About 4 years ago, right after I had my first baby, a friend brought me some individual-sized, home-made, frozen chicken pot pies. The first time I had one, I was hooked. These delicious, one-dish meals were full of flavour and vegetables (two things sadly lacking in my own cooking). She said they were easy to make and passed on the recipe so I could fill my freezer with a healthy supply.
It took me 2 years to finally summon the courage to attempt what did not look like an "easy" recipe at all. But, I pulled up my shirt sleeves and resolved to make a large batch. I cooked the chicken. I washed, cut, and cooked the vegetables. I had my store-bought pie shells ready. I just needed to make the filling and thicken it with cornstarch. The recipe said something like "add cornstarch to thicken". What kind of instruction is that? I started small, without any real idea of how much cornstarch I should be adding. I stirred and stirred and that filling did not thicken. I added more cornstarch. Still nothing. By the time I had added more than a cup of the stuff, I started to become concerned. Then I read the box. Oh. It thickens over heat. A helpful thing to know. So I brought my cornstarch-saturated mixture to a boil. And boy did it thicken. It solidified right in the pot. I scooped it into my pie shells, crossed my fingers, and froze all 30 portions.
Inedible portions, it later turned out. And this is why this project is so important. I clearly need help.
Ha! I learned the very same lesson! I was excited to make real home-cooked gravy (not the kind from the package, even though it is quite delicious). And someone gave me the very same instructions, they said to add cornstarch to thicken it up. Either these people completely underestimated our abilities in the kitchen, or they knew full well our abilities and just wanted a laugh when we reported back to them what happened. Either way, lesson learned... if you put too much in, you can't scoop it back out!
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