Thank you to Mary at Kettle & Cup for this post on recalled enamel tea kettles – if you bought one between October 2005 and January 2010, check out her post!

Last night I went to a local pub that I’ve been going to for years.  I’ve always liked everything I’ve ordered there, and considering how long I’ve been going there, that’s a pretty good streak.  Tried something new last night, and it simply was NOT my cup of tea.  (Actually, I used the word awful.)  There wasn’t anything wrong with how it was cooked, it was what I ordered, just not what I liked.

I gave it back to the bartender and told him so.  (Not mean, not upset, just “Wow, that was a very bad decision on my part!”)  The other bartender said he liked it, and I told him to knock himself out and feel free to finish it.  (It was a shrimp dish, so it’s not like it was a half-eaten pasta dish or something like that – it was an easily shared item.)

So, I was just happy that it didn’t go to waste.  But, my bartender insisted on taking it off the check.  And then we argued about it.  (Good naturedly.)  I told him they shouldn’t have to take it off the check just because I made a bad decision.  It wasn’t their fault – it was what I ordered and they didn’t cook it wrong.  I just didn’t like it.

I lost, and it came off the check.  (I still tipped on what the total would have been with the shrimp.)

I still think it’s not their fault!

First problem being that I have lived 35 years on this planet and never actually made a pot roast. Mom always did it, I never knew how (it always just seemed to appear) and she didn’t leave instructions behind. Well, time to research.

I pored over recipes, conferred with old school comfort food cooks, blindly wandered the roast section of the market. Today I watched Alton Brown’s pot roast show.

I am now more confused than ever – and have seen nothing that resembles what Mom used to make.

I’m not giving up, but the pot roast may be a January thing at the rate I am going.