It Happens to the Best of Us

"I don't cook because every time I do I burn the food in my pan." 

~My Friend

My immediate reaction was to tell my friend 

"Turn down the heat." or "Pay attention"; 

instead I said, "It happens to the best of us." 

I will admit: "My name is Kelly and I have burnt food to the bottom of a pan."  I remember times where I would scrub and scrub and scrub a pan to try to get the remnants of my dinner out of my pan.  I once thought about just throwing the pot away because there was no way the burnt mess was ever coming off.  One day I was reading a favorite magazine of mine "Cuisine at Home" and saw a tip that makes it easy to clean up a minor disaster such as burnt food. 

Take the pot or pan, fill it with water to cover about an inch or two over the the charred remains.Put pan or pot on the stove and heat the water to a boil. You should be able to scrape the burnt pieces off.  Remember not to use metal on coated pots and pans, I use a wood spatula to prevent scratching my pots. Once the majority of the burnt pieces I am able to wash the pot.

This also works on other containers, but if they are not stove top safe, use the microwave.