trial and error

I'm experiencing that phrase quite literally in the last 24 hours...

1) Yesterday's sweet potato fries: disaster
I followed the instructions, but in several of the reviews I read it said that they didn't get crispy, so leave them in longer. I did--about 4 or 5 minutes longer (I didn't look at them, though--there's my error). When I opened the oven they were almost all completely burnt! Crispy, indeed! Also inedible for the most part. The few that weren't charred were decent enough, but they were overshadowed by the fact that I did all that work for nothing! (I realized that cutting raw sweet potatoes is a difficult and time consuming task! They're rather dense and hard to get the knife through!)

2) Today's dinner prep: painful
Today I decided to make dinner in the crock pot. I got out the crockpot from the depths of my cupboard where I store things I don't use very often (I used to use the crockpot a lot more when I taught all day--I need to start utilizing it again--note to self!). I got the chicken out of the freezer. Put it and the required spices into the crockpot. Reached to get the lid and moved my head directly into the corner of the cabinet door, which I had inadvertently left open. (Another note to self--don't leave cabinet doors open--I'm too tall for that!). After some excedrin and 20 minutes of holding ice on my head, I'm feeling a little better, and dinner is safely cooking in the crockpot, but the lingering headache will be a reminder to close those doors!

I'm hoping the trial and error phase is over for awhile.... I'll keep you posted.