Before you pick up something hot or heavy, know where you’re going to set it down.
If you use a mini-grill tray on your grill to grill fish or asparagus, and you intend to take the whole thing into the kitchen, put it on a newspaper or a towel first, or you’ll drip juice all the way to the kitchen counter. :smack:
Wanna make blueberry muffins or chocalate chip cookies without having the goodies sink to the bottom? Throw the berries or chips into the dry ingredients to coat them first.
If you drop a dish while drying it, you might save it by catching it with your foot. Don’t do that with a dropped knife! :eek:
Even though the lady on the Weber hotline says it will work, your wok won’t get hot enough to stir-fry on a gas grill.
Lessons I’ve picked up about Bacon-Jalepeno Cornbread.
1.) It is mana from heaven!
2.) Add the diced Jalepenos to the cornbread batter, and not to the hot grease / bacon bits that are in the bottom of the pan. The high temperature immediately aerosolizes a good portion of the capsaicin, which is a very efficient method of macing yourself. Also, the heat of the pan will cause some of the pieces to jump out of the oil; when you catch one of these little jewels on your cheek, it will sting for days (as the capsaicin, which is oil-soluble, will enter your new burn very easily).
I don’t have any recent kitchen mishaps to share but I must tell you, it does my heart good to hear of other people who are of my kind. Hub has even threatened to take the blades off of the knives and replace them with rubber blades. Pfffft.
When I first got my new dishwasher (not that it being new had anything to do with it, but it’s my only excuse) I once stopped it in the middle of the drying cycle to grab the blender out of it. I got the blender and the ring and the blade thing and then saw the gasket on the bottom of the dishwasher. Reached in not considering that that thing right next to it was the heating element which not ten seconds before had obviously been red hot. The back of my thumb actually stuck to the burning metal for a second. (At the joint too, for maximum agony over the next few days - luckily I was smart enough to immediately bend it and keep it that way so I didn’t Johnny Tremain my thumb!) I swear, inch for inch there is nothing on this earth that hurts like a burn. (The good news is that it’s been, what, eight months or so? and I’m not sure if I can see the scar or not.)
After Thanksgiving, drag yourself into a big-box store and get a cheap turkey fryer and a propane tank. The burner on the fryer is great for woking and you can use the whole rig for crawfish and shrimp boils.
I worked, nay, slaved in a mexican restaurant kitchen called Chi-Chi’s. Think Applebee’s but with tacos. Anyway, try slicing 20 large cans of peppers, (1/4 INCH! NOT HALF! NOT 1/8th!) and not brushing away the sweat from your eyes or worse, getting little cuts in your finger tips.
Apropos of absolutely nothing, I just wanted to say, Zebra, I used to LOVE Chi-Chi’s. I wish they were still around… Their shredded (not ground, shredded) beef was so darn good…
