I was young when I got married. One week before my 17th birthday I was standing in the courthouse in Rawlins Wyoming  next to a good looking kid who was doing everything he could to keep from passing out.  What a time that was.

I had a little experience cooking and certainly a lot of time logged watching my mother cook.  When we (my brother, sister and I) were small, she made everything we ate.  There was no such thing as a “store bought” cookie in our house.

When my (then) husband and I moved into our first house (a single-wide trailer in Laramie Wyoming) I was so excited to cook my first meal in my very own kitchen.  I remember, it was a Sunday morning.  My husband was outside (doing something, I don’t recall exactly what) and I was cooking breakfast with my new pans and utensils.  I made scrambled eggs, bacon and pancakes.  Everything looked yummy, I repeat “looked” yummy.  When he took the first bite (as I waited excitedly to hear the sounds of someone really enjoying the food) he got a horrible look on his face.  I hadn’t washed the pans prior to cooking in them.  Everything tasted like metal (or something equally disgusting).  What a colossal fail (at least in my mind at the time).  I wanted so much to impress my new husband with my culinary skills.

My advice, which seems ridiculously simple and I’m sure everyone always does this, but…..wash your pans before you use them!