I made Jello today in an effort to use up pantry items I have (I think my children have eaten this twice?) and we need to bring a dessert to a dinner tonight. I wanted to layer the different flavors so I did the quick set directions giving each layer an hour to set. The first layer went fine. The second and third layers mixed together since the second layer didn't set to the same degree as the first in the same amount of time. It has been 4 hrs since I put on the third layer and the 2nd and 3rd layers are still reallllllly wobbly/liquid. HOW DO YOU MESS UP JELLO?

Anyone else care to share their cooking blunders? Also what should I do about this- we leave for the dinner in an hour....... Can I throw frozen blueberries and strawberries on top and somehow mask the 'soft set' of it all? I have fresh whipped cream for on top also.

Sarah

don't put anything on top, and try to let it sit still. It needs time to set unfortunately. :(

Also how do I get my fresh whipped whip cream to stay whipped for about 2hrs- I don't want to have to rewhip it at thier house, I'd like to bring the dessert done (two color layers of jello with a layer of strawberries and then topped with whipped cream all in a glass trifle bowl).

Sarah

Could you stir it up with the whipped cream and berries to make a kind of mousse/pudding dish? I can't remember what it's called.

Kerri

My secret to whipped cream is whipping in a teaspoon of instant vanilla pudding mix when it's whipped. Add it when it's already whipped, not at the start. Make sense? Keep it really cold and it will be fine for a few hours. It usually separates when it's left overnight or longer.

Could you stir it up with the whipped cream and berries to make a kind of mousse/pudding dish? I can't remember what it's called.

Kerri

I just checked it and it is at least soft set and not liquid. Its wobbly but if I tip the container to its side then it takes a bit to pull away from the sides (doesn't move immediately like a liquid would). I 'think' that if I put the strawberries on top then they will either sit on top or sink slightly in but still make a layer. If it mixed in more then it will just be more of a parfait or whatever its called. Then I can top with the whipped cream. Good thing they are good friends- I can experiment on them :)

So come on ladies- tell me I'm not the only one to mess up something really simple.

Here's another one of mine. A few weeks ago I made my first ever successful loaf of fresh bread. I made challah bread for a Sabbath meal that the kids and I had (connected to their schoolwork). I was SOOOOO proud of myself and bragged a good bit too much about how I finally figured out bread and whatnot. I tried to do it again a week later and ended up with a BRICK of bread- it was horrible. The chickens really enjoyed eating it (seriously it was not edible for us). I learned not to be so quick to pat myself on the back with that one!

Sarah

My secret to whipped cream is whipping in a teaspoon of instant vanilla pudding mix when it's whipped. Add it when it's already whipped, not at the start. Make sense? Keep it really cold and it will be fine for a few hours. It usually separates when it's left overnight or longer.

Thats a great tip- thanks Kerri! I have some vanilla pudding mix in my 'pantry stash', so I'll go do that now :)

Sarah

Luckily I'm good at saving things. I use everything. Inedible bread becomes stuffing. Scorched jam becomes smoky barbecue sauce. LOL. I made a fantastic pan of squares yesterday from stale ritz and graham crackers that were taking up space in my cupboards and irritating me.

(I smashed them up, toasted them so they didn't taste stale, then used them in a recipe that called for crushed cookies. I had no raisins so I used some dried apricots that had been in the freezer forever. I chopped them small, and noone knew. It said to use condensed milk which I didn't want to because it costs alot ($3.50 a can here!), so I made a kind of fudgy sauce out of milk, sugar, butter instead. It was very delicious. Not healthy AT ALL. When it's gone I won't be doing any more treats.)

Kerri

Ambrosia... that is what the whipped cream/jello dish is called I think... although I also think that you add grapes, and like some canned mixed fruit. lol... I think your version of ambrosia sounds much much better, mushy jello and all.

Val

I had to pull out a cookbook today to look up how to make a baked potato. :lol: It is such a simple thing, but I guess I was lacking confidence, and I haven't made baked potatoes in a long time.

