Comedy of Errors

So I got off work early (due to construction going on in our office) and figured it would be a good night to take dinner down to Rob and Cindy’s since I had extra time to fuss with it. (I have offered to have them down for dinner, but with their little one, it’s easier to eat down there. So sometimes, we take a meal down there.) So I called and left a message that I could bring down steak or chicken to grill, along with a side.

They called about 5pm and said that sounds good, but they have stuff to grill (brats and burgers), so just bring the side! And that’s where the comedy of errors really starts.

I had been planning on making candied yams to go with the steak/chicken, but that didn’t really seem like a suitable side for brats/burgers, so I went to the pantry to find something that would go better with that meal.

I thought “Oh, green bean casserole sounds good!” but of course I didn’t have all the ingredients (only one can of soup).

So then I thought “Oh, I will just take green beans and put cheese and bacon in them.” Except that the frozen green beans were a little freezer burnt and I won’t do that to friends.

So then I thought “Oh, I will make rice!” but by then I had wasted like 10 minutes trying to decide what I was making—and I was supposed to be there at 5:30—so I didn’t have time to make rice.

So it was back to the candied yams. I turned the oven on to preheat while I started reducing the sauce. I thought I smelled something burning/cooking, but there was nothing on the burner, so I didn’t think much about it. So five minutes later the oven beeps and I open the door and—OH. MY. GOD. I had left a cardboard box in there from my spa party the day before…and the edges were turning black and the plastic covering on the box was melting and there was a bit of smoke pouring out. So I grabbed it and threw it on the floor, had to grab tongs to get out a small piece of cardboard that was actually on the heating element, and then hurried to turn on all the fans and open the doors and windows—the last thing I needed was all the smoke detectors to go off! 88|

It all turned out okay, but it was not the experience I had anticipated!