Hot Stuff

In the spirit of that Bible passage which says something like, "to whom much has been given, much will be required," now that we're back in our huge house (by American standards it's really not that big but it feels cavernous to us right now, compared to The Room), I want to share it.

So, call me a martyr, but today I had 10 moms and 16 kids--only one over the age of two--over for lunch. Yes, it was utter chaos, but it was mostly fun chaos until the incident.

A kind friend had brought over some cornbread in a Pyrex dish and baked it in my oven. When it came out of the oven, I put in on top of an electric burner next to the rest of the food that I was serving buffet-style. After awhile, I started to smell something. I realized the burner under the cornbread was on high!

Though I quickly removed the pan from the burner and started to try and salvage the cornbread, I was too late. The glass dish exploded in my hands! Thank God that all 16 kids and most of the 10 moms were nowhere nearby when this happened. And furthermore, I didn't even get hurt...except that part of me that wants things to be perfect and feels terrible when I offend someone! Not that my friend--owner of the pan and contributor of the cornbread--was offended, she forgave me very graciously.

Unfortunately, the rest of the day wasn't quite as fun for me. But everyone seemed to like the soup, and no one complained of glass shards in their bowl. Let me not be stymied! Moms and kids, please come visit again. I promise to re-learn how to manage four electric burners all at once *but have mercy, remembering that in Tokyo I had but one burner and it was gas*!