A Note on Saftey

Full disclosure in regards to my post on the slaw requires that I tell you when shredding the cabbage I was having trouble removing the particularly thick core. I pushed the knife down too hard and had my finger stabilizing the cabbage from the wrong place. I put a good 3/4" wide chop solidly into my left index finger.

I briefly considered going to the hospital to get stitches but ended up deciding on basic home first aid. In the end all was well, minus the awkward bandage and inability to chop anything else or wash dishes due to a lack of a hand.

Accidents happen, but remember, you are not an ingredient or a seasoning. Be careful, go as slowly as you need to, and BE CAREFUL. Better to burn something or get dinner on the table a little late than lose a finger. It's also a good idea to keep a first aid kit in the kitchen and know some basic first aid for cuts and burns. Hopefully you won't need it, but it will certainly come in handy when you do.

First aid graphic is free clip art.

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And Sometimes You're Just a Flaming Ball of Gas

There is no recipe tonight as I am turning in early to be fresh for Wondercon tomorrow. I feel like I have reached a right of passage of nerdom - my first con. I could almost cry (JK). So point is, I'm taking it easy. I posted a link this morning and I've got a little story for you tonight.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Martha I am not. My first ever blog recipe was almost foiled (twice) because once because I left the onions burn while I was prepping other ingredients and once because I let it go too long in the braise while I was taking a bubble bath and a bit too much liquid cooked away.

I recently found a recipe for tomato sauce with which I am completely enamored. Its ridiculously simple - three ingredients - and it tastes amazing. It is also easily adapted to make some of the best tomato soup you will ever eat. The first time I made the sauce however I decided to cut the recipe in half so that it didn't make too much and because I only had half of the called for tomatoes.

I didn't account for the fact that half as much liquid probably wouldn't stand up to the required simmering and that perhaps I ought to add a bit of water to compensate. Setting my stove top as low as it could go, I put a lid on my pot and - here is where the learning experience will come in - I walked away. I thought it a bit odd that I could no longer hear the soft plop plop plopping of its thick simmer and that there was perhaps a faint sizzle, but I didn't think too much of it until I got the smell. The very distinctive smell of burnt food. Not just any burnt food, but burnt tomatoes and all their now "caramelized" sugar.

When I grabbed the pot off the fire I was pleased to see that it was just the edges and bottom that suffered. Without scraping the pot at all so as not to scrape up any burnt bits I poured the salvageable portion of the sauce into a clean pot and added a bit of water to thin it out. I did remember (barely) to snap a picture though before fully washing my new favorite stainless steel sauce pot.

Don't do what Janey Don't does do kids, and remember to pay attention in the kitchen! This time it was burnt tomatoes, but you never know when it may be a fingertip. Safety first!

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