Lesson of the Day Part II- even the pros make mistakes

Although I would hardly consider myself a pro, I generally think of myself as being competent in the kitchen. After all, I work with food for a living! But every now and then, I do something silly that reminds me that every day is an opportunity to learn something (even if it means learning from a mistake). The other night, I was making a Cuban black bean soup. Everything was fine, until I broke a basic kitchen rule- I added my spices to the pot right from the container. In cooking school, I was taught that whenever you add ingredients to a recipe, it’s always a good idea to measure out a certain amount (even if that amount happens to be “some”) and then add it to the rest of the recipe; lest you add more than you need. The same goes for adding eggs- crack them into a bowl rather than into your cake mix, to prevent the unwanted addition of egg shells. With my soup, I was in a rush when it was time to add the cumin (a pungent spice on its own). I shook the jar over the pot. The lid flew off. The entire contents of the jar spread across the top of the soup pot in a thick brown blanket. I attempted to salvage the soup by skimming off the patina of spices, but it had formed a lumpy paste and could not be extracted. I tasted, hopeful. Ick. I added more stock to thin it out. No change. Sigh. Alas, my soup was ruined. I chalked it up to a kitchen lesson and made a sandwich.
Feeling sorry for myself, I recounted the story for Ryan. He confessed that he too, takes kitchen shortcuts occasionally and faces the consequences. Recently, he shared, he learned that it's dangerous to add Tabasco without checking that the stopper is on tight. Even worse than the mistake of painfully hot food- cutting his finger after neglecting to put a wet towel under a cutting board to keep it from sliding (ouch!). So the Lesson of the Day is- be careful when you cut corners in the kitchen!
-Josie