If at first you don't succeed...try, try again!

And much to my chagrin I am not the Falafel King. There was an epic falafel fail at the Leonard house this evening. It was heart breaking. And several of the falafels didn't make it. RIP little chickpeas! Did you know that if you don't follow the recipe exactly that your falafels will disintegrate into nothing - literally, just a floating mass of crumbs when you drop them into hot oil? Well, it's true - I witnessed it tonight. And then, if you think that you can switch the little buggers to a pan to "pan fry" them, thus saving the hard work and fresh ingredients you've slaved over, you will end up burning those suckers, setting off the smoke detector and pouring yourself a glass of wine as a consolation. At least, that's what I did. Correction, my hubby poured me a glass of wine after I almost cried because my falalels were dying, and my pita bread broke in half. I just might need a nap. I'm just saying... But here's the kicker. I posted about this fail on facebook and a friend noted that maybe I didn't have enough water in my recipe. Genius! Who knew? And when I asked him to send me his recipe he told me that he uses a mix - as in "just add water." Wuh???? Cheaters! I feel like taking it out of a box defeats the purpose of vegetarian cooking. Call me a snob but I want to open my can of beans and crush them myself. :) Ha! It's ok, there will be a rematch. The falafel doesn't win.