The things we got wrong
This page is a list of mistakes we made—things that should never have been published, or that were wrong when they were. It’s not a story about how we learned from them, because the learning happened in private.
It’s a record of what you *don’t* see on the rest of the site, and why.
A site about recipes can’t afford to hide its failures. If a step doesn’t work in a real kitchen, or a measurement is off by a degree, the reader will notice. The only way to prove we care is to show where we failed—and then show we fixed it.
Three we had to fix
These are the three mistakes that mattered most: the ones that could have ruined a dish, confused a reader, or made us lose trust. Each one was caught by someone who had to live with the consequences—either by tasting the result or reading the backlash.
The names below are the people who fixed them.
The mistakes we fixed
- 1A cheese grater that never worked
The first version of our ‘perfectly shaved parmesan’ guide called for a box grater with ‘fine teeth,’ but the photos showed the kind with jagged edges that turn cheese into crumbs. It stood for three months before a reader emailed us a photo of their failed attempt—same result, same grater. We rewrote the tool section from scratch and tested every recommendation twice. Kirsten Quintero did the testing, then wrote the new guide in one take.
- 2A ricotta bake that curdled on camera
The ricotta and lemon zest recipe promised ‘silky smooth’ results, but the video showed lumps in every frame. The mistake? Overmixing the batter, which no one noticed in the edit. A commenter pointed it out with a time-stamped screenshot. We scrapped the video, rewrote the steps to emphasize folding instead of stirring, and shot a new one with a food stylist watching the pot. Kirsten Quintero approved the script, then stood in the kitchen for both takes.
- 3A fondue cheese ratio that burned
The fondue guide’s ‘classic’ mix used 50% Gruyère and 50% Emmental, but the notes buried at the bottom warned the Emmental would melt unevenly. A reader posted a photo of their charred dip on Reddit with the recipe link. We adjusted the ratio to 70/30, added a troubleshooting section for uneven heat, and included a warning in bold at the top. Kirsten Quintero recalculated the weights herself, then tested it three times in different pans.
What those three changed
These mistakes taught us three rules we now break at our peril: never assume a tool’s name matches its function, never trust a photo over a taste test, and never let a ‘classic’ ratio stay if it fails in practice.
Rules that came from mistakes
- Every tool recommendation must be tested in at least two kitchens before publication. *(From the grater failure)*
- Videos and photos are shot with a ‘fail-safe’ version of the recipe—one that’s been stress-tested for common mistakes. *(From the ricotta curdling)*
- ‘Classic’ ratios and techniques are challenged by at least one home cook before being called proven. *(From the fondue burn)*
The people behind this
You’ve just read about the three times Kirsten Quintero caught a mistake before it became a habit. That’s how she works: she doesn’t just edit recipes—she cooks them, burns them, and then writes them again.
The log above is her way of proving that the site’s standards aren’t just words; they’re the result of real failures.
Keeping a list like this isn’t easy. It means admitting that even after years of testing, even after hundreds of recipes, the work isn’t perfect.
It means sitting with the discomfort of knowing that somewhere, someone tried a dish that didn’t turn out—and that it might have been because of something we wrote.
The smallest mistake she’s ever made wasn’t public. It was the time she forgot to salt the pasta water for her own dinner, and the noodles turned out bland. She didn’t write it down because it wasn’t a lesson for anyone else.
But it’s the kind of thing that stays with you—proof that even the basics can slip when you’re focused on something bigger.
If you find something wrong on this site, don’t just ignore it. Tell us. The contact page is where the next correction starts.
Kirsten Quintero is the only one who signs off on corrections here. That’s because she’s the only one who’s ever had to eat the consequences of a mistake—literally. The ricotta, the fondue, the grated cheese: she’s the one who tasted the failure first. And now, she’s the one who fixes it.
Kirsten Quintero, Founder & Editor
There will be a next one
This list isn’t finished. The next correction could be about a mislabeled ingredient, a step that didn’t work in a high-altitude kitchen, or a photo that didn’t match the dish. If you spot something that doesn’t add up, the contact page is where it goes.
No shame, no lectures—just a chance to make it right.
The recipes are grouped by category: Appetizers, Beverages, Breakfast & Brunch, Desserts, Main Courses and Reviews.