I was all proud of myself. Unexpected guests were in town this weekend, and wondered if they could see us. Of course, I said, and calmly scrapped my original weekend plans. Normally, guests stress me a bit. I feel the need to have the house cleaner than usual, meals planned and mostly-pre-prepared, my schedule cleared so I can entertain them, and so on.
But this time, I didn't stress. At all. I tidied, a bit, but not much. I threw some meat in the crockpot and cooked some rice, and thawed some zucchini muffins. I chopped a melon, and decided we'd have ice cream for dessert. Nothing fancy. It was like I had finally attained that coveted mental place of "If they don't like it, they can eat at McDonalds." YES. Go me.
So when, after a one-day delay and a long afternoon/evening, I fed them dinner, put Daughter to bed, and returned downstairs, I felt pretty impressed with me. I flicked on a burner, to boil some tea, and began rinsing dishes while chatting with our guests.
"Is something burning?" She inquired.
"Yes, I just turned on a gas burner."
"Oh. Ok. It just smells... really hot."
I noticed the same thing, but shrugged it off.
Two minutes later, the smell was much stronger. I dried my hands, and turned to investigate.
... my crockpot lid had been nestled behind the burner, behind the teapot. And the rubber seal was now glowing red and puffing fumey, black smoke. I turned off the burner, turned on the fan, and rushed to open the back door. I couldn't save the lid. I could (maybe) avert waking my baby with smoke detector sirens.
Moments later, the lid began to cool and crust over. It was really only burned in one place. Just enough to ruin the entire seal. I sighed, threw my towel irritably at the counter, and glared. How dumb was that?! Now I'd have to buy a whole new lid - all because of a moment's inattention. I was mad about the money. Mad about my stupidity. Mad that accidents sometimes just happen.
My kind guest promptly Googled and found me a new lid. It cost $20, but hey. What's a crockpot without a lid, right?
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