Categories:
Archives:
Flickr:
The Hazards of the BBQ!
So I’m not much of a griller, but last night I decided to do a whole grilling out kind of thing. I had steaks, chicken breasts and even portobella caps for my daughter who’s not a big meat eater. I was even going to grill veggies to go with the meat, corn and asparagus. It was going to be delicious. But isn’t it funny how life doesn’t always cooperate with the plans we make in our heads?!
First off, I guess I should explain that our grill is a death trap! We’ve had it for like 8 years, and it’s falling apart, literally–the handle fell off while we were trying to move it last night. But I don’t know if I can blame it for the mishap that was to come. I was trying to be all prepared and ahead of the game, so I started the fire about 30 minutes before I needed to use it. I knew it would take a while to die down enough to cook on.
So about 40 minutes later when I put the chicken on, I noticed that it wasn’t that hot. When I checked the temp, it was only 170 degrees. Yeah that wouldn’t do, unless we were willing to wait several hours or days for everything to cook. So we took the food off, carefully removed the rack, and added more charcoal. So the fire was blazing again, though not uncontrollably. Once again I would like to state that I am not an avid barbequer; I usually leave it to someone else, like my dad. I still am not sure why I did it, but I closed the lid on the fire.
Some of you may see where this is leading, but I didn’t. As I lifted the lid of the grill to check the fire, I was completely caught off guard as a huge fireball came billowing out. I managed to pull my arm out of the way, squeaking “holy crap” as I did. It all happened so fast that I’m still not sure exactly what happened. My right arm was a little red and partly singed. I thought that was all that was wrong, until David looked at me and said, “Your hair is on fire!” That’s when I heard the sizzling by my right ear.
After that I kind of went hysterical for a bit. I have been growing my hair out for a year now, so it was quite devestating to have it sizzling by my ear! Today the damage is minimal. My arm has a small red spot on the inside of my elbow. Thank goodness I had the sense to smeer toothpaste on it. It really works to keep the burn from intensifing; I believe it works better than aloe. And as far as my hair goes, I just keep thanking God that I had it pulled back, so only a small patch was singed. Had it been down….well, I’d be sporting an interesting hair DON’T for a while!
So what did I learn from all of this, I don’t think I’m cut out for the grill! Maybe I should stick to gas, what do you think?! I know that it’s probably going to be a while before I try grilling again. I think I’m a bit traumatized!
I will be posting and linking recipes for these dishes below in the future. Featured below are: Parmesian Garlic Grilled Corn, Mediterranean Pasta Salad, Rory’s Sugar Grilled Asparagus, and Grilled Portabello Mushrooms.
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
May 5th, 2008 at 5:44 am
Wow! I’m glad you’re ok. I’ve only cooked with charcoal a few times, but I’m going to be more careful next time.
May 5th, 2008 at 7:29 am
The food looks really good!
Good to see you back!