Cooking—it’s that optional thing that we do when we don’t want to look like lazy good-for-nothings eating cheese and salami straight out of the pack and munching on raw vegetables instead of making a salad. Even cavemen and barbarians were able to cook things well. But even with the help of modern technology, we sometimes end up absolutely butchering our meals and making mega cooking fails.

Prepare your stomachs, dear Readers, for Bored Panda has baked up a feast of the most incredible cooking fails for you to enjoy. Upvote your fave pics and leave a comment about the times you messed up while cooking. Psst. We’ve got more epic cooking fails for you to taste right here, here, and here. Remember to chew well and take your time. Patience and focus have a lot to do with success in the kitchen (and in life, but that’s another story). If you’re distracted or running around like a headless chicken then odds are, you’ll make a ton of mistakes. Before you know it, your spaghetti’s on fire. Or worse—it’s fallen straight inside your shoes. Don’t believe us? Scroll on down.

Pie artist and baking and cooking pro Jessica Clark-Bojin was kind enough to give Bored Panda a few great tips and tricks to help all of us out in the kitchen and prevent massive disasters from happening. “Kitchen ‘mistakes’ can range from the catastrophic, ‘I forgot the pot roast in the oven and now the kitchen is on fire’ to the more benign, ‘I accidentally put paprika in the cookies instead of cinnamon’, but in most instances, they stem from the same thing: distraction and a lack of preparation.” Read on for her delicious insights into avoiding kitchen mistakes.

#1 We Tried To Make “Ladybug Rolls”

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#2 Sausage Rolls

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#3 Friend Sent Me This. Composition: “Dad Tried To Make Wine”

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Jessica pointed out that anyone who wants to improve in the kitchen should start by taking some time to think about and picture in their mind all the steps before diving in and starting to bake or cook. That way, you can avoid slip ups, blunders, and setting your entire kitchen aflame.

“Make sure you have all the ingredients you need before you start baking. Work ‘mis-en-place’ and have all the bowls, spoons, tools, etc. cleaned and out on the counter ready for you. Measure out dry ingredients in advance, and (if called for) portion out wet ingredients and chill in the fridge. Clean up pots and pans while your mixture bakes,” Jessica shared.

#4 Apparently Using A Syringe To Inject The Filling Of A Jelly Bun Doesn’t Work That Well

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#5 Found The Spoon, Honey

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#6 Tonight Was Foreign Culture Night In My House So I Decided To Cook A Traditional Dish From Pompeii

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According to the pie expert, it’s hard to make mistakes if you follow these steps. Or, at the very least, following them will mean that you’ll catch any mistakes before they become really big issues. “Taking the few extra minutes to prep will give you a lovely stress-free baking experience!”

Jessica also shared that everyone in her family cooks, but they all have different dietary preferences. So tasting food can be a challenge. “We have family members who are vegetarian, vegan, celiac (and just plain fussy) and it’s not always possible for the cook to taste what they are making for everyone else. But you can always bring in a pinch-taster and get a second opinion!”

#7 Husband Tried To Make A Dolphin For My Cocktail. It’s The Cutest Eel I’ve Ever Seen

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#8 My Sister Made Some French Fries

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#9 5 Minutes Before Closing After A 12-Hour Shift

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Other professionals echo Jessica’s advice, too. Katie Workman from the Associated Press writes that we should all read through recipes all the way through ahead of time so that we can get all the ingredients that we need. What’s more, we’ll be well prepared for any time-consuming surprises in advance.

You should also get all of your ingredients ready before you start cooking. After all, if you’re supposed to be sauteing your veggies but you’re still chopping your bell peppers while your mushrooms are already frying, you might end up with a weird mix of under and over-cooked food.

Finally, keep in mind that seasoning makes all the difference to the taste of the dish. So add a pinch of salt and pepper here and there from time to time. During prep. In the middle of cooking. Right before serving. Try to find the balance between overseasoning and utter blandness. Oh, and remember to sharpen your knives!

#10 My Friend Made A “Hedgehog” For Her 14-Year-Old Son’s Birthday

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#11 Creepy Pancake

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#12 I Was Told You Guys Might Appreciate This. Made A Pie Today. Dropped A Pie Today

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#13 I Baked Some Strawberry Cakes In Cat-Shaped Pans, Then Iced Them. They Came Out Looking Like Burn Victims

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#14 I Was Making Home Made Chicken Stock. After Simmering For Hours, The Recipe Said To Pour It Through A Strainer. God Damn It

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#15 I’ll Never Be Someone’s Bride

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#16 My Apple Broke The Apple Cutter And Now I Have A Weapon

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#17 So My Wife Grilled Corn Tonight. For 2 1/2 Hours

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#18 My Night After Work

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#19 Go To Make Pasta, The First Pot Slips And I Pour It All On The Ground. Make A Second Pot And The Handle Straight Up Breaks And My Pasta Goes Everywhere. Didn’t Eat; Had A Lil Cry

Not to mention that firstly I came home late from work and drop my open sandwich in the parking lot. 

