It’s Spring, 1989 and I’m disillusioned with the rat race. I thought politics were bad then, when Trump was just a crooked real estate developer! I decided put together my life savings to go to cooking school.
To date, I’d never been in trouble in school, always got good grades and never skipped a day for sixteen years. This was different.
We had a list of things to buy and show up with first day of class, which included chefs jackets, toques, aprons, torchons and two knives, a quality chef knife (10″ – 12″) and paring knife (3″ – 4″). I chose Henckels with a certain type of handle that suits my hand. On the handle we were to paint our name or initials in nail polish, so I could tell my knives from those of the other seven students in our class.
First day of class, first five minutes, we were told in no uncertain terms that if a knife was ever found in a soapy sink, a danger to all aspiring cooks and their teachers, we would be told to leave. No second chances, no tuition refund, nothing. Gone.
Earlier this week, I was making my newest favorite, focaccia, and placed the loaf into my convection oven with a timer, to concentrate on dishes. Reaching into the soapy sink, I was greeted by the large blade from my food processor. I felt it hit, and knew the blood would spurt as soon as my hand was out of the water.
I called for my husband, who happened to be working at home, and asked for the first aid kit. Not nearly as bad as I thought, phew! A little hydrogen peroxide, bacitracin and a band-aid and I was good to go. The band-aid only lasted about an hour and it’s been in open air, cleaned regularly, since.
No visit to the ER, no stitches. And all my husband said besides that I was lucky, was “good thing you’re not in cooking school!” Of course he didn’t kick me out of the kitchen, because then he’d have to learn how to make something besides breakfast cereal and spaghetti with jarred sauce.
Luckily, it took nearly 35 years for me to make that mistake, and now I’ll renew my promise to keep the knives outside the sink and clean them one by one, dry them and safely put them away until next time. Please do the same! Cheers, lasagna tonight. Dee
Cooking with Dee 