Burned

So... last night was a complete disaster. It really was.

As I've mentioned before, I love to can. Canning makes me feel like I'm homesteading in the country somewhere. I'll throw on one of my old aprons (I collect aprons) and go to town on a jam or a tomato sauce. I find it relaxing. I enjoy the science of it and of course, the payoff of eating something I put together.

And right now, Hubs and I have enough food coming in from our garden to put my love of canning to the test. I've seriously been racking my brain and my cookbooks, trying to come up with some appetizing recipes. Then, last night I thought I hit the jackpot- a spicy cucumber salsa that would use up almost all of the cucumbers sitting on my counter.

When I found it, I wanted to make it immediately. Unfortunately, last night was also the season finale of The Bachelorette (I admit that I am hooked on that show). If I had just put a little more thought into my plan, I would have realized that the timing for canning was less than ideal. Anyone who cans their own food, can tell you that canning requires great attention to detail and a lot of patience. See where this is going?

Foolishly, I assembled all of my ingredients together- tomatoes, cucumbers, jalapenos, banana peppers, poblanos, fresh cilantro, fresh oregano, salt, lime and green onions. I plopped my poblanos in the oven for roasting and then commenced with the chopping. I wanted to get my peppers out of the way first because I hate chopping peppers. I feel like whenever I work with hot peppers I always touch my eyes and then before I know it, I'm crying tears of fire.

Thankfully, I made it through the peppers sans tears, but by the time I began coring and peeling my first tomato, the beginning credits of The Bachelorette were already beginning to role. AGHHHH!!! Poor Hubs was sitting in the living room and I was forcing him to not only watch the show, but to relive it repeatedly by yelling out every line, so that I could hear it in the kitchen. And I didn't just want the words--"Was he smiling when he said that, Honey?" "How did he say that he loved her- was it teasing or serious?"

The poor man. He really hates that show. Perhaps that is why I was able to finally persuade him that he should be in the kitchen chopping the tomatoes and I should be in the living room watching the drama unfold. He agreed and was able to finish with all the prep--bringing me the saucepan of ingredients to mix together while he went upstairs to escape.

During the next commercial (right after J.P.'s intro to the fam), I got the saucepan heating on the stovetop and threw a pizza in the oven for dinner. All the time I'm thinking... I'm such an awesome provider.

Each commercial thereafter, I was running back and forth between the kitchen and the living room- stirring the salsa and checking on dinner. Until finally, the pizza was done. I went to the sink and washed my hands (something I do umpteen times when I'm canning- everything has to be so sanitized) and then I picked up some potholders, opened up the oven, and reached in for the pizza pan.

It took only seconds for me to realize that something was wrong. My left hand was burning. I yelped and reached for the pan with my right hand, only to have the heat sear my right fingers as well. I panicked at that point and threw the pan (pizza and all) up on top of the waterbath pot, where it remained for approximately three seconds, teetering back and forth before falling down to the floor. Pizza face down. Pepperoni and sauce everywhere.

And then I cried. I cried because I was hungry. I cried because I was in pain. I cried because I knew I wasn't going to be able to finish canning that night. And I cried because poor Ben lost his father 4 1/2 years ago and now he was losing the "love of his life" on national television.

I cried because I knew I was going to have to finish my canning today... and it's Shark Week on the Discovery Channel. I really love Shark Week. I really do.