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#20 Bake Bread They Said. An Overnight Rise Will Taste So Good They Said. Put In The Fridge They Said. It’s So A Rewarding Hobby They Said

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#21 When All I Want To Do Is Make Spaghetti, But All Signs Point To It Not Happening

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#22 Well I Tried

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#23 Guess I Cut It A Little Too Hard

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#24 Boiled An Egg This Morning And I Think Something Went Horribly Wrong

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#25 Yikes

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#26 Birthday Cake Attempt This Weekend

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#27 This Sums Up My Day. Why Isn’t My Stock Simmering… It’s Been Over An Hour

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#28 Tried Cooking A Sweet Potato In My New Air Fryer Today

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#29 Happy Thanksgiving From My Little Sister’s First Ever Turkey

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#30 I Tried To Make A Cake With A Lobster Shaped Dish

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#31 Over The Holidays My Sister Tried To Make A Peppermint Candy Platter On A Perforated Pizza Pan

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#32 I Tried To Bake

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#33 My Mom Wanted A Cherry Pie. After Making One From Scratch I Dropped It On My Way To Deliver To Her Porch

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#34 Broiled Sids

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#35 My Submission For Dumbest Way To Injure Yourself: I Burnt My Hand Taking Tomato Soup Out Of The Microwave. The Toast I Was Making Popped Up And It Scared Me

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#36 My Sister Made My Brother A Birthday Cake

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#37 What My Brother Was Trying To Make vs. What He Actually Made

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#38 Forgot To Set A Timer Boiling Eggs. The Sound Of Them Exploding Reminded Me

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#39 Black Bean “Burrito” My Roommate Made With Rice Paper. He Was Out Of Tortillas And Said “I Didn’t Think It Would Look Like That”

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#40 I Was Making Thai Basil Chicken Then I Turned Around For A Minute And My Brother Put Blue Food Dye In It. He’s 19

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#41 How’s Your Day Going?

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#42 My Dad Got Mad At A Pizza He Was Making And Threw It At Our Fence

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#43 A Beast Cheesecake

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#44 Just Makin’ Smoothies

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#45 Tried To Make Brownies

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#46 I Forgot To Take The Old Coffee Pod Out Of The Coffee Maker Before Making Cup Noodles

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#47 Asked My Boyfriend To Bake The Croissants For Our Dinner

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#48 Still Looking For An Answer On How This Happens

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#49 Someone Left A Bread Pudding In The Back Of The Oven For 5 Days. So Here Is My New Pet Rock, Charlie

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#50 My Own Invention: Eggplant With A Side Of Melted Knife

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#51 Attempted To Make Flower Pancakes For My Wife As A Mother’s Day Surprise But They Ended Up Looking Like Corona Cakes

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#52 I Way Over-Estimated My Abilities

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#53 My Girlfriend Made Vegetarian Hotdogs

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#54 Me: This Tin Should Be Big Enough. Banana Bread: Freedom

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#55 I Made A Lasagna For Lunch. Here’s The Result

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#56 Birthday Cake I Made For My Husband. He’s So Lucky To Have Me

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#57 My Coffee Cup Managed To Fall Out Of The Cupboard On Top Of My Bowl Of Cereal This Morning

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#58 Ffs

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#59 My Daughter Used A Plastic Cutting Board For A Pizza Pan

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#60 There Was An Attempt By My Dad To Make My Brother A Patrick Star Birthday Cake

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#61 First Night In The New House And My Wife Cooks A Plastic Bag On The Brand New Stove

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#62 Just Wanted To Be Romantic, Ended Up With Lumpy Romance

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#63 Dropped My Pizzaghetti

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#64 This Cake

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#65 The Cook At Applebee’s Forgot To Take The Plastic Off The Slice Of Cheese Before He Added It To My Wife’s Sandwich

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#66 A Bee Stung My Foot When I Put Them On. 40 Mins Later

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#67 My Mom Accidently Cooked My Sister Farrah’s Glove. This Is Where I Get My Cooking Skills

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#68 I Hope This Sink Is Clean

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#69 I Think I’ve Got Macarons Down Pretty Well Guys, Any Suggestions On How To Start A Home Bakery?