They didn't turn out, btw, but it wasn't my fault! We lost power before they were done. DH, Erik, and I ate them anyway, and the two that we didn't eat I cooked up later and they turned out just fine.

Update: We decided to call it Jello-Soup :lol: but everyone loved it :) I didn't realize the husband we were having dinner with does NOT like Jello and he really enjoyed it and had seconds. It was soupy but some of it was set, lots of whipped cream and the fruit was perfect. I put the strawberries in frozen and they thawed but were still firm and cold when it was time to serve (not defrosted mushy). I garnished to top of the whipped cream with more strawberries and some blueberries. It was yummy :)

Sarah

I messed up jello once too mama. Dont feel bad!

Oh I have messed up a lot of things.

Hardboiled eggs...mostly from forgetting they're boiling.

Omelets...impatient.

Anything involving sauteing, high heat, and time-sensitive stuff on the stovetop - I suck at it. I let dh handle these types of dishes. ;)

I kick ass at baking bread, muffins, cookies, etc.

I did try a GF artisanal sorghum bread the other day. OMG. It came out like a brick. It was so disgusting dh spit out his mouthful, and he NEVER does that - he will eat some pretty nasty stuff. The chickens loved it too :lol: but it wasn't even good enough to save for croutons or stuffing. It was truly awful. I'm not even sure it was my fault though; I'm blaming the recipe. ;)

Okay now off to work! (I read here while eating breakfast. Promise!)

rice. i messed up rice. easiest thing in the world right? a young young child can do it. haha not me last week. i added a bitter bitter vegtable and it spoiled the rice.

sometimes things are just off.

I've messed up numerous things. Once, a long time ago, I made oatmeal-raisin cookies for my dad for Christmas, and they totally crumbled when I took them out of the oven. I put them in a ziploc bag and dubbed them oatmeal-raisin cereal.

Not that long ago, I left boiled eggs on so long before I remembered them that one of the eggs had actually exploded in my kitchen.

Every so often, I have a white sauce that just won't firm up.

And, I have had tons of flops with GFCF bread. I think that's when I started off the path of cooking from scratch that I am trying to get back to!

I have messed up reheating garlic bread hundreds of times. Don took for a while to getting two loaves of french bread instead of just one becuase it was classic that one would end up black as coal on the back poarch for the birds to gnaw at. lol...

I can't bake to save my life. I once asked Gabe for baking lessons for my birthday... he asked me what my problem was. I said I burn things. He said, "Then take them out of the oven sooner." Wasn't he helpful? :rolleyes:

Val

I burned canned soup once. (To be fair it was a cream soup but this was pre-children so I don't even have a good excuse for being distracted.) :wah:

You know how you have to saute onions before you add them to tomato sauces? I know WHY. :p It's nasty what happens if you don't. Haven't ever made that mistake again.

oh, and I've set fire to a couple of pots of popcorn in my time, as has DH. We have a rule now: you must stay in the kitchen if you are popping popcorn. It seems so obvious, but you know with the kids and dogs needing things (and in DH's case, the computer games), it's easy to get distracted.

In my younger years I am responsible for setting not one, not TWO, BUT THREE microwaves on fire! Long story but I wasn't allowed to use the microwave until I moved out and got married :P

Sarah

Simplest? Put salt in my coffee :) (when I still drank coffee with sugar)

the other day I burned FOUR pieces of cheese toast before spinner came in, led me sobbing to a chair, and made it for me. lol I was okay but annoyed after the second, after the third I was pissed, the fourth one almost made me have a nervous breakdown:lol:

Um, my microwave popcorn caught fire... I have an endless brown stain in my microwave to always remind me, too.

I can't make chewy chocolate chip cookies for ANYTHING. They always turn out like cake.

Um, my microwave popcorn caught fire... I have an endless brown stain in my microwave to always remind me, too.

I can't make chewy chocolate chip cookies for ANYTHING. They always turn out like cake.

