Whoops! I Forgot an Ingredient

“Why does this spaghetti taste so bland?” I asked myself last night at the dinner table.  I thought through the previous five minutes, when I was putting final additions to the sauce. Then I realized, “I forgot the fresh garlic.”

Uh oh.  Should I confess?  I looked over at Bart, who was happily eating every strand.  Maybe he was being polite or maybe he hadn’t noticed.  Maybe he was just relieved that leftover turkey burgers were no longer on the menu.

I remained silent, finished my dinner and vowed to start tasting whatever I cooked before I served it.  I never developed that habit for one simple reason.  Recipes sometimes tell you “salt to taste,” but that direction often comes when you’re mixing ingredients into raw meat.  I’m not a raw meat fancier.  So I winged it and made sure there was a salt shaker on the table.

Years of cooking has taught me that unless you are forced to throw out your disaster because it cannot be rescued, TELL NO ONE you made a mistake.

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