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Monday June 18, 2012 | 01:54 PM
I'm not usually very receptive to advice. Someone starts a sentence with, "You know what you should do..." and I reflexively stop listening.

Hence why I'm such a bad flosser with poorly managed investments and a car that rarely gets treated to preventative maintenance.

But when it comes to cooking, I'll take advice from just about anywhere. Those expert tips and educated recommendations can mean the difference between prematurely flipped pancakes and pancakes that are flipped at just the right moment - when the batter starts bubbling. And I will not stand for a pancake with batter in the middle. It's shameful!

Currently, I'm taking advice from a deck of cards. The Worst-Case Scenario Card Game: Cooking was gifted to me from a friend a few weeks ago. I appreciated the gag (go ahead, mock my culinary crusade. No parsnip latkes for you!). But it turns out, they're actually educational.

Each card lists a "culinary catastrophe" and possible solutions - including the correct one.

Some solutions I knew.

And some will come in handy later, like when I try making polenta or when I have a dinner party and decide to serve my guests crappy caviar.

Some scenarios I've already encountered in my kitchen - like the threat of poisoning another person (who, most likely, is someone I like and don't want to poison. Otherwise I wouldn't waste effort cooking dinner. I'd just straight up poison them).

There's always the threat of burning the house down. I've kept my burning to sauces and English muffins. Oh, and my own arms.

And then there's liver tips. I won't need this one. Ever. It's liver. Gross.

And finally, the advice I haven't had the pleasure of putting into practice, but certainly will in the not-too-distant future.

Home » Blogs » Pans on fire

About the Author

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Shannon Bryan is a feature writer for the Portland Press Herald and content producer for MaineToday Media's entertainment website, www.mainetoday.com.

And here's a well-known truth: Shannon can't cook. She's also ostroconophobic (in Maine?!?), but in a foodie place like southern Maine, she's determined to learn how to cook, eat, and order with the best of them. Read about her culinary crusade:
Pans on fire

She's also an investigator into all that's strange and entertaining to do around here. Those findings are gathered here:
Out Going: Things to do in southern Maine

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Categories

> Recipes - The easy kind

> Drinky Drink

> Cooking Classes

> Meet your food

> Burn Gallery

> How to

> New Cook Tips

> The Vegetable Garden Experiment

Previous entries

July 2012

June 2012

May 2012

April 2012

March 2012

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