Hands of Sweeney Todd

I made a pie for tonight that involved poaching plums in red wine and sugar. It should be delicious, but it's not going to be repeated. What a pain in the ass. The recipe didn't call for enough liquid to cover, or a pot big enough for the plums called for, or enough time to poach. Turned into a multistage sticky mess. Also, the skins didn't come off as easily as implied. By the end, my hands were covered in red slime and globs of skin and flesh that looked rather like bloody entrails. My fingers, however, tasted delicious.