For many of us, cooking has its challenges. From scorched sauce to charred chicken, it’s pretty amazing when every once in awhile we have a moment of pure success where something turns out absolutely perfect. Whether burnt or beautiful, the important thing is that we learn from each other.
If you have a memorable delight or disaster that could offer helpful hints to others, email your experiences to
mix.recipecontest@gmail.com and include the following information:
- Delight, disaster or Both?
- Name, Age, Class, Major
- Hometown: City and State
Delight
I have to admit that although Jell-O with shredded carrots isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, there is one typical Mormon treat that I love: Frog Eye Salad. This sweet fruit concoction is a delicious blend of acini di pepe (little pasta bites), eggs, mandarin oranges, pineapple, sugar and whipped topping. Other recipes may call for grapes, lemon juice, maraschino cherries, marshmallows or nuts. It seems like pasta is the one ingredient that doesn’t belong, but it provides the right texture to make this recipe complete. Because of the ingredients, it is best if refrigerated beforehand. Most recipes make enough to feed about 20 people and are easily doubled for larger groups. I made it for a ward activity last year and it was gone within minutes. Many people had never had it and were awed at my amazing cooking skills, but it’s really just easy to make and always turns out well since there is more mixing than cooking involved. It gets by as a fruit salad although it should probably be considered a dessert because it tastes so good. If you haven’t yet experienced this amazing treat, there are tons of recipes available online.
Natalie Mitts
Overland Park, Kansas
Disaster
It was a fateful night in May as I returned home from work. The night was busy, so I knew I needed to eat quickly. In between American Gladiators and heading off to swimming I pulled down a thing of Pasta Roni. The direction called to boil two cups of water and then dump in the pasta, then let it go for 12-14 minutes. As I lay on the couch watching Nitro pummel another guy in the joust I smelled something burning. Since I live in a guys apartment complex I just assumed that it was coming from somewhere else, for it couldn’t have been mine; my pasta had only been cooking for like 10 minutes. As the smell intensified I decided to check on the pasta. But it did come to pass that all the water had boiled out of the pot, and there before me lay a scorched and burnt pot of pasta shells. In a final attempt to rescue my precious shells I threw in more water, I wasn’t about to just let my pasta go to waste. Alas though the pasta never recovered to its once grandeur state, and wo to me for I dined on Mac and Cheese that dreary night.
Jacob Ewing
Anchorage, Alaska
Delight
Whenever I’m asked to bring a dessert for a large group. I never stress because of one word: Trifle. That’s right. The trifle is a no fail, easy recipe to make for a larger group. Often times you can make a trifle the night before or the morning of, thus allowing you to not stress the few hours before the event. If you don’t know what a trifle is it is a traditional English dessert made with layers of custard, fruit, sponge or pound cake, whipped cream and other various ingredients. I like to vary what I make, sometimes it’s a chocolate brownie trifle with pudding and whipped cream, other times it is a sponge cake with strawberries and custard. Either way, you are bound for success and your friends and family will love it too! To find a good recipe, search your cookbooks or just do an Internet search for a trifle recipe. Enjoy!
Becky Olsen
Orem, Utah
