Time for a Nap

Sometimes, it pays to be a little more careful.

I am “baching” it tonight as the wife is doing orientation for adjunct nursing faculty this evening.  So in fixing supper (many call it dinner…I never did), which I do regularly, I got out a piece of beef from the freezer and quick-thawed in a pan on the stove.  Having watched it religiously, once it was thawed (I was able to stick a fork into it), I turned it to what I thought was a nice, simmering temperature, added a little water, covered it, and left it to finish cooking.

I was in the basement doing some things when the smoke alarms suddenly went off in the house.  They are connected together, so when one goes, they all go.  Assuming the issue was upstairs, as I went up the steps, I could smell the obvious odor of beef that was overcooked.

I got the smoking pan off of the stove and calmed it down quickly.  The noise soon went off as well.  I went through the haze to the garage, got a box fan, set it in a window in the living room, and turned it on exhaust, while opening the sliding door on the opposite side of the house.

It didn’t take long for most of the haze and smell to go away, but I know we’ll smell this for the next 24 hours or so as our house is very tight.

Now, I know I should have stayed up in the kitchen and monitored the stove.  After all, it was my supper that was in danger of overcooking, and I should have been more careful.  But I’d done this many times before and it always turned out OK.  What happened tonight I’m not sure as I turned the stove off quickly before stopping to look where I had really put the control.

I do know a couple of things, though.  First, the smoke alarms work just fine.  Second, it doesn’t take much to blacken meat instead of brown it.  Third, the exhaust fan routine works pretty well.

So there you have it.  An evening without the wife here and all this excitement.  I think it’s time for a nap now…