I had a reader comment the other day about how disappointed they were on my posts for sharing recipes that I didn’t love. Perhaps they didn’t read the comment above theirs, saying “I made these before and I thought they were great!”

I post recipes on my blog regardless of if they’re bad, okay, good, or spectacular. Why? Well, I initially started this blog to keep track of the recipes I loved and disliked. I test out a lot of recipes and it’s easy to forget if I’ve made a particular one before. If I post about it, I can recall my thoughts and process of making the dish.

I still have my blog for the same reason. I like to know what I’ve made and which recipes are worth repeating.

Not only that, but everyone has their own standards and palette in the kitchen. Some people may love a dish that others hate. For example, I can care less about the combination of peanut butter and chocolate, but others live for it. To me, every recipe with peanut butter and chocolate will always rate just a tad lower than ones with cinnamon sugar. Does that make any sense?

Sometimes, readers can tweak a recipe posted to make it just how they like. The recipe posted is merely a guideline for the readers’ creativity in the kitchen.

So, forgive me if you think that all the recipes posted should be nothing short of fantastic. You should probably look away now since this post will really ruffle your feathers. It’s another one that I didn’t care much for. The “orange” taste was a little off and the cooking time was too long.

That’s not saying the recipe is a complete dud. With an adjustment of cooking time for my large crockpot and finding a different substitute for the orange concentrate, there is potential.

Recipe from The Pursuit of Happiness.

I never told you guys about my oh-so-smart DB and his adventure with the ER, did I? Well, two weeks ago, my boyfriend tugged on a hangnail that he had on his finger before we went to bed. I’m talking completely tear that thing off, with nothing on the side next to the nail. Sorry for the gross visual. He ended up tossing and turning all night because his finger was hurting so badly.

When we examined his finger in the morning, it was huge. I’m talking three times the size of a normal finger. It was red and throbbed. I told him it wasn’t a big deal and it’d go down soon. He listened, and off to school he went.

While at work, I get a message from my DB saying that he googled his symptoms and he needs to go to the ER right away. It could be a serious infection and even be fatal if left untreated. Hasn’t anyone ever told him not to google his symptoms? It always leads to death.

He found the nearest ER and went right away after school. I got to see his finger right before, and there was no stopping the growth. It looked like his finger was about to burst. After two hours, my DB came back home on a double dosage of strong antibiotics. Turns out his googling was right for once!

The doctor told him that fingernails are the best environment for bacteria to grow, so once it got in, there was no stopping it. He was also worried because my DB had a prominent red line coming from his middle finger leading down his hand, which meant the infection was working its way into my DB’s bloodstream. If left untreated, he’d lose movement in his finger, then his hand, and etc. The infection could work it’s way into your system, causing failures and death.

Because of the red line on his hand, the doctor gave him a double dose of strong antibiotics. My DB also had to return the next day to make sure the antibiotics worked and his finger was improving. That’s pretty serious if they want you to come back in 24 hours. Usually, they cure you and forget you!

The antibiotics worked immediately and his swelling came down hours after he took the pills. He continued to finish off the antibiotics for another week or so, and all is well in the world now.

Sometimes my DB can be such a child. *Sigh* Moral of the story is: Don’t pull hangnails!!

This chicken was a hit with my picky eater DB. There are only five ingredients involved and the result is a meal that’ll remind you of Thanksgiving…. without all the extra work. The stuffing on top becomes nice and fluffy when cooked, and the cream of chicken soup seals in the flavor. Recipe from The Pursuit of Happiness.