DH's grilled cheese sandwich a couple of days ago. I forgot to turn the burner down after putting it into the hot skillet. Then I didn't QUITE burn my pizza but it definitely got overly crunchy. :-(

Never heard of a "spliff"! must be a term used on the west coast?

PM, I was curious--thought I knew the answer but checked--"spliff" is West Indian.

Really? It's Jamaican, mon.

fawnridge - too funny!!!

Really. I've never been to Jamaica, mon. :(

I think this guy has it.

oh yeah. micro popcorn

the aroma wafts through the house ... permeating everything ... beyond scrumptious.

"why does this popcorn box say '72 seconds'?"

trust me.

Tortillas, sorta. They weren’t exactly burned, but they were ruined.

For the first time, I made chicken fajitas recently. I needed to warm up 3 frozen tortillas. I read and read and read about the best methods for warming up tortillas. It may not be brain surgery, but some of us like a thorough understanding of new things. Seems I could (1) heat them in a microwave; (2) heat them directly over the gas flame; (3) heat them in a dry skillet; or (4) wrap them in foil and put them in the oven for a bit. I chose #4. Apparently “a bit” is open to interpretation. The bottom tortilla was very, very crispy and the other two looked normal. I took the “ruined” one for myself and gave the other 2 to DH.

Turns out, I got the good one. I cut it in half and put all the stuff on it and ate it like a quesadilla. DH did the classic wrap on his, except the tortillas were so tough he could not bite through them. He had to open them back up and scrape all the goodies out. 😬

Like Olychick, the stuff in the bottom of the oven. I had a spill and forget about it until the next time I use the oven. It's going to be over 100 for the next few days, so this would be a good time to tackle it. If I remember, that is.

So far? Nothing. There's still time though...

Annie

Right now, I'm burning! Not food related but I'm so ticked off and unhappy. I left the house for one hour yesterday and returned to find that someone (still unknown) "mowed" the front yard. They used a non-mulching riding mower and literally drove across and through my border flower beds and large front island bed! They mowed down almost everything and then must have weed whacked to take some down to bare ground. I've lost more than 50% of my gardens and flowers for the year, if not forever. They mowed down all my liatris, trollius, creeping phloxes, primroses, monarda, campanulas, dictamnus, dianthus, echinacea, etc etc.. I'm left with little clumps of half-chopped hostas and some tall phlox. I just want to cry.

YIKES! party_music, how weird is that! I know you must be heart-broken to have all your hard work destroyed. Are there any joy-riding, lawn-mowing, weed-whacking drunks in your neighborhood? Do you or any of your neighbors have outdoor cameras?

I talked to one neighbor who said she saw a bald guy show up with a "3 pt turn mower"(?) and just go at it. Later, another neighbor returned from work and said she had hired some new guy to come and mow her lawn. She has phoned him to see if he did mine, but he hasn't returned her call yet. She did say she'd kill him if he mowed her lawn like he mowed mine. I'm not convinced it was him because he was supposed to mow her front and back yard. Luckily he didn't mow my back yard!!!

I looked for an old pic... this is part of my island garden and it has nothing left but some of the tall phlox and a bit of siberian iris this year. :( :( :(

Here's part of the corner of one of my border gardens... he mowed/whacked the primrose down to bare ground while it was BLOOMING! and the small hosta can't be found. :( :( :(

OMG, how and why would someone do that?? That's nothing short of malicious! I hope you can find out and get some kind of compensation.

A “3 point turn mower” is a big ramma jamma (yes, that is a technical term). Did your neighbor see him ride up on it or did she see him off-load it from a trailer?

Garlic bread that I was top browning in the oven. Blackened. I forgot it was in there while I juggled the other portions of the meal. The whole house smelled like burned bread. Luckily the smoke alarm did not go off.

The 3-point turn mower are what they use on the grounds of the large apartment buildings across from me. They can back up and turn easily with a large floorboard/cutting area.

Party_music: I'd call the police and report this attack on your property. Your garden photo is beautiful.

