Friday, 11 January 2008

• Currently Reading The Education of Henry Adams By Henry Adams see related

  So this happens to me over and over - I see a recipe on Hungry Girl and get really excited about it.  I go to the store, buy all the (totally random, not the kind you already have in your pantry) ingredients, make the recipe, et voila! I am always disappointed.  There are two reasons for this:
  
  - Hungry Girl WAY over-promises.  Here's an example from the recipe I tried last night, the Sweet Cinnamon Fritter Fries: "This time around, they're sweet, sassy, and so good, they'll make your head explode. We're not even sure what these things are -- a snack, a breakfast, a side dish, or a dessert. All we know is that THEY'RE INSANELY DELICIOUS!!!!"  So that sounds pretty good, right?  Here's where the second reason comes in.
  - I am naive enough to get sucked in by the over-promises every time.  What fool actually believes that butternut squash cut to look like French fries, battered in Egg Beaters and ground up fiber cereal with a little cinnamon and Splenda, and then baked, is actually going to live up to the promise of being INSANELY DELICIOUS with four exclamation points?  Yes, that's me raising my hand.
  
  Now, to be fair, Hungry Girl has some good recipes.  Her 1-point peanut butter fudge is decent, and her beverages are too - the blended vanilla pseudo-Frappucino is actually pretty good.  Here's what I think happens to me: I believe the promises.  I go through all the work to produce the recipe - and they're usually pretty labor intensive.  Peel the squash. Cut the squash.  Grind the cereal.  Batter the squash.  Bake the squash. Turn the squash over and bake again.  Measure ridiculously small amounts of 10 different seasonings. And so on...after all this work, you want the result to be rewarding, not ehhh.  On the other hand, Hungry Girl has no business promising that these Sweet Cinnamon Fritter Fries are going to be "MMMMMMM!!!!!!!" as she does here.  No offense, but seven Ms and seven exclamation points should be reserved for something that truly deserves them, like cheesecake or creme brulee, not squash gussied up in such a way that it only resembles French toast sticks if you've lost all taste bud function.  These things are two Ms, three Ms max.  No exclamation point.
  
  So this is it, Hungry Girl.  I think we should take a break.  You don't keep your word often enough for me to keep trusting you.  I'm choosing to break the bad cycle in our relationship because I can't trust myself to be around you. 
  
  No more recipes.

  • 12:46 PM
  • 31 Views
  • 0 eProps
  • 0 Comments