Fire in the Kitchen

I spent a lot of time in the kitchen today. Dave's out-of-town so I made the usual breakfast followed by parmesan noodles for lunch. Then I made brownies for a playdate and went to town with chicken pot pie and a special dessert made from the leftover pie dough smothered in butter and sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. Everything was perfect - until I called the kids to supper and was dishing up the pot pie and suddenly realized I left the piedough in the oven too long and it was burned - as in smokin' black.

Sophie was in the kitchen with me and I grabbed the pot holders to get the pan out but when I opened the oven door flames started shooting out. I quickly shut it and tried to think, "Baking soda or not. What am I not supposed to do? I know there's something that seems logical to use that you're not supposed to...was that water or baking soda? Should I use the fire extinguisher?" I went to the cupboard and grabbed the soda - almost empty. I told Sophie to get the other kids and go to the front porch and then grabbed the phone, dialed Mom in Arizona, and got the extra baking soda from the fridge. Got the answering machine at Mom's. I hung up and dialed Anna's number and Matt answered. I yelled, "There's a fire in the kitchen - what do I do?" Matt: "What?" Then Anna got on with him, my panic rose as I opened the oven door again and flames shot out, higher than before, so I yelled again -"There's a fire in the kitchen , what do I do?"

Anna, calm Anna, said, "Leave it alone, I'll be right there" and Matt advised, "Put a cover on it." I hung up, got a cover, opened the door to more flames but got the cover on to get enough flames out so I could get out the cookie sheet. Then I grabbed another cover and smothered it some more and looked up from the stove to see Anna running to the back door, baking soda in hand. Matt was 15 seconds behind her. She grabbed the potholders from me and took immediate charge of the baking sheet while Matt started opening doors to get the smoke out of the house.

They're my heroes - my real-life heroes. And now my plan is to print out this link and post it in the kitchen cupboard. Feel free to do the same.

This week's "Guess What Was Cooking" game...

Remember the last contest? The one where you had to guess the shape of the pie dough? This game is a little different - but still has to do with cooking and odd shapes. So, what's your vote on this lovely number that came out of the oven - is it turkey or homemade bread?

If you guessed homemade bread, you're a winner...but then again you were probably in the kitchen and could smell the aroma of fresh bread. I think I did a few things wrong in my baking - I used whole wheat flour without changing any of the ingredients, I let it rise too long, and I didn't form it into a loaf shape very well... or very tight. But, it gave the kids and me a big laugh when I took it out of the oven. And, it still tasted mighty nice.

Women multitaskers...

People often say that women are better multitaskers than men. I disagree - at least in my case - and this article highlights some research in the area.

To highlight my lack of multitasking ability, take this afternoon's lunch as a perfect example: Dave and I met at one of those sportsbar places with televisions everywhere you turn. I couldn't focus - not at all. I'd start to say something and a screen would flash a new headline and I'd read about the man who poisoned his wife of 14 years and I'd totally lose my train of thought. Within my line of vision there were six televisions - all playing something different. Total overload. It got bad enough that Dave and I switched spots so I could only see two televisions - and then only if I turned my head. But when we switched, he didn't seem to notice the televisions at all - nor did I find him gazing at the tv instead of my brown eyes. OK, you're right. For those of you who personally know Dave you realize he probably wasn't actually gazing into my eyes, but he truly was focused on our conversation.

Another example was last night as I was cooking supper, talking on the phone, and telling the girls to hurry with their snack and get ready for ballet. At one point my back was to the stove and I turned around to see the milk, water, and butter mixture for the mashed potatoes had boiled over and was spreading onto the next burner as well as the counter. I hung up on Steph with an "OMG, you won't believe the mess I've got here," grabbed papertowel, turned off the burner and started mopping up the mess. Then I did the smartest thing I think I possibly could have at the time - I turned off all the burners and left everything until John and I got back from dropping off the girls. This was hard to do - after all I'm the one who's always five minutes late because I just try to do one more thing before I get out the door. But I did it. And when we got home the phone didn't ring and John hung out with Dave while I finished up. Our supper was still ready when the girls got home from ballet and John got home from hockey - and the kitchen was clean.

But still, an example of how I can only focus on one thing at a time. So, the next time we're at lunch and you notice me gazing off into space and making no sense in my conversation, just offer to switch places with me. We'll all have a better lunch!

Cooking with Onions

I never cook with onions - Dave has an unusually strong aversion to them and even though I miss them I make do. Besides, when I eat Jon Jackson's meatballs with onions they taste all the better. Some times when I cook I'll add onion juice or onion powder to a recipe. Not tonight though - no way. Not after the day I've had. So here's supper - a sirloin roast with carrots, potatoes and onions!
P.S. Dave's in Texas so he won't have to eat them - but maybe he'll get some of the leftovers. ;)

A new game for the season: Guess the Pie Dough Shape

...a game not all that different from the "Lay on your back in the grass, look to the blue sky and name the cloud shapes." This game is even better though because after you've named the shape on the pie dough you get to lather the dough in butter, sprinkle it with sugar and cinnamon, put it in the oven for a few minutes and after it cools, gobble it up. It's an awesome treat while you're waiting for the pumpkin pie to bake. While you're at it you could pick up the book, It Looked Like Spilt Milk, and read it to your kids.

By the way, we determined that this shape looks like the USA. What do you think?

Wrinkly Carrots

Just when I have begun to have confidence in myself as a cook, things go wrong. Years ago Theresa provided me with a fail-proof recipe that tastes wonderful. It’s basically a 4-5 pound roaster chicken stuffed with 8-10 garlic cloves and a wedged lemon and baked for a few hours. With an hour left of cooking time, I add cut up potatoes and carrots and while the chicken is cooling enough to cut, I make gravy out of the drippings. It’s one of those meals that’s perfect for impressing friends and relatives… but not so Wednesday night. We wanted to eat by 5 pm so we could spend the rest of the evening attending Las Noches de las Luminarias at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix.

In preparation, I preheated the oven and stuffed the chicken by 2:15 and then went off to read a book. At 3:30 I put the vegetables in a different roasting pan and went back to my reading. At about 4:45 Bev alerted me that all was not well… that the chicken, in fact, was quite raw. It was then we all (by now it was quite the family affair) figured out it should have been cooked at 325 degrees rather than the 250 that I had set the oven. We turned up the heat, cooked the potatoes and carrots and the microwave, and waited to eat until 6. So much for an easy-to-prepare, delicious dinner.

Throughout dinner Bev exclaimed over and over again how wonderful the meal was, Sophie said her carrots tasted wrinkly, and I wanted to sink in my seat. Next time I think I’ll follow the recipe.