Sunday, March 28, 2010

Now I have a story to tell…

Saturday started out warm and ended with a blaze.

My husband and I got up and went for a walk in the cool spring morning. We enjoyed the luxury of being able to leave our kids at home and stroll along the river, through the bushes, and into ravines. When we got home, we quickly got started on finishing the two walls of our house that we had left to paint. Within two hours we completed the job, wondering why we hadn’t done it earlier.

We left my oldest son at home and went to a BBQ to celebrate my son’s gold medal performance at provincials last weekend. We ate, the kids played basketball, and we enjoyed the conversations that come with a group of adults sitting on a porch on a nice spring day.

After that event we come home, put our house back together and cleaned the rest of the house because we had most of my family coming for dinner after church the next day (23 people).

As I was putting some clothes away my husband says, “What time are we suppose to leave for your work party?”

“6:00pm,” I answer then went on the computer and realized that it is ten to six.

I quickly threw on a dress and boots, and we drove downtown to a fancy event, with ladies dressed in ballroom gowns, and men adorned in fancy suits. We mingled while snatching appetizers off passing servers trays. The evening was uneventful and after eating an appealing meal, we came home at 11:00 to my daughter asleep on the couch and my two boys playing video games.

Knowing I had a house full of people coming, I dragged out my mom’s large crockpot, placed four roasts in it and covered them with onions and BBQ sauce. Simple beef on a bun was on the menu. I struggled a bit to figure out how to get the pot going, but finally after feeling some some heat, I set it 200 degrees, (at least that's what I thought). Being exhausted, I went to bed.

At approximately 3:40am, give or take a minute, I awoke to a burnt smell coming from the kitchen. I threw back the covers, rushed to the source and discovered a room full of smoke, all coming from the crockpot. I pulled it away from the back splash and discovered a brown stain covering two tiles. I grabbed a cloth to wipe it away, but the blazing heat radiated through my thin washcloth and burned the tip of my middle right finger. Right away I ran it under cold water, while trying to unplug the smoky pot with my other hand.

I took the burnt to a crisp roasts out and placed them on a plate, then filled the blacken pan with hot soapy water, all while holding onto a bag full of ice cubes. Then I turned to the tile, still brown, and began scrubbing with my other hand, I rubbed the tile for half an hour using cold water to cool it down and VIM to scrub off the burnt stain. It was so bad that I dug into the grout.

With everything somewhat cleaned, I grabbed more ice, sat in front of the TV holding my ice and watched paid programs for one hour, all the while thinking how am I going to feed 23 people with four burnt roasts.

I worried about it when I finally went to bed and I worried about in the morning as the stench of burnt beef permeated our house. I took out some sliced turkey I had thrown into my cart at Costco the day before, on the off chance that I might need it, but would it be enough. I fretted about the meal not being good, and people not being happy, but in the end everything was fine. I had more than enough food, everyone was well feed and besides a few, I’m bored comments after the cousins left, the dinner was great.

It just goes to prove that sometimes we worry for nothing. We think nothing will work out, but lots of times our worries are for nothing and now I have a story to tell. Albeit, a long one, but still a story. (sorry for the echo of the word nothing)

PS: the pot was actually set at 400 degrees, so if I hadn't woken up I'm pretty sure we would have had a fire.

17 comments:

Heidi Willis said...

Wow! I was about to say, That was an incredibly productive day!! (which it was!!).

But man, the night stunk!!

Glad it all turned out okay!! And I hope your finger is better!

You know, if everything had turned out how you planned, you wouldn't remember this night in a month. As it is, you'll have a story for many years to come! :)

Anonymous said...

I think I would've given up and called in a takeaway... in fact I wouldn't have been nice enough to cook in the first place... my house still smells from my burning previous attempts ;0)

Mim said...

Scary--my crock pot did that once--and now I have a new one. I'm glad that you were able to feed everyone, but man I'm impressed with your Saturday--I can't imagine being able to accomplish all of that in one day!

Susan R. Mills said...

That's crazy. I'm glad everything worked out okay.

Tana said...

Scary. I hate when things like that happen. I'm glad the Lord was looking out for you!

Anissa said...

Wow! I'm glad something woke you. Could have been scary. Isn't is true though? Things always work themselves out.

Tamika: said...

I'm so glad you and your family weren't harmed! That is scary.

Other than the nighttime nightmare it sounded like a lovely day:)

Jackee said...

I always stress about perfect meals when it comes to company too. It's such a relief when it turns out okay regardless (esp. when you keep your house from burning down in the process)! LOL!

Thanks for finding my blog so that I could find your!

Suzy Thompson said...

oh my word, crazy. I didn't know crockpots could do that!!!

but great moral. just relax, things will work out.

Jessie Oliveros said...

It started so beautifully I wanted to cry. But every good story needs a plot twist...and a happy ending.

Southpaw said...

Eh, 400, 200 just a few degrees off....

patti said...

Wow. The best laid plans o' mice and men...

I scanned down at your last post, which ironically said, "Always end on a positive note!"

Christ.

Blessings, Patti.

Kristen Torres-Toro said...

Wow--I'm so glad you and your family--and your house-- are okay! What a scary story!

lisa and laura said...

Oh my gosh, I'm so glad you're ok! One time I left one of our burners on really low and gave the kids a bath. I almost had a heart attack when I noticed. You must have a good guardian angel looking out for you!

Julie Dao said...

That is so scary! I'm glad everything turned out okay. Looks like you had a stressful yet very productive day and you're right, sometimes we do just worry for nothing. I am such a worrywart - I get it from my mom - but most times, things turn out perfectly fine. :)

Dara said...

Yikes! I'm glad it all worked out though and no fires occured!

I've accidentally left the oven on before...for four hours after I was done cooking. Hubby discovered it when I was gone at my crit group. o_O Now I'm super anal about making sure the oven is turned OFF when I'm done.

Susan Fields said...

Scary - I'm glad it turned out okay and no fire!