See my fires always required replacing the microwave, sometimes a fire extinguisher and occassionally the fire dept- what can I say? I'm thorough. :rolleyes:

As for the chocolate chip cookies, have you tried recipes that other people say are chewy? If you have and still don't get the results you want than are you measuring your flour properly (one of those ingredients that has special instructions). Make sure you are using a measuring cup for dry goods, sift flour so it is light fluff (I usually skip this step), spoon flour into cup to overflowing (no pushing down or packing it in in any way), now use the flat side of a knife to level the top of the flour to the top of the cup. When you measure flour this way it ends up being significantly less flour than just scooping it from the bag with a measuring cup. The other tip is that when you pull the cookies from the oven they will look underdone- but they will continue to cook while they cool. The cookies should look 'formed/holding their shape' on the edges but otherwise they look like they need to cook a few more minutes. Pull them out and let them cool for 5 minutes and they should be perfect chewy cookies for you. :) I may set fire to microwaves but I can make a good chewy cookie :)

Sarah

See my fires always required replacing the microwave, sometimes a fire extinguisher and occassionally the fire dept- what can I say? I'm thorough. :rolleyes:

As for the chocolate chip cookies, have you tried recipes that other people say are chewy? If you have and still don't get the results you want than are you measuring your flour properly (one of those ingredients that has special instructions). Make sure you are using a measuring cup for dry goods, sift flour so it is light fluff (I usually skip this step), spoon flour into cup to overflowing (no pushing down or packing it in in any way), now use the flat side of a knife to level the top of the flour to the top of the cup. When you measure flour this way it ends up being significantly less flour than just scooping it from the bag with a measuring cup. The other tip is that when you pull the cookies from the oven they will look underdone- but they will continue to cook while they cool. The cookies should look 'formed/holding their shape' on the edges but otherwise they look like they need to cook a few more minutes. Pull them out and let them cool for 5 minutes and they should be perfect chewy cookies for you. :) I may set fire to microwaves but I can make a good chewy cookie :)

Sarah

DH always jokes that as long as I'm not making popcorn or making chocolate chip cookies, i'm the best cook he's ever known! :D

I do measure the flour properly, it must be when i pull them out. I remember always thinking they don't quite look done. I will have to try some more and see how they turn out. Thanks for the tips! :)

DH just set fire to a cookie sheet full of chips and cheese trying to broil nachos. He has pledged never to use "broil" again. :p

ROFL - poor John.

Another Jello update:

So I determined that my initial failure came from not stirring the jello in the boiling water long enough before adding the cold water, thereby not allowing the gelatin to dissolve properly. SOoooooo I made another batch of layered Jello- this time using a full color spectrum of flavors so we could make a rainbow as we were studying this this past week and I thought it would be a fun treat. This time I used my stick blender whisk attachment to be sure it was fully mixed.

Did you know that if you power whisk jello solution then it will foam up like whipped topping and not go back down? The foam when put in the regridgerator will actually gelatinize in that state and be like flavored, colored, shaving cream consistency? The kids found it to be quite fun and at the very least I am learning how NOT to make Jello :p Who knew that the glass top clear jello my dad used to make growing up was such an art?!

Sarah :D

We have a package of kanten (vegetarian jello kinda thing) that I'm scared to make because I'm sure I'll screw it up. I screwed up jello plenty when we made that. It's harder to do right than they'd have you believe with the simple package instructions. :p

Oh, gosh - more than I could list.

I've made probably hundreds of terrible dishes over the years - one was a marinated, then fried tofu dish. GAG. It smelled so good and tasted SOOO awful. Inedible.

I've made things that were like salt licks before.

I've thrown away dozens of batches of chocolate chip cookies. I used to be able to cook anything, but could not bake a batch of cookies to save my life! They were terrible - and I followed the recipe to the letter. (I've remedied that, since) :)

Um. Over-cooked pasta, burnt chili, burnt spaghetti sauce.

OH - one time I made Kraft box of spaghetti (like mac & cheese but spaghetti dinner - it's a nostalgia thing for me) and burnt the HECK out of the sauce and overcooked the pasta. Talk about basic!

I burnt a breastpump to a crisp. All the water boiled out & melted the plastic, dh chucked the whole pot into the back yard & we spent the night at my mother's b/c of the fumes it set off....