Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Life lesson: never leave leftovers unattended...overnight

So I made the crowd-pleasing chicken enchiladas last night for dinner, along with cheese biscuits and green beans, and afterwards decided I didn't feel like cleaning everything up (let me just tell you, it looked like i had cooked for twenty people there were so many things piled on top of each other in that tiny place) so I decided to wait and Chad and I proceeded to watch the Shawshank Redemption for his last night off for a while (watch that movie if you haven't seen it...great movie. not for the kids though...). Anyways after I said my "Ugh I'll just clean it up later" we talked about how its funny that Mom's are always in the kitchen afterwards scrubbing and loading the dishwasher and always say "Let me just clean up before ______". How silly, just put it off....how naive we are.

Well I learned why moms say this. This morning, on our way out the door, I realized I had forgotten to put away the rest of the ENTIRE dish of leftover enchiladas (about 5 or 6) that we had planned on being our meals for the next couple days. So that is strike one, no meals. Strike two came later this afternoon when I walked in from class to the smell of food, and not the good smell of "mmm fresh baked cookies!" or "wow apple pie!" or anything even remotely close. It was more like a "wow your trash really needs to be taken out soon..." smell. Strike two. The third was when i gave in and finally started cleaning up. Trying to rather. I rinsed, I scrubbed, I tried to conquer all of the disgusting smelling crusty leftover food stuck all over everything, finally accomplishing the task about an hour later. There is still one pan sitting on top of the stove that I didn't see and refuse to wash yet. My hands are still recovering.

Ok so while that was a bit stretched as to how bad it was, I really do understand why everyone wants to clean up right after the meal and now I believe I will as well. I want to extend a thank you to my Mom and everyone else who has ever cooked for me. I appreciate your hard work, and I sympathize with all of you who have gone through this same catastrophe.

4 comments:

karen cavender said...

Oh my goodness! I really feel for you! All cooks do this....once. And then they do what you did and get on board with the "clean up after the meal" bandwagon. Welcome to the club!

Haven't commented on your blogs even though I'm reading them all. Wow, I love the pictures you put up! That camera worked good! Can't wait to see the rest--have you put them on Webshots yet?

And your cake turned out great! Wow, hard to believe a month has gone by...seems like just yesterday we were running around crazy making final plans for the wedding ceremony. Now all that is behind you and our lives have settled back down into the familiar schoolyear routine. I'm so glad you are so happy! :)

Love to you both!

karen cavender said...

P.S. Love your new picture at the top of the page!!! :)

Anonymous said...

Thanks for making me laugh here at work at my computer today! It's funny because we've all left dishes overnight and regretted it at some point. "LIVE AND LEARN" is a good motto when actual learning takes place. And in your case you are having LOTS of opportunities to learn new things!
I like the way that you write - its enjoyable to read. And thanks for feeding my son some great food this semester. I think he's owes you and Chad some grilled steak! :)
Aunt Nancy

Anonymous said...

Hey, great blog Cristy! I love reading everything you're learning and doing as a newly married couple...it's been 11 years since everything was new to us. ha Okay, have you heard that if you soak a dryer sheet in a crusty dish or pan, the crud will come off so easy? Well, I tried it...but plain ol' water and soap worked for me just as well. So that was a waste of a sentence. But I read it once and tried it..tho't it was funny to do.
Love the underwater pictures and the pic of your cake you made! YUM!
HAVE FUN!
Love, Aunt Sandy