Monday, February 23, 2009

Doing Things the Wrong Way: Part 1

It dawned on me the other day how many times I've totally screwed things up because I went ahead and did it just so it got done. I mean, it doesn't really matter if it's done properly, right? Much more important is that it gets done at all! Here are examples of things I have flubbed at and will never do again.

A Few Stories of My Early Years of Cooking for My Husband

Curry Rice:
Anata: This curry has no flavor.
Raggedy: Yeah, should I add more curry powder?
A: I think it needs more salt.
R: Okay. (Adds a teaspoon of salt to the pot.)
A: I think it needs more.
R: More? Okay. (Adds a tablespoon.)
A: This still tastes bland.
R: You want more? (In a huffy tone.) [Thinking to self: I'll give you more!] (Adds half a cup to the pot.) How's this?!?!
A: What are you trying to feed me? The ocean!

Fileting a Fish:
R: This recipe says I have to sanmaioroshi the fish before I fry it. What does sanmaioroshi mean?
A: Cut it in three parts.
R: ? (Does the operation, but thinks it's not quite the way it's supposed to be.) I don't think this is right. I've never seen anything like this served in any restaurants.
A: Why did you cut it that way? I said cut it in three parts!
R: It's in three parts. The head, the middle and the tail.
A: It's supposed to be the left side, the right side and the bones!
R: Oh. Why didn't you say so?
A: I did!

Sausage:
A: This is a great fire! And we've got sausage and cheese to go with the bread!
R: (Slices the sausage and put the slices on the wire rack to cook over the little campfire.) ? Hmmm, oh well.
A: (Puts the first slice in mouth and grimaces. Then tongues starts working to untangle the morsel in mouth.) What on earth is this?
R: Ew. I don't know. It looks like plastic.
A: Hey! It's the sausage casing! Why didn't you take it off before you cooked it?
R: I took off the packaging, of course, but I didn't even know there was another film of plastic around it. I'm sorry. [Thinks to self: Will I never learn?]

Some things get learned the hard way. I think you'll agree that it's better to know the way something should be done before doing it than vice versa!

2 comments:

Scott Diekmann said...

There's a saying for what you're describing:
"Why is it there's always enough time to do it over, but never enough time to do it right?"

Becky said...

Thanks for putting it that way. It is so true.