Today’s post by author Dana Bate | @DanaBate
We’ve got a copy of The Girl’s Guide To Love And Supper Clubs up for grabs today. You know the drill. Just leave a comment on this post to be entered!
Dana Bate
Update: the winner of this giveaway is Kim Blackburn. She has been notified by email. Thanks to everyone who entered! Check back soon for more giveaways!
There is a scene in my book that involves an explosion. Not of a bomb. Not of a gas tank. Of a Pyrex dish.
Without ruining the scene for you by giving you the when/why/how this happens, I’ll simply say I was looking for a way to throw a wrench in my main character’s plans. That’s what writers do – we take our main character and her goal, and we try to throw as many hurdles between those two things as possible. So when I tried to dream up a small bump in the road, I considered my own cooking experiences and thought, “Aha! An exploding Pyrex dish! Perfect!”
Because, you see, I once blew up a Pyrex dish. I didn’t mean to. I had been cooking for years and should have known better. But I did, and here’s how it happened.
My husband and I had been dating for a few months, by which point I had already cooked him a steak dinner and a pasta feast. I had not, however, attempted his favorite home-cooked dish of all: roast chicken. He always raved about his mother’s roast chicken – which, by definition, meant I should steer clear of this dish at all costs. But due to either foolishness or ego, or possibly both, I decided to try anyway.
Using Ina Garten’s recipe for “Perfect Roast Chicken,” I tucked the bird into my rectangular glass dish on a bed of sliced onions, stuck the whole thing in my tiny electric oven, and set the timer. Ninety minutes later, the chicken was done.
I should probably take this opportunity to explain that my kitchen was a tiny, galley kitchen with no counter space. Not limited counter space – no counter space. There was an electric range, a sink, and an area where my dish rack sat. That was it.
So when I removed the pan from the oven, I placed it on the only available surface: one of the electric cooktop burners, the old-fashioned coiled kind. Sure, I had just used that burner on high heat, but the coils were no longer red. And anyway, the recipe called for boiling the drippings in the bottom of the pan, so the residual heat would be a good thing, right?
Wrong. I placed the dish on the hot burner, transferred the chicken to a plate, and took the plate into the living room, and seconds after I returned