There are many lessons to learn here.

If you caught my post about my Christmas cake mishap, you’ll know I can be quite distracted when it comes to cooking, baking and all things kitchen. It’s not a trait I’m proud of or even enjoy all that much – and it’s happened again.

I nipped out to the local shop for a couple of things and found a whole chicken for £1.48 – that’s a rough guess now as I can’t quite remember the exact price but that’s pretty close. Anyway, the point is, it was an absolute bargain so I grabbed it, knowing I didn’t have room for the whole bird in the freezer but if I cooked it that night, I could put portions in bags and manage to fit it in that way.

So, I got home, put the bird in the oven and set the timer – it was going to be a while but I had dinner to do anyway etc, etc.

We had dinner, dealt with the dishes then Dearest Son and I decided to watch something together on YouTube. It was a short video which I can’t recall but he went upstairs to his room afterwards and I did some more relaxing in my chair. Difficult job but someone has to do it.

A short while later, I think to myself, “What is that smell? It reminds me of something”. Did I remember what it was? No.

I kept up the good work of relaxing.

Some more time passes and I think to myself, “I can still smell that nice smell”. I get off my chair to go and do something when one word runs through my brain:

CHICKEN

I run to the kitchen, only to discover the timer went off 50 minutes previously. I can’t believe I didn’t hear it, so I switch off the cooker and gently – and I mean gently, open the oven door (I’ve seen ‘Backdraft’). I can’t look inside, I can’t bear it. So I walk away, deciding to check on the potential incendiary device a little while later.

One hour later, I decide to be brave and tackle the situation. I carefully take the tray out of the oven and put it on the worktop. It was one of those ‘cook in the bag’ types and you are meant to remove the bag at a certain time, which I obviously didn’t. The bag was still intact. I cut it open and inside I find…….

………a perfectly cooked chicken! I’m not joking, the colour was perfect, the meat was succulent and slid off the bone – it was amazing. I thought I’d find some sort of cremated remains but no, to my surprise, it was probably the best chicken I’ve cooked in a long time – and still hot.

So, will I be banned from the kitchen for overly boozy cake and chicken dementia – or will it lead to an even more amazing but brilliant mishap? Only time will tell!