A Foodie Faux Pas Dinner Party...

YES...a total foodie disaster dinner party....Let me back up a bit...

While in Oahu, at the timeshare, I offered to cook dinner for some friends who live there....Just a simple dinner, mostly to relax and visit.

Me & Ornery

I grew up eating and making Loco Moco. My Dad, who was stationed on Honolulu, fell in love with Hawaii and the food.  He made Loco Moco enough that it was a regular meal at our house. I would tease my Dad that this was Hawaiian okie food....Much like our Hamburger Gravy over Mashed Potatoes or SOS... (Sh%t on a Shingle). He always agreed. I love it so much that I made this fairly often myself through my adult life. So... back to the night of the foodie faux pas dinner....

I had made a version of Loco Moco on my last visit to Oahu...One of our friends LOVED it! I offered to make it AGAIN this trip.  Ornery and I went grocery shopping and started cooking. I never gave any thought to the meal not turning out! Everything was going great...our guests were arriving soon.

WHEN... the smoke detector went off! The timer I had set on the stove was so faint, I never heard it go off!!! My first batch of Pineapple pastries were RUINED!!! (Second batch was good, will post later.)

I cleared the kitchen/living room of smoke. Got the fire alarm off, dumped the overcooked pastries, started the brown gravy & hollandaise sauce  (yes...I was fixing my gourmet recipe).  Ornery took the trash out!

WONDERFUL, I thought...but no time to waste...I had gravy on the stove, (the rice and meat were already cooked and waiting ). I slipped the SECOND batch of pastries in the oven. The gravy and sauce turned out perfect and I turn OFF the burners, to let them set. OFF, (is the key word)....OR SO I THOUGHT!

One of our guests arrived, cocktail served, I sat for a... MOMENT! THEN...I went to stir the gravy and sauce...AND, as I get up from the chair...I see the sauce FOAMING! What the HECK! The burners to the stove were turned off!  OFF!!!  NOPE! The knobs were OFF but the heat had still been on! OMG!!!! I had BURNT gravy and SCOLDED sauce! NOTHING I could do! In the sink the pans WENT!

I called my Hawaiian sister..."Help! My gravy is burnt!!!!"    "No worries Sis, she calmly said...I will get some at the restaurant downstairs."  YIKES!  I decide to cook a traditional Hawaiian dish for my Hawaiian friends who are family and THIS HAPPENS!

I OFFERED TO TAKE EVERYONE TO DINNER DOWNSTAIRS!  We didn't!  We salvaged the dinner and life went on! We had a great visit, and on this night, through my embarrassment, I truly experience the real value of friends who are family! AND, that is PRICELESS!
                                                  But, I never want to do the multi foodie faux pas again!

Lessons learned: Never offer to cook for friends when NOT in your own kitchen! And, Life is PERFECT when you choose friends who become FAMILY!

XO