Ahh, sweet tea. Shouldn’t be difficult to make, right?
Well, four days after Frazier and I got back from our honeymoon, I had a major mishap in the kitchen. It all started with boiling water and the need to make that delicious drink-sweet tea. I had just bought a pitcher that was made of old-fashioned, heavy glass. My grandmother, mother and sister all had the same pitcher, and I had just found mine at an estate sale. Now let me preface this by saying that I have made tea many times, but this one particular time, I didn’t pay attention. I heard the kettle whistling, picked it up and poured the boiling water into the pitcher.
All of a sudden there was a loud “CRACK” and I jumped back. Not being quick enough, I looked down and had a huge gash in my foot and burns down my leg from the pitcher shattering. Don’t ask me what I would have done if I had been alone, but thankfully, Frazier was in the next room. I screamed and screamed, and he came rushing into the kitchen. I was briefly comforted in the thought that his dad is a doctor, and he had grown up hearing all kinds of gruesome stories. He had also experienced a horrible accident right after his senior year and could have lost an arm. Therefore, I was thinking, “Oh thank goodness, he’ll know exactly what to do.” Instead, he rushed in the room, looked at my foot, and yelled “oh my gosh, OH MY GOSH, you are cut to the BONE!!”
Well, I lost it at that point. Frazier insisted we call an ambulance, and I yelled back that we didn’t need one. We got me over to a chair and wrapped a towel around the injury and blood. I had no way to hold the towel around my foot while he carried me out to the car so I screamed for a rubber band. Frazier then proceeded to search for a rubber band with me sobbing and yelling and finally stole one off a bag of chips.
Long story short, we ended up at UAMS, and I had to get seven stitches. (My actual foot in the photo above. I won’t post the one with all the blood…yikes!) I had a few other cuts and burns up and down my leg. My thoughtlessness rendered me a nice scar on the top of my foot, but honestly, it could have been much worse. Frazier was great once he got over the initial shock, and I was so thankful he was there. However, the lesson learned is to pay attention at all times in the kitchen and always have cold water in a glass pitcher before you pour in hot water. I also talked with some family and friends, and they shared a few kitchen/cooking tips.
Lindsay I. says, “Don’t grab a kitchen towel to pull hot pans out of the oven after baking. They’re too thin and get burn marks in the fabric easily. You really need to use an oven mitt – that’s why they’ were invented. I’ve ruined two good towels and have a small burn scar to prove it.”
Debbie J. says, “If you ever have a cold casserole dish that needs to be baked, never stick it in a hot oven. It will shatter the dish. Put the cold casserole in the oven and then heat the oven up.”
Willie D. says, “Always turn the handles of pots towards the back of the stove. Never have them sticking out where you could easily hit them.”
Elizabeth G. says, “Never wash knives in a sink full of suds. You can’t see what you are grabbing, and it could lead to some serious cuts.”
Beth H. says, “Takeout only, please.”
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Deborah Edwards, a recent newlywed bride from Little Rock, is an account executive for our sister publication Little Rock Family. She will chronicle the exciting days of settling into married life, buying a house, nesting in said house and all the in between. Read more about her adventures as a wifey on her personal blog, Edwards Newlywed Nest.
