the oven until I thought they were well and truly hard!

    ReplyDelete
  40. My worst cooking experience was only last weekend. It was my boyfriend's 25th birthday so we decided to have a bit of a celebration.

    My sister gave me her "fool proof" lemon slice recipe and it all looked good - until I went to cut it. Somehow the base was very solidly stuck to the pan. I should have given up there and then (it was 10 minutes til party time!) but I persevered!

    I thought maybe wedging the knife under the base and gently lifting would be the way to go. I must have been a little too rough as all I managed to do was get lemon slice all over myself, the kitchen wall and the ceiling.

    Given that we live in an old Victorian house with 4m high ceilings - I think its a pretty good effort!

    ReplyDelete
  41. I was cooking sausages for quite a few friends and had the BBQ up way too high. They looked great on the outside but were raw on the inside... lucky I had chips and dip!!

    ReplyDelete
  42. Worst cooking experience was definitely when I set paper towel, my recipe and my tea towel on fire during an assessed food technology practical at school.

    Needless to say, I didn't do very well.

    ReplyDelete
  43. Thank you for all your comments, it seems like we have all had our fair share of misshapes in the kitchen. Again it was hard to only choose one.

    Well done Jane and thanks for sharing your story about baking a national sweet for a German Professor's high tea. I'm sure the CWA will be proud of your next batch of Lamingtons!

    ReplyDelete

You may also like:

Related Posts with Thumbnails