Successes & Fails: An Afternoon in the Kitchen

Fail: Chicken Noodle Soup

(not the recipe, merely my ability to follow it)

Success: 100% Whole Wheat Bread / Butternut Squash Macaroni and CheeseMy first free Saturday in long long long long long time, I decided all I wanted to do with it was cook some fall dishes I'd been craving. Grocery shopping occurred at Back Bay Shaws in the morning. That face kills me. You know it is only for effect, he loves food shopping with me! So bottom line - I took on to too much this afternoon and as a result the Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup [seen in perfect form here] suffered dearly. Everything was going swimmingly as I prepared the stock. The recipe calls for a 3.5 pound chicken and the smallest chicken the store had was a 4.3 pounder. The same thing happened last time, my pot is barely able to hold a chicken of that size, and the liquid to accommodate, but I made it work. I chopped my veggies - carrots, celery, onions and leeks. When the chicken was done in about an hour and a half I removed the skin and bones to reveal tender white meat. I strained the stock through a fine sieve and set the broth aside. I added the fresh veggies back in the pot after I washed and dried it, (I really need a dutch oven or hows about a few more large pots?) then added the broth, a little later the chicken and lastly my fatal flaw - the egg noodles. At this point I was in between showering, getting ready for a night on the town and baking the bread as well preparing the mac-n-cheese. I added the entire bag of egg noodles and I was only supposed to add about...half of it?! What was I thinking!? (I wasn't / I was thinking about too many things at once!) I was left perplexed at first as to why the beautiful broth that I spent all day preparing, dissapeared as I checked back to give my "soup" a few final stirs before serving. Let us hope and pray I will never make that mistake again. My gracious dinner guests still tried it, and even told me it was good! I was still disappointed. Adam and I have been eating the leftovers by adding water to the mix. It's all I can do to salvage the dish or what is left of it. Who screws up Chicken Noodle Soup? Ug. To go along with it I baked a loaf of bread from the Whole Grain Cookbook I received compliments of King Arthur Flour on my field trip to the baking headquarters back in September. "The Easiest 100% Whole Wheat Bread Ever." (Jeeze I better not screw this one up!)

Michelle baked this a few weeks ago and was my original inspiration to try out the recipe. I was so glad I did because it was a big hit with my guests and I have been eating this loaf non stop. Paired with the "soup", smothered with jelly for breakfast, with crunchy Peanut Butter as an afternoon snack....I should bake a loaf of bread every week! As if I didn't have enough carbs and noodles going on, and because I was so in love with the recipe my friend Corinne sent me earlier in the week, I really wanted to make Butternut Squash Macaroni and Cheese. I was very pleased with the final product revealing tasty and comforting flavors of sweet ricotta, sharp cheddar, grated parmesan, a hint of nutmeg, and the essence of fall the butternut squash. I am enjoying the leftovers and I will definitely be making this dish again.

I am not really sure what got into me that afternoon.

Any epic fails in the kitchen lately? Stories of great success?