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#70 This Is What Defeat Looks Like

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#71 Didn’t Think To See If There Might Be A Cutting Board In The Oven Before Preheating To 400 Degrees

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#72 The Apple Your Parents Warn You About At Halloween

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#73 Making A Smoothie

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#74 My GF Wanted To Cook For Me

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#75 Meal Prepping Gone Wrong

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#76 Cute Dots On My Cheesecake Ended Up Looking Like A Skin Disease

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#77 Cooking Skills Out Of This World

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#78 Yesterday’s Bread vs. Today’s Bread After Realising The Yeast Was Out Of Date

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#79 When You Slice A Bread And Can’t Make The Sandwich

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#80 My Sister Tried To Make Matzah But Ended Up Summoning The Necronomicon

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#81 Hedgehog Cake Apparently

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#82 Making Some Spaghetti

#83 When Your Husband Says He’ll Take Care Of Lunch

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#84 To The Person Whose Pepper Grinder Is Broken, The Lid Of My Pepper Shaker Fell Off

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#85 140 Booked In My Restaurant Tonight. My Only Oven

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#86 I Tried To Make Cupcakes… And They Look Like Poop. Literally

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#87 Baking A Cake In A Rice Cooker

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#88 Good Morning. I’m Never Switching From Morton’s Again

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#89 Thought You Guys Might Like This Pie I Baked

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#90 Professional Bakers Tasked With Baking An Alpaca Cake

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#91 So Excited To Use My Pizza Cutter For The First Time

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#92 Sliced Homemade Sourdough Bread Topped With Creamy Light Brie Cheese. Preheat Oven To 350 And Bake For 11 Hours. Enjoy

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#93 Forgetting About Your Pizza For 8 Hours. Burnt So Bad It Looks Like A Double-Chocolate Brownie

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#94 I Tried Cooking One Time

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#95 This Attempt At A Rainbow Crepe Cake

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#96 French Baguettes, Nailed It

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#97 How Is This Even Possible?

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#98 My Boyfriend Fell Asleep Making Pizza, It Cooked For Nine Hours

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#99 Poached Egg

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#100 One Day My Sous Was Consolidating The Walk In And Went Looking For Him And Found This

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#101 I Just Wanted A Midnight Snack

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#102 Breaking News: Local Idiot Spills Spaghetti On Her Bed

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#103 Steve Harvey Cake

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#104 First Time For My Sister In Law Cooking. I Think It’s A Little Bit Too Well Done

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#105 Overheated

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#106 So… My Dad Just Attempted To Make A Grilled Cheese

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#107 Tried Creating A New Pasta Shape And Ended Pasta Suitable For A Halloween Party

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#108 I Thought I Smelled Something

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#109 Spring Rolls A La Coal

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#110 I Thought I’d Make My Own Birthday Cake This Year

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#111 When You Let Your 3-Year-Old Kid Make Graham Balls

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#112 While In Quarantine, My GF Did Her Best To Bake Me A Hedgehog-Shaped Cake. Turned Out To Be An Evil Voodoo Mask

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#113 Just Six Hungry People Waiting On A Casserole At 8:00pm

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#114 There Was An Attempt To Cook Rice

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#115 One Of Those Days

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#116 This Failed Attempt At Baking A Cake

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#117 It Finally Happened To Me

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#118 Just Wanted Some Balsamic Vinegar On My Salad

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#119 Someone Cut Me Up While Transporting Chilli For My Sister In Laws Birthday Dinner

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#120 Sugar Syrup

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#121 Our Boy’s Fifth Birthday Cake. Wife Tried Her Best

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#122 How To Not Make Nachos

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#123 My Roommate’s Cheese Toast

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#124 Who’s Ready For Christmas Morning Waffles?

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#125 My Mom Set The Microwave For 75 Mins. And Not 75 Secs

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#126 Baking My First Bread

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#127 I Forgot My Pepper Grinder Was Broken, This Is The Second Time I’ve Done This

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#128 Bad Case Of Pizzaria

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#129 Made Croissants. Didn’t Know I Was Supposed To Roll Them

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#130 Attempted One Of Those Microwave Mug Cakes. Looks, Uh, Less Than Appetizing

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#131 My First Try At A Blancmange Didn’t Go Quite As Well As I’d Hoped

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#132 My Sister’s “Candy Cane” Shaped Sugar Cookie Turned Into The Christmas Chode In The Oven

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#133 Wife’s Attempt At Banana Bread

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#134 Brother Cooked, The Brother’s Wife Decided Not To Taste. Cocoa Curd Pancakes, Not Cut In Pieces. I Just Leave It Here

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#135 Great Way To Start The Day This Morning

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#136 My First Attempt At Making Lemon Tea

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#137 Spaghetti Anyone?

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Source: boredpanda.com