I've lost my mojo!

There are some days, and apparently some weeks, where I should just stay the heck out of the kitchen.

Last week was one of those weeks.

I blame it partly on the cold that the hubby decided to bring home from work. When he walked in the door on Wednesday night and immediately said "I have a cold!" my questions about the nature of the cold weren't totally made out of some wifely duty.... I knew if he had a cold, I'd also have it in 24 hours or less. Heck... I catch the colds going around his office that he doesn't catch. It's the way of life around here.

Cooking Disaster Numero Uno was an attempt at pizza. I'd bought a whole wheat crust dough from Trader Joe's, since I've been wanting to try it for awhile. I figured I'd cut up some meatballs that I'd defrosted for Sunday's dinner, and use those on the pizza.

I thought 350 degrees sounded a little low for a pizza.

It was. It took for-ev-ah until the edges of the crust were even slighty brown. And then I couldn't even get it off the Silpat.

At first, I couldn't even dislodge it from the Silpat. Apparently, I found something that can stick to a Silpat in my kitchen. Then, I decided to scrape off the sauce/cheese toppings to figure out why, after about 25 minutes, there were still problems.



Yeah.... raw dough in the center? PROBLEM!

(I ended up having canned soup for lunch)

That same dinner (the day the hubby came home and said he was sick) I'd planned to do some baked chicken fingers. Food Network recipe. And boy, did this one flop to.

Overcooked, barely brown, mushy chicken, anyone???


(at least I'd already heated up some canned chicken soup for the hubby for dinner. I ended up having canned chicken soup, too. I knew I was coming down with a cold when I found myself putting the pepper grinder in the fridge. My mind plays tricks on me like that when I have a cold.)

The final nail in the coffin was yesterday. Alton Brown's rib recipe. Made it dozens of times, always worked flawlessly. I was thinking of throwing them in the crockpot to cook, but I didn't.

I should have.

They did look pretty....

However, they were the toughest damned ribs I've ever had in my life. For some reason, they just turned out horribly, even though I did the same things I do every time I make them. I really, honestly, don't even know how I screwed that one up.

At least the cornbread was tasty.

Hopefully, the cooking mojo will return shortly. I'm getting REAL tired of canned soup for dinner.