My Only Regret Was Picking Tomatoes

My big debut on making a "Pot and Pan" meal. A proud moment in history. A meal made by me that did not contain mushy mac n cheese or microwaved corn dogs. I started off with the idea of making Spanish Rice. A well known and well loved dish of my childhood years. Made on countless accounts... just never by me. I was half listening, half talking to my dad as I began the process. The first step was frying the rice, although I still don't know why that is necessary. Normally when you fry things they get brown, or at least darker. This rice was white...and it kept getting whiter so I kept frying it longer. Wrong. It supposedly gets a whiter color when its finished being fried...how was I suppose to know that? I decided to move on the the next step and poured a cup of tomato juice in the pan and a cup of water. The rice was so hot the whole pan made an alarming loud sizzling sound.
My dad stopped talking to me and called from the other room, "What was that!?"
I answered with a calm and collected, "Just making the rice"... He then gave the advice of using tomato juice instead of all water.
"Already did that.." I said with a grin. I was one step ahead.
"Oh good," he answered, "I think your ready to get married now."
I replied under my breath that he may want to sample my supper before giving approval of me feeding a human outside of the family.
"How about tomatoes, dad? Should I put some fresh ones in here?"
"Yeah, that would add some flavor."
I opened the fridge to find mushy, half chopped tomatoes. I knew I could do better than that. If I was going through the effort of making food, it was a going to be good! I ran outside to our overgrown tomato plants to choose a few lucky contenders. I will admit, I got slightly distracted by the gorgeous evening and overgrown patch that by the time I got back inside it struck me there was food still on the stove. Yikes. The pan was bubbling over with juicy liquids. I turned it to low from the previous high and added in the meat, thinking somehow hamburger would simmer it down. Wrong. It just splashed more so I stuck the lid on it so I wouldn't have to watch my failure. I washed the fresh tomatoes and began to cut them. Only, their yummy garden freshness proved to be sour, rottenness with every cut. I threw the first one out without remorse, and went for the second. By this time my mushy pile of juice and rice on the stove was no longer boiling but just sadly sitting there with a putrid burnt smell. I kept my composure and pressed on. I figured if my dad had not smelt it yet, it was still edible. The second tomato I cut bits and pieces off, lying to myself that it still had some good in it. Mind against being I began to dump the chunked tomato into the soupy mess, but better judgment kicked in and I fished each piece out and disposed of the rotten tomato properly. If only I hadn't wasted so much time on those stinkin' (literally) tomatoes, my food wouldn't be burnt and rotten! Instead of dwelling on all that was going wrong, I fished the soggy tomatoes from from the fridge and decided to give them a try. Without further discussion I chopped and tossed them into the pot. I put the lid on and set a timer, hoping the  rice would cook and the tomatoes would take on the flavor of the other things. I put the broccoli on the stove to steam and sat down. I got back up to turn the broccoli's burner on, because I forgot that and sat down again. There. Finally.
Halfway through this I was on the phone with my dear sister-in-law. She reminded me to add salt. I asked her if Oregano would be a good seasoning to add, and she wasn't against it. I may have added to much.
"How does it taste, dad?"
"Its..different. It tastes different then normal. Whats that flavor?"
"Oregano.."
"Hmmm. Its good. I'm just going to add some hot sauce..."
*facepalm*

On a better note, I made brownies the other day and my kid-sister actually ate them. At this I pat the proverbial back and stand a little taller. Also, I thank Betty Crocker for the wonderful brownie mixes they provide for sale.

This has been a grand learning time in my life. The End.