Don't Make This!

If you're a food blogger, you cook. But not everything turns out as expected. Sometimes, it's even better than expected. Other times, not so much. If a recipe doesn't turn out I either just forget about it and move on. Or, if I think it has merit, I'll make it over and over and over until I think it worthy to post on Kitchen Bounty. We learn from mistakes, especially in the kitchen.

I recently made this "easy apple pie" that has been circulating the food blogosphere. You simple pile in apples on a single pie crust and fold it over. I thought, What a great idea! And so simple. It's one I'll put to rest. It didn't have enough apple filling, but you couldn't really put in anymore or the whole thing would fall apart. And without the structure of a pie dish to keep it in place, there were lots of tiny tears that split open during the baking. I would have been better off making a small pie and just using a crumble topping to end up with a great pie. Of course, I ate it . . .

Last time around this year I remembered a recipe for barbecued chicken in the oven. I often made it when I was a young school teacher and had fond memories of it. That was then . . . this is now. It was okay. Nothing really special. And then I realized back then there just wasn't the plethora of specialty bottled barbecue sauces one has easy access today. So why bother making one's own?

I made this lemon/tarragon/honey/garlic chicken the other day. It looked so beautiful I just knew it was going to be wonderful. It wasn't. The lemon was overpowering. I used fresh tarragon which is strong; I prefer the dried. But it's worth several experiments and I'll keep tweaking it until I get it right. Stay tuned.

I made these chicken legs the other week. Man, they were good!!! I used fresh herbs that I minced with garlic and butter, and then slipped the butter mixture beneath the skin and baked them. But as often is the case, when I finally came around to posting the recipe (which I didn't write down as I went), I couldn't quite remember the amount of herbs. So I have to start over. Stay tuned, again.

Not too long ago, I made a pumpkin/chocolate cake that I knew had to be a knockout. It even had sour cream. Dud. It would have been ten-times better as cupcakes, but then that meant frosting, washing an extra pan. Was it really worth it? No.

To be safe, I usually take pictures of whatever I'm cooking. In spring and summer, it's a cinch. But in the fall and winter, it's difficult without natural light. And it slows down the cooking time considerably. But I've learned the hard way it's better to have one good picture ready if a recipe turns out great.

My next recipe is for a sweet-potato upside down "cake." It's from an older cookbook written at a time when pecan-halves weren't the price of three gallons of gasoline! But I'll splurge because it's a "holiday" dish. And it just sounds really good. We'll see. And, hopefully, so will you!