I hate to admit it, but doing so may help hundreds of people.  I can cook up some fantastic meals, like last night’s dinner of Okra Stew with a tomato saffron sauce (delicious!), but I cannot make a batch of pancakes. It’s true. I am TERRIBLE at making something as simple as pancakes. Now, I know I have an issue with following recipes (I’d much rather improvise), but after many failed attempts at baked goods, I’ve learned that following recipes when baking may be important 😉

So, I decided to make pancakes one morning, and I followed the recipe exactly. Well, almost exactly – I added in some vanilla extract for additional flavor and used rice milk instead of regular.  I coated the pan with butter, pre-heated the pan (as they ALWAYS stress to do on the Food Network), and dropped my pancakes in. The result:

And they tasted like they looked – not so great. And rejected by my one-year old.

I wasn’t ready to swear off pancake making quite yet. A few days later I tried again, and although the pancakes were a bit thick, they were actually edible. I wouldn’t say they were fantastic, but my one-year ate them – that says something!

Pancake Attempt 2

 

I have a feeling the next batch will be even better!

My point: Everyone has a weak spot in the kitchen. Cook, cook and cook again to perfect your food. Don’t give up because you burned the rice (I’ve done that before for sure!) or ruined the pancakes. Learning to cook is a must-have skill for healthy eating. So get back into the kitchen and try again!

Read about my carrot soup kitchen blunder here!  http://appetitesforlife.wordpress.com/2010/06/16/burn-the-rice/

And share your greatest kitchen blunder here or on Facebook at the Appetites for Life Facebook Page.