They can’t all be winners…

If I were a camera, where would I be?

Why, I’d be right in Miss Wendy’s purse, where she looked 100 times. Where else?

Hmmmm….what to write about today? I could write about wheatberries, and how they are a great, versatile addition to any pantry, or I could write about Jicama and how I love the sweetish crunch it gives to salads and sandwiches…

But instead, I think I’ll write about how sometimes the best intentions in the kitchen go totally south, and you end up with a big bowl of bleh.

The big bag of wheatberries on my counter kept heckling me, “Wendy, what are you going to dooooooo with me????” until I’d finally had enough. I decided to pop them into the crockpot on my day off so I could enjoy a creamy wheatberry breakfast porridge the next morning. 

So in they went, 3 cups of them, with 7 cups of water an 1/2 tsp of salt. I’m not sure if that is exactly right or not, but they came out beautifully after about 4 hours on high and 2 on low.

I added 1 1/2 cups of wheatberries and 1 1/2 cups of rolled oats to 2 cups of coconut milk and about 1/4 cup of dried cranberries. A few tester bites told me it needed a little cinnamon. (next time, I’m thinking cardamom…)

In the morning, I ended up adding a little almond milk to thin it out after a minute in the microwave. A few almonds and a tiny spoonful of coconut butter and it was a true fuzzy blanket of a breakfast–warm and comforting. I love the chewy texture wheatberries give to a dish, especially when it jazzes up my morning oats. I love them, but they do need a little pizzazz once in a while.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Rewind to the night before…

After preparing the next day’s breakfast, I found myself with lots of leftover wheatberries, so I put some in the freezer and had a few cups left for playing…and that’s when the wheels started turning…

Many of my best recipes happen just that way. I start off with one ingredient I need to use  up, take an inventory of what I have, and start into Mad Scientist Mode. But every once in a while, things do not go exactly as planned.

Hanging on my fridge was a recipe from Rachael Ray….Heck of a Jicama Slaw. 

Hmmm…I have a big jicama to use up. I also have lime, and cumin, and honey, and cilantro….

You can see where this is going, right?

I also had the very first of the season’s yellow pear tomatoes. Too cute!

Yes, those are Silly Bandz…what’s it to ya?  :)

Since I didn’t have all the ingredients to follow RR’s recipe exactly, I omitted some and added in my tomatoes and wheatberries. 

And this was the finished product:

Pretty ugly, isn’t it? If you eat with your eyes first, as Chef wisdom says, my eyes said, “Bleh!”

Remarkably, this did have a pretty nice sweet and spicy flavor, but the texture was a little weird, and the color offputting. We ate it, but it didn’t float my boat, if you know what I mean. Not a keeper. 

Sorry, Rachael Ray.

Lessons for the day: 

1. When Rachael Ray recommends jicama matchsticks, listen to her. Shredding in the processor releases far too much water and makes for a not-so-pleasant mush.

2. Sometimes it is ok to just throw it all into the compost pile and start over. 

Have a happy 4th of July weekend, all! I look forward to hearing about it!

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I know I’m not alone…Tell me about your less-than-wonderful recipe mishaps!