Damage Done

I’m not fully sure if I would call myself “domestic” per se, but neither am I a complete dunce when it comes to the kitchen. I know my well around well enough to whip up a dinner that may not be delight-full or intoxicating, but will at least put good nutrients into your belly and beyond. Some days I enjoy cooking, some days I don’t mind it, and some days I would rather have a nap and be woken up when it’s time to eat. I worked as a baker and cook's help for tree-planters for a summer, where I fed, daily, fifty hungry, grumpy, tired men that packed back more food than most people would know what to do with. In university I worked in the cafeteria part-time for 2 years preparing food for several hundred students. All that to say that while I’m not culinary genius, if you were to show up for dinner, chances are I would at least be able to feed you.
And yet…
As I was cooking dinner last night, I noticed that something was burning horribly. It turned out to be the dish-brush handle. I laughed to myself – at least it wasn’t the roast. And then my laughing stopped, because after about 10 seconds of thought, I had a list of the things that have been negatively affected by me being in the kitchen in just the 3 short months we’ve lived here. It was slightly sobering.
-a dish-brush: melted…but still usable
-a drain plug: melted, but fortunately, in such a way that it still stops water.
- tea towels: burned. Two… so far. (The oven door really is the best place to dry them)
-an oven mitt: a small part caught fire for half a second…and then went out on its own accord.
-a toaster oven: exploded (that one really wasn’t my fault)
-a flipper: melted…one of our dinners probably had an excessively un-healthy amount of plastic in it.
-crystal glasses: broken. A fine-looking set of 6 whittled down to a set of 2.
-glass glasses (bought –as replacements - for their look and feel of durability rather than their beauty): chipped. A set of 4 reduced to a set of 2.
My poor kitchen.