Most Embarrassing Show Experience?

[pamperedbecky]

I thought it would be fun to hear everyone's most embarrassing show mess- ups or experiences. I'd love to hear funny stories and things that you can't believe happened to you at a show. Hopefully you had a crowd of guests that were good sports. It's always good to have a good laugh....WITH you, not AT you. That way when we all make mistakes or have embarrassing moments, we'll know we're not alone! Especially for those of you who are getting ready to do your first shows! I'm sure it'll show you that you can have a far-from-perfect show and still survive.

Feel free to post them here. I'm always on late at night and it's nice to get a good few laughs when I'm up by myself.

 

[Marg]

I have more than a couple...At one show, the host (thankfully a good friend of mine) had just moved into her house, so the appliances were new to her. We were trying to figure out how the timer worked. So I'm like "oh, it's just a timer, I can figure this out." So I fiddled with it, put my recipe in and went on with the show.
About 25 minutes later, I am thinking that the timer should be going off. So I went to check and the oven was STONE COLD!! I had turned it off!! So we all got a good laugh about that. And it gets even better - the oven came on the next day! I must have set the timer for the oven to come on later... I use this as a great segue for the clock/timer.

I also sliced my finger with the V shaped cutter (didn't let on, discreetly got a band aid and went on with the show) and ended up getting 2 stitches. I now affectionately call it the "F" shaped cutter! LOL

 

[Yvonne]

Mess UpsI did a show in an immaculate house a few months back. The last ingredient in the recipe was chopped hazlenuts sprinkled on the top of the dessert before it went into the oven. The host was on her way to the oven with the deep dish baker when one of the guests who was reading the recipe said "isn't it supposed to have nuts on?". I got the dish back and flustered around chopping the nuts in the food chopper, and as I took off the collar to sprinkle the nuts, the rubber cup came off too and the nuts went everywhere! Luckily some went on the dish and those that went on the table I rescued - those that went on the floor we had to sweep up. I turned to the host and said - "that's why I told you not to clean up before I came!" and everyone just laughed.
Yvonne

 

[ladybug]

Burned my chipsI had sip n' dip show where I made the Red Pepper and Artichoke Dip with the Parmesan Pita Chips. My host had an "older" stove without the digital timer that I am used to. I totally put the chips in the oven, forgot they didn't have a timer, and starting preparing the dip, chatting and laughing and going on and on, till we all smelled something burning!!! The Chips!!
How embarrassing when I am talking about how nothing will burn in our stoneware!! The chips were BLACK and did burn on the stone!
I quickly made up another batch and we all laughed about it (this was a time where having a small # of guests show was NOT a bummer). The best part is that my host's fiancee ate the chips anyway, saying they weren't that bad...men are great...they will eat anything!!!

 

[pamperedbecky]

These are all good stories! Thanks for sharing!

 

[chefloriray]

I was at a show once that I turned on the oven to get it ready and the hostess forgot her pans were in it. So we had to set them on potholders all around the room on the floor. Then when I went to set the oven timer (didnt have the timer then) I set it for 20 hrs instead of 20 minutes and kept wondering why it wasnt going off...well it did finally in the middle of the night she told me when we closed her show.

 

[Chef Becca]

A few moments...At one of my very first shows I almost left eggs out of the Vegetable Mini-QUICHES!!! How in the world you can leave egg out of quiche I'm not so sure, but it was comical! I had all of the ingredients behind me sitting on a little cart and when I turned around and saw eggs I thought to myself, "Hmm...I wonder what that egg was for" haha. It was so funny and the crowd just got a big kick out of it. I really didn't know what to do because I had already scooped everything into the mini-muffin pan and then one of the guests (who just happened to be a former high school teacher) said "Well Becca, why don't you just whisk the egg in your batter bowl and then pour a little bit into each cup." I told her she was a genious and that was a great idea and she should come do that for us - so she did! It was all good fun but too funny.

Then my other really crazy moment was at a show hosted by that teacher that gave me the great idea for the egg dilema. I was chopping up some veggies on the large cutting board and as I looked down there was a small spider crawling across the board. #1 I'm terrified of spiders and #2 the ingredients for the recipe that they were all waiting to eat was about to be ruined. I froze and had to debate in my mind...do I tell them or not? So I very calmly and quietly (and probably a little dramatic for the hope of getting some laughts out of the crowd) asked the host to go get a paper towel because we had a little visitor that was about to take our veggies. I told the group that he was small but he did have quite a few legs...and everyone gasped and then started laughing. So she came and got the spider and then I just told everyone that we had planned this so that I could have the opportunity to show everyone the other side of the cutting board with the well/groove in it, haha. It was too funny.

My recruiter once shot cool whip across the room with the Decorator - now that's just funny!

