To be a better cook ...

We were out of town this past weekend, so I didn't cook Friday, Saturday or Sunday, and tonight I ate a salad while Patrick ate two bowls of Lucky Charms. Sad, I know. But I'm just keeping it real. I am glad that I have a husband who doesn't mind eating cereal for dinner every once in a while. I think he actually enjoys it.

I might not have cooked, but I did find a good article on CookingLight.com. I went there on a search for healthy salmon recipes and found this article instead (I also found what looks to be a good salmon recipe. I'm going to attempt to incorporate fish into our diet and my cooking repertoire).

I love to cook, but I am so very, very amateur. If I had the time, the money, a maid and a nanny, I would love to take cooking classes. But, alas, I am the maid and the nanny - er, mommy - and sometimes my lack of knowledge and experience means that I wing it in the kitchen. But I love to learn, and I would like to be a better cook, so I hope that reading this helps me have fewer kitchen foibles.

I've made at least 10 of these mistakes (but never, never #9), and have learned from them. Hopefully reading this list will help me avoid the other 15!

The 25 most common cooking mistakes
Click here to read the entire article
1. You don’t taste as you go.
2. You don’t read the entire recipe before you start cooking.
3. You make unwise substitutions in baking.
4. You boil when you should simmer.
5. You overheat chocolate.
6. You over-soften butter.
7. You overheat low-fat milk products.
8. You don’t know your oven’s quirks and idiosyncrasies.
9. You’re too casual about measuring ingredients.
10. You overcrowd the pan.
11. You mishandle egg whites.
12. You turn the food too often.
13. You don’t get the pan hot enough before you add the food.
14. You slice meat with―instead of against―the grain.
15. You underbake cakes and breads.
16. You don’t use a meat thermometer.
17. Meat gets no chance to rest after cooking.
18. You try to rush the cooking of caramelized onions.
19. You overwork lower-fat dough.
20. You neglect the nuts you’re toasting.
21. You don’t shock vegetables when they’ve reached the desired texture.
22. You put all the salt in the marinade or breading.
23. You pop meat straight from the fridge into the oven or onto the grill.
24. You don’t know when to abandon ship and start over.
25. You use inferior ingredients.

What have you learned from your time in the kitchen?