Not too long ago I was toying with writing a 'cooking as therapy' post. Over the last few years I've been taking over more and more of the cooking responsibilities in our house, especially during the work week when my wife frequently gets home about 6pm. And, believe it or not, it's gone from being a necessity to something I actually enjoy. It's fun, and delicious, to make food, if you can do it well. The prep work, say chopping vegetables, has turned out to be therapeutic. I feel like I keep getting better at using up what we have on hand too, instead of letting a lot go to waste while at the same time getting new ingredients because that's what the next recipe says we need. There is an added side-effect that my wife can play with the kids when she gets home (which she likes) and I can get a break from the noise (which I like).
That was the thought anyway. I'm not entirely sure there was enough content there, tbh, I just wanted to express how I've continued to do more cooking and have ended up liking it to boot. Then, in short order, I had a couple misadventures.
A few weeks ago I was making a stir fry, or something. Whatever it was I was dicing an onion, like I'd done so many times before. Our second son came over and asked me a question while I was on the last, little part, and I looked up while pressing down with the knife. I knew immediately I'd taken off part of the tip of my finger. Grabbing a nearby towel I got it wet and held it on. Basically one-handed I went upstairs and patched myself up with some gauze and band-aids. The bleeding, which was significant, had been stopped but I doubted it would heal as is. Now fairly sweaty, I finished dinner, though I pitched that particular onion. My wife said I looked pretty pale when she got home. That night I changed the bandage and the bleeding resumed at a good clip. I decided an ER trip would be necessary, though it could be the next day.
I was dropped off at the ER the next afternoon and, all things considered, it was a pretty easy trip. If you're curious there was nothing to stitch up and they didn't have to cauterize it. In fact there had been more healing than I'd expected when the doc (or whatever she was technically) much more carefully removed my bandaging. The solution was a thin little piece of harder 'gauze' that looked exactly like styrofoam but it worked as explained, stopping the bleeding and helping with the healing process. Over the next two days it mostly dissolved away and I could pull the last little bit off. I wore band-aids for another week or so, and boy, was it ever tender. But I was good to go.
If you care to know the lessons with this ordeal, there are two. The first is obvious, it's important to pay attention when you're doing something like chopping with a kitchen knife. The second, however, was perhaps even more an issue. I'd let it go far too long without sharpening our knives and the whole reason I had to press down so hard was the knife was dangerously dull. Sharpen your knives people.
The second misadventure was during our Super Bowl party. I'd already used the pellet smoker to make a brisket overnight (they always get done faster than I think and I need to adjust - see comments), and the grill was already out and set up. Our oven was being used for other purposes in the ~hour before the game started and I wanted to make some buffalo cauliflower. So I decided to do it on the smoker. In the process my grill caught on fire and I needed to use a fire extinguisher to put it out. It was the first time I'd ever used an extinguisher and it's good we had one.
Here's how that happened. Grills need to be cleaned out from time to time (I did a post on it!, I should be able to replace those images soon), and I usually do this once a year in the spring. There was quite a bit of build-up in there (ash, grease, etc) when I attempted to make the cauliflower, and that's all flammable. My biggest mistake was trying to push the temp too high, >400. I almost never do that and this is why.
After turning off the auger inside, hitting it with the extinguisher (twice) and removing the insulation blanket (which held up remarkably well), the fire was out. There was never any risk to the house or anything else, that's why you grill outside. I remained pretty cool throughout, and it was even a little bit exciting if I'm being honest. The mess still needs cleaning up, probably a job for this weekend. It seems I'll be able to use it again afterward, the electronics never stopped working and I'd be surprised if the mechanicals inside were affected, but that's yet to be seen. There is supposed to be a fire inside, though one that's more contained. It's what I get for carelessness and not keeping up with maintenance as well as I should have.
Even through these stressful and/or thrilling events I still really like cooking. Making good food is fulfilling! If I need to distill what I need to remember, it's this:
Don't get cocky.
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