Never.... Ever..... leave the broiler unattended!!!

I taught my daughter the term “caramelized“ at an early age. As in: “oh, look, I managed to get your toast caramelized”; “wow, I made caramelized green beans tonight”, etc.

I haven't burned anything in a while knock on wood! DH loves to go through a pot a year... He hates timing stuff. Go figure. I convinced him to buy electric kettles years ago but any pot with water on the stove he's supposed to let me know about if I'm there...

What I do when I have to time things on two sides is I use two timers. I use the oven cook timer for the second side. In other words if it's 6 minutes on each side I do 14 minutes so it cooks the right amount of time. I use my second timer for the first 6 minutes I always do a couple extra minutes if I have to flip the food.

another woot for my smart speaker. Mine is used mostly as a timer, and you can have several run concurrently.

I use my iPhone as a timer all the time because it doesn't give up until you turn it off.... unlike many timers that give a few beeps and that's it.

awww, thank you, CA Kate. I did call the police and one came and said he was very sympathetic but that basically there was really nothing he could do. I laughed it off as being trivial in the larger scheme of things, of course, but told him he should know there may be a nut-case in the neighborhood.

@bragu_DSM 5, I have recently begun to use Alexa as a timer. I've even discovered that her cord will reach slightly outside the patio door. YAY! I can now time things on the grill or the side burner. What I haven't mastered yet is naming my timers. But I'm working on it.

set a timer ... set a second timer ... set another timer ... how it knows how I think ...

I pity da fool

party_music50, I am just sick over what that whacko did to your yard. I would have filled out a property-damage report even if there isn't much the police can do at this point. So much work and $$. :-(

My candle at both ends???

Actually, not this month but early May - I almost burned down my house.

I have baby quail, that I got mid April. I set them up in the basement and all. They were fine for a couple of weeks, but because I didn't have a good watering system, I would go down once or twice a night to give them more water (if it is too deep, they will drown, as babies).

Well, one night around 2 am, I went down (I was relying on when my bladder woke me up), and the heat lamp had fallen into the bedding, which was beginning to smolder. I managed to salvage everything except for one poor quail who happened to be under it when this fell. But I still have my house...

I seriously don't want to burn anything else, except by intent!

Oh my gosh Artemis, thank goodness you found it (almost) in time! Maybe a wire mesh covering to prevent this from happening again? I would be totally paranoid!

party-music, I certainly hope you find the culprit and that the company is liable for the damage. What idiot does that??? I would be SO po’ed!

As for burning, after umpteen reminders that the front burner runs hot, I am the recipient of my daughters’ charred pans. Not really a big deal in the grand scheme of things.

I was standing right in front of my eye level wall oven last night toasting homemade burger buns. Cut side up. Just takes a couple minutes. But must watch it. Lost in covid brain fog, I started to walk away when Alexa said, "your buns-are-burning timer is up". 😂

She was a last minute joke gift last holiday. Best 30 bucks spent in recent memory. Sometimes three things on the stovetop and something in the oven. No need to touch a timer, just ask.

Sleeve, why would Alexa say that your buns are burning?

I use Alexa as my timer all the time. Laundry, baking etc.

Artemis!!!! Thank heavens you got up to do your nightly pee!

Because I set it that way, 😂

"Alexa, Set the 'your-buns-are-burning' timer for two minutes"....they were not burning yet but they usually do if I don't set her. I stand there on watch. But often walk away until I smell burnt. If I didn't have Alexa I would need to tie a rope to the oven handle around my waist. Or a dog leash.

I burned one side of a grilled triple cheese sandwich for lunch today. But I ate it anyway, and it was pretty good. Maybe it was just darkly toasted.

Sleeve, that's hilarious! I must be doing something wrong, I always tell Alexa to 'set the timer' for 20 minutes and it chimes. If I tell her to remind me that I have an app't at 2pm, she chimes. She doesn't talk to me.

So if I tell her to set 'the laundry is done' for 20 minutes, she'll tell me that?

I confess. I keep burning my mouth. I'm just not giving those cheesy or saucy foods enough time to cool. Food burning-wise I've been good lately and cannot even remember what that would be.

Jasdip. You probably figured it out by now, but you can name your timers by naming them before saying 'timer'. If I have chickpeas, Marcella beans and a mixed grain, separately on the stovetop, I can name them. "Alexa, set the grain timer for 20 minutes". At 20 minutes she says, "your grain timer is done", then you need to respond, "Alexa, turn off the grain timer".

I cook my dried beans the RanchoGordo way. 3/4 cup soaked at least 6 hours or overnight. Rinse. Cover by at least 2 inches in a high sided pot. Set timer for 15 minutes. (variety by name). On my 'power burner'. Basically my favorite burner, front left. Next to my prep area. (Not my biggest 5th middle burner). It will come to boil in about 10 minutes. At 15 minutes it will be at a good rapid boil every time. The RG method is to bring to a rapid boil for 3-5 minutes. "tell 'em whose boss!". Them move it to the back left simmer burner. Add salt and lid resting just off. Two twenty minute timers set is usually just right depending on the variety. At twenty the pot might need a bit more water. Watching CBS SundayMorning, like right now, I'll have two bens and a mixed grain by the end of the program. Probably cook a small bit of pasta for a cold salad. A quick pickle and a slaw. A good bit of choices to cover the next few days. Anything left by Wednesday, unseasoned, will go in the pups food.

Thank you Alexa for making this kitchen dance so easy. 😜

man, my boston baked beans refused to cook up right ... and although not burned, they tasted scorched and were still quite toothy. never had that happen before. maybe the beer kept them from cooking all the way through?

I am NOT burning my toast, because I found the most ingenious tip in a lovely cookbook from an old-time Southern lady. I've been using some good sourdough, but imagine it would work with most kinds. Butter one side well and cook in the oven or under broiler. "The combination of crispy brown and soft buttered is simply heavenly", as the book says. IMO, it's perfect with a soft or medium egg. My sense of smell isn't great, but with this method, I smell the butter as it starts to brown.

Bragu. often the grocery shelf beans are old. Treat yourself to some fresh RanchoGordo.

mercury, I do that as well. No toaster here. We only toast the one top side. In the wall oven under the broiler. Homemade rustic fresh bread is so good with the bottom soft. Toasty top with butter or olive oil.

I still burn it if I walk away...we are trained by Alexa.

I have been on intermittent fasting for the last 4 months. It took 7 kg. True, there are days when you really want to eat(((

Last night was breaded pork chops. They sure looked burnt, and definitely had a "crisp" black crust, but surprisingly, they didn't taste burnt!

Holy cow, I actually burned something and thought of this thread. :) I grow Lodi apples -- they're ready to pick already! I decided to make a quick applesauce the other afternoon so put it on the stove and walked away and forgot about it. lol! I was using a SS copper-bottom pan, so it cleaned up nicely with a brillo pad. fwiw, it burned very quickly. :O)

Thought I'd just pop back in to say that I just burned the grilled cheese and bacon sandwich I was making for breakfast :-(( My ability to multitask has declined dramatically over the last couple of months and this is clear evidence that if you suffer a similar decline, you should not be on the computer at the same time you are trying to make a grilled cheese!!

gg, I heard a neurologist speak on NPR once. He said humans really can’t multitask effectively. They just end up doing several things poorly at the same time. Good enough for me! I stopped trying to multitask! I’m going for quality over quantity! HA!

Funny how I always remember chefs saying and just general knowledge about not leaving the kitchen while you're cooking. Or watching what you're cooking.

I was cooking my rice recently and decided to write a quick email. One thing led to another, on the computer and my rice was boiling over. Made a mess of the stove. I'm lucky to single-task efficiently, much less multi-task.

What am I burning? This week a couple fingers, one arm and my wrist, I'm a Klutz when I cook. LOL