Kitchen Mistake

My sister Amanda recently recommended this recipe for vegan mac and "cheese": http://www.kitchentreaty.com/vegan-stovetop-mac-cheese/




I don't do dairy and my kids love macaroni and cheese, so I thought it was worth a try. Unfortunately, it was clear from step one that this was likely to turn into a kitchen mistake and I started live-texting Amanda so she could witness the horror.


"Vegan mac and cheese adventures part I: Bag of diced butternut squash went bad (purchased on Saturday). Using just sweet potato instead. Some of our sweet potato is purple."



"Part I.a: I'm also using red lentil pasta"

At this point Amanda tried to tell me everything would be alright. "It'll still be delicious! But the butternut squash is also really good with it."

I knew better. "The adventure is just beginning."


"Part II: My food processor can't hold all the sweet potato, let alone the rest of the sauce."

"And I may have undercooked the pasta in an attempt to not overcook it."

I would like to say, at this point, that this shows some attempt, on my part, to learn from my mistakes. Past experience tells me that non-wheat pasta, when overcooked, looses all structural integrity and turns into a big pile of mush. This is definitely not red lentil mush.


"Part III: I used up the onion yesterday. All I have instead is this sad end of a leak."



"Part IV: My bouillon cubes make 2 cups so I cut off a quarter of one."



"Part V: Nailed it!"

"Part VI: Judgement."

"John says it tastes better with wine."

Watch to the end of the video to hear Horatio's comment.

Amanda did get a good laugh out of the whole thing and then rightfully pointed out: "Basically you didn't make that recipe at all, can't be fairly judged!😂"

Truth. Please do not take my kitchen mistake as any indication of what the recipe, correctly followed, would be like.

I found the meal edible and I'm doing the right thing by eating the leftovers no one else wants.

Sometimes I wonder what my kids must think having a parent who feeds them kitchen mistakes. This led me to reminisce on my own childhood dining experiences. And, truthfully, I can not remember my parents doing this. Although I didn't always like the food they served, I don't recall them trying to feed me something that didn't turn out as planned.

I like to think I have a daring and experimental spirit. Sometimes my kids appreciate that.