The night I tried to impress a date with my cooking and set the smoke alarm off

Back in my early 20s, I used to think the best way to wow a date was to cook something fancy from scratch. I remember one time I invited a girl over and tried to make a lemon butter sauce for some fish. Within 5 minutes I had the pan too hot, butter burning everywhere, and the smoke alarm went off so loud we couldn't hear each other talk. The whole apartment filled with smoke and I had to open all the windows in January. She just sat there on the couch looking at me like I was a total disaster. Now I just order pizza or pick a decent takeout place before the date even shows up. Why do we think we have to be these perfect chefs just to impress someone? Has anyone else totally fumbled a home cooked date meal?

3 comments

3 Comments

adam_lewis28d ago

Ain't that the truth? I tried to make a pasta from scratch for a date once, used this old family recipe for a cream sauce and somehow ended up with a scorched, lumpy mess that looked like scrambled eggs. She was a vegetarian too so I was trying to be all thoughtful, and I ended up serving her what looked like burnt cheese curds on spaghetti. She was nice about it but I think she knew I was in over my head from the moment I started sweating over the stove.

lindab4928d ago

Oh man you cooked the poor butter alive and had to air out January just to save face. At least the smoke alarm doubles as a romantic fire drill, really gets the heart pumping for round two. My go to move is now a microwave dinner and a lie that it's "deconstructed gourmet," works like a charm every time.

olivia_allen28d ago

Isn't it funny how every little screw-up in the kitchen turns into some big story we gotta tell... makes you wonder why we can't just admit we burned the toast and move on.