 

[PamperedGinger]

At one of my very first shows I almost left eggs out of the Vegetable Mini-QUICHES!!! How in the world you can leave egg out of quiche I'm not so sure, but it was comical! I had all of the ingredients behind me sitting on a little cart and when I turned around and saw eggs I thought to myself, "Hmm...I wonder what that egg was for" haha. It was so funny and the crowd just got a big kick out of it. I really didn't know what to do because I had already scooped everything into the mini-muffin pan and then one of the guests (who just happened to be a former high school teacher) said "Well Becca, why don't you just whisk the egg in your batter bowl and then pour a little bit into each cup."

I did that SAME THING only I PUT THE MINI QUICHE in the OVEN! One of the guests said, "Ginger, don't quiche have eggs?" DUH! I mixed it up and poured them in the cup. That is why the recipes are fail-proof or in my case...fool proof!

I've left cheese out of recipes, dumped salsa all over, and much more. I make some sort of mistake at every show. I always laugh about it and say, SEE ANYONE CAN DO THIS JOB! Good thing Pampered Chef doesn't make you try out for this position!

 

[DebPC]

At one of my first few shows- the host turned on the oven forgetting there was a bunch of Tupperware contatiners full of Easter candy in there. She left the room and I turned around to see flames in her oven. No major damage- but the whole house smelled like burnt plastic and it took a bit to clean up her oven. Thank goodness this all took place before the guests arrived.

 

[Lisa S]

Some of the people reading this board already know this story...

I traveled to California in Feb to do a show for my mother-in-law.

Well, since it was Valentine's Day weekend, we decided to do the Chocolate Bowls from the showstoppers last year. About an hour and a half before the show, I melted the chocolate, let it cool, and then put the balloon in it. Apparently the chocolate was not cool enough and the balloon blew up... covering her kitchen and me in chocolate!!! So, being a good mother-in-law, she laughed and cleaned up the mess. I stayed in my chocolate stained clothes, let the chocolate cool more, and decided to put my finger in it to see if it was cool enough (if it's cool enough for my finger, it MUST be cool enough for the balloon!)

So we dipped balloon #2 in the chocolate... all was fine... I went to transfer it to the plate to put it in the fridge and BOOM! Chocolate all over the place again!

So you would think I would give up at this point, but I am a stubborn woman. I let it cool 20 more minutes and this time it worked! We cleaned up one last time and I threw my clothes in the washer. I pulled my apron out of the dryer as the show was starting and told them all the story. I had 30 people laughing hysterically.

The best part was at 9:00 at night when I was sitting in her breakfast nook, leaned back in the chair and saw her beautiful white ceiling was coated in chocolate specks. We never looked 10 feet up!

It was a $2000 show and she rebooked for October, so I guess she forgave me!

 

[pamperedbecky]

That's a great one! I tried the chocolate bowls too, but to practice before a show. The inside of my fridge ended up with nice chocolate polka dots. I never did try it again after that!

 

[D_Patel]

Too funny !These storys are to funny ! My worst experience was my first show ! I was so nervous to begin with ! I had practiced at my house had my index cards all set up was ready to roll ! Well it was the worst crowd ever ! 14 people just sitting there staring at me ! I tired to make it fun saying that this was my first show, making little cracks here and there nothing..... so then i decided to ask if someone wanted to come and try out a tool still nothing they all sat there silently staring at me ! I could have died my face must have been so red i wanted to cry ! So i quickly finished the show . I got no bookings no big surprise with that crowd ! But it was a $600.00 show . Not bad for my first time out ! I am glad i got that over with early on , iam a little more seasoned !

 

[dianevill]

Embarrassing MomentI've had plenty, but there are a few that stick out. One is a show in which I was making a microwave cake in the fluted pan. I got the batter poured in and asked the host to pop it into the microwave. She stood there staring at me for a moment, and then said, "I don't have a microwave." I gave her the recipe beforehand, but she never bothered to read the instructions, and just bought the ingredients. I just assumed she had a microwave. We baked it in the oven, but it took a LOT longer and didn't turn out quite right!

Another incident: I was comparing our kitchen tools to the hardware tools men use, saying when men are looking at quality tools, they turn to Craftsman. After the show, the host's mother said I shouldn't have used Craftsman, I should have used Snap-On. Apparently the host's husband was a Snap-On Tools heir. Ooops.

Third, and this was one of my first shows: I was giving a brief history of the Pampered Chef, and instead of saying "Doris Christopher", I said "Doris Roberts". Someone in the crowd piped in, "Ray's mother founded the Pampered Chef?" (from Everybody Loves Raymond). Never got her name wrong again!

Pretty much at the end of every show I slap my head and say, "Why did I say/do that?" Oh well. No one else probably remembers, anyway!

Diane