Failed Recipes That Send You Straight to the Pepto!

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Is your mom a great cook? Or do her creations send you running for the Pepto Bismol? I have to admit my mom is a great cook. While she doesn't cook as much now as she did when we were all younger, she has always been a creative cook who knows her way around a kitchen.

We grew up watching Julia Child with a dash of Graham Kerr, The Galloping Gourmet on TV. Although with six people to feed on a budget our food was rarely 'gourmet.' But my mom was always on the hunt for the next great recipe. Unfortunately for us she read the newspaper daily... and the newspaper was the source of nearly all unpalatable food served at our house.

"Oh no! Another newspaper recipe!" was a familiar lament at our dinner table when my mom was  trying out new recipes (some from the newspaper). Some of her new recipes were big hits, but it seemed every recipe she tried from the newspaper was a ... disaster... yes I think that's the polite way of putting it.

Not to say Mom isn't a great cook (and still is), it was those dreaded newspaper recipes! But since the rule at our house was 'eat what's served,' we all did (or were hungry!) Not that any of us were ever in danger of starvation! Even if the main dish was a disaster there were plenty of veggie and side dishes to go around.

I don't know if whoever wrote for the paper in those days just didn't try out the recipes they published or if they were just horrible cooks! Or maybe they didn't have any taste buds. I was very grateful when she stopped trying them and moved on to some magazines that actually TESTED how things tasted before publishing them.

As an adult I'm a decent cook but not on a par with Mom (or my sister who is an excellent cook). But I learned one important lesson growing up...AVOID the newspaper recipes. So as you are planning your Easter dinner and can't decide what to cook, talk to friends, consult good cookbooks, or good cooking magazines, call your mother or your sister, but PLEASE do your family a favor...no newspaper recipes! And if you must, be sure to keep a family size bottle of Pepto Bismol on hand!