come on baby light my fire

because of the snowy weather, i left the cafe early yesterday. since i was home earlier than expected, i decided to put the time to good use and test some recipes. sounds good in theory but i was a bit distracted and didn't get started on things until mid afternoon. i finally got the cake i wanted to test in the oven and then had to move out of the way so darry could cook dinner. we have a small kitchen and there just isn't the space for two professional chefs to work side by side. well, not these two any way...

so there i was, sitting down at the table watching him cook while i waited on the cake in the oven and it was taking longer than i wanted it to. as i waited, i watched darry prepare the chicken for the stirfry he was going to make and we chattered about the day and the weather and who knows what else. and as i sat there, i became aware of what looked like a little black insect flying through the air. a spider? no maybe a fruit fly...a fruit fly in january? then i saw another and another. at this point i asked darry, "what is that black stuff?" his reply, a very loud "OH @*#%!!!" ( you should understand this), the grease is on fire!"

at this point, it was mayhem. he grabbed the teapot which was on the back burner so that he could slide the pot off the heat and proceeded to drop it into the hot grease. he then grabbed the teapot again, tossed it in the sink and moved the pot of grease off the burner but by now, the flames were really big. i ran and grabbed the fire extinguisher, yes we actually have two, and stood there dumbstruck. as many times as i have read the directions on it, i have never had to use it. he grabbed it from me and said i know how to use it and he did just that. he quickly put out the fire and i checked on the cake in the oven...just another day at our house. considering all that we do in the kitchen, that was a first for us in 25 years together.

then it was clean up time. what a mess that made. the extinguisher probably contained about 1/4 cup of fire suppressing powder which in theory isn't very much. put that into a pressurized container and watch out. it was everywhere. a fine yellow powder coated the entire counter, stovetop, wall and there was even some in the oven because it went into the vent. darry and i spent the next hour cleaning it up.

so as you can see, there is never a dull moment here at our house. even after 25 years, we still have something to talk about each day. but i may have to declare a moratorium on any culinary procedure that requires a large pot of hot oil. oh by the way, the cake was terrible and that was no surprise. version two was better but still not a winner. version 3 took the blue ribbon and now it is time to test the frosting out...