Well, there was the Thanksgiving turkey....the short version is my parents were away, and my brother and I were doing it ourselves. He had a fancy new oven, and we didn't really know how to use it. Put the turkey in. Wait. Wait some more. Realize the oven had turned off. Turned it back on. Rinse. Repeat. Finally, after what seemed like weeks, it was done. Best turkey ever.

Similarly, mom left a roast in the oven on low to defrost. Came back much later than expected. Perfectly cooked.

@Paul Ferguson Hey! You're first!

🏆🥳

No fortunate cooking accidents I can think of, but...

My life has been a series of accidents, both fortunate and unfortunate. In the end, more fortunate than not. 🫤

In 1997, I was playing poker online at a site called gamestorm.com (it doesn't exist anymore). The regulars on this site would chat. This one player, Panthera Uncia, used to impress me with their knowledge of the game, and ability to fold (a highly underrated action among beginners).

One day I had occasion to ask them for an email address so I could send them some spreadsheets - compilations of odds / probabilities. They were on Prodigy so the address was a random string @prodigy.com. They got the spreadsheets and sent back a thank you email, which game me her name, Jill.

We're together 27 years now, married for 21 of them.

In other news, today is a sunny, cool choir concert day for me. This afternoon we willl be singing the Haydn Te Deum, Eric Whitaker's Five Hebrew Love Songs and more. After that Monday night rehearsals are on hiatus until September.

My life: eat, sleep, sing.

Once I tried making a mint sauce for lamb out of Altoids. Let me just say the recipe needs a bit of work.

I've read On Food and Cooking and am knowledgeable about the basic processes, so usually when I "make a recipe" it is more a matter of glancing at baking temperatures and the ratios of ingredients and doing things I've done dozens of times, and it almost always comes out fine or even quite good.

I do tend to overconfidence, so when particular techniques or exact measurements are important to the success of a dish and all I do is glance at the recipe first, well, my mileage does vary…

@deanc "Once I tried making a mint sauce for lamb out of Altoids."

BWAHAHAHAHA!!! A+ for creativity!

The only time I've ever made perfect boiled eggs, I realized after I started them that I lacked a critical ingredient for the recipe they were going into. Turned them off, went to the store (not far), came back and they were just right. Usually I overcook them so badly that they get the green ring. In trying to avoid that, once or twice I've undercooked them.

Now I just buy them in bulk at Costco.

and I haz cornbread envy 😋 made chili tonight, but didn't feel like finding the cornbread mix, making a mess, then not having anywhere to stash the resulting leftovers (went to Costco yesterday, fridge is kinda stacked)

at least I can get gf cornbread... Kroger's is the best available, Krusteaz is good too—but I'd smack somebody's grandma for a stash of Kentucky Kernel

The cornbread served around here is IMHO more of a dessert than a ‘side bread’.

🙋‍♀️ guilty of sweet cornbread
slathered in butter

tastes virtually the same as normal if it’s gluten-free.

texture is what varies wildly
Pamela's is delish but disintegrates when you touch it (much less butter it)
Krusteaz holds together pretty well
Kroger is better
Kentucky Kernel is virtually indistinguishable from gluten-glued stuff

Under no circumstances do I want to experience anything like a gravy shortage in times where gravy is part of the situation.

stands on Dean's marble stoop with a gravy cup

Slather it in butter & brush it with honey.

Cornbread is allowed to be as sweet as it wants!