Jello fail

My skills in the kitchen are pretty rudimentary. My roommate might disagree. She thinks everything I make is awesome and that I am a great chef. I know how to cook. I know how to bake. But knowing how to doesn't mean you have skills.

I particularly like to make soups and salads, and other foods where you can kind of play around with it and add whatever you want. I don't like following rules. I kind of just make it up myself.

Baking is more rigid in the necessity of following the recipe. I understand that it is partly a science, and if I do not add the correct measurements of ingredients it is bound to fail.

I am similar to my mother in the sense that I know I can make good simple food but I don't believe I am exemplary. My mother makes good food. I recall friends of mine often saying "My mom makes the beeeeest..... ______________" and I never said that. To me, the food somehow just appeared on the table. Only when I got older did I start asking my mother, how do you make this, what about that dish that I really like. And she would respond, I don't really cook, I kind of just throw it together. Well teach me how to 'throw it together' because that was amazing!

I ate by my brother on Shabbos day. He always has very interesting dishes. Never anything simple. Sometimes I like it and sometimes I smile and say wow everything looks great.

He brings out dessert and it looks so pretty. They say presentation is everything. Dessert is.... cubes of strawberry jello. He arranged them in pyramids in fancy cocktail glasses and the red with the glass gave it a very elegant effect. Of course, cold jello is refreshing after any meal.

This week I was craving jello. I have never made jello before, but of course it is so simple. Just add hot water. So I picked up a packet and decided to make it.

I always scoff at people who say 'I can't bake, I ruin every recipe.' And I say, "How can you ruin Duncan Hines?????" It baffles me. It's so simple. You follow the recipe. The end.

Of course I followed the recipe. It said to boil water. So I did. It said to measure out two cups. So I did. The water was hot. Some of it splashed on the counter. I of course added more water, because I wouldn't want to deviate from the instructions.... I mixed it, like it said to. I poured it into ice cube trays. So far so good. I put it in the fridge, and let it cool, anticipating my strawberry jelloey goodness.

I waited. And waited. And checked it. Still liquidy. Still not jello....

Of course I realized my mistake. Sometimes there is such a thing as too much.

That jello never did turn into much of anything. I put it in the freezer and made strawberry flavored ice cubes and told my roommate to eat them all because I wasn't interested. I wanted jello... Oh jello...

I may try again. My mom taught me that if you make a mistake you fix it. When I was may 10 I begged her to let me go to the store for her, telling her how responsible I was. She sent me to the meat store with instructions to buy a specific type of meat. I stood there staring at all the red meats, everything looked the same to me. I didn't ask anyone for help because, well, I don't do that. So I got something, came home and of course it was the wrong thing. So I cried. Then I went back to the store again.

Always fix your mistakes. And follow the directions more carefully next time. Despite the best intentions, there is such a thing as too much.