Anyone who has followed this blog from the beginning (hi
mom!) knows how adventurous I am in the kitchen. They would also know how
overly ambitious, experimental, and accident-prone I can be. Honestly, it’s a
wonder I haven’t burned anything down (though there’s been no shortage of
contained fires and the occasional burned hole in a pot) or chopped off a body
part. I’m happy to say that’s still the case, but I did come close. It all
started when Drew signed us up for Blue Apron.
Blue Apron is a service that sends you recipes and all of
the measured, fresh ingredients to make them. We got three meals for our first
week and after making some pretty excellent salmon, I was confident that the
Saturday before Easter would yield an even better calzone. I love cooking
because we’re all in the kitchen together working on little pieces that come
together as a whole. We get B to assist in simple tasks like stirring or
ripping lettuce. On this particular night, I chopped all of the produce
(successfully!) and was opening a can of crushed tomatoes when my pinky got
caught in the lid and sliced right open.
Now, I’ve also mentioned on this blog that I’m not a doctor.
It’s not just because I can’t pass an advanced biology class and my eyes glaze
over at the mention of any scientific name. I can’t stand blood. The second it
happened, I ran over to the sink and it was just everywhere. Cringing, I asked
Drew to look at it because I thought I needed to get to an Urgent Care. I was
right.
One of the interesting things about being a parent is that
we feel the need to look invincible in front of our children. Don’t let them
see you worry, don’t let them see you sad or in pain. I’m not sure why, but it’s
in the handbook, so what I did next came perfectly naturally. I slapped a smile
on my face, turned to B and said, “Sweetie, mommy has an owie. We need to go to
the doctor so they can fix it. Can you find your shoes?”
Minutes later, B was walking confidently into the Urgent
Care with his shoes on the wrong feet, chatting about how mommy was going to
get a bandage. During his most recent check-up he received the book, Doctor Dan
the Bandage Man, so he knows all about putting on bandages. Drew filled out the
paperwork and I scribbled some semblance of a signature with my left hand, my
right pinky still wrapped tightly in a paper towel. I went in to see the doctor and got my first stitches. I'm not going to lie, it hurt and I was terrified. Luckily, I didn't sever anything important so it will heal "better than new!" as Doctor Dan would say. When I walked back into the waiting room with my bandaged finger, B smiled and said, "Mommy, you're all better?" "Yes! Look at my bandage! All better!" I said, gritting my teeth into a smile. We picked up a new can of crushed tomatoes on the way home and finished cooking our
calzones. They were delicious.
This week our second Blue Apron box arrived and tonight we
cooked enchiladas. I chopped the produce, Drew opened the can of tomato sauce,
and we had a wonderfully uneventful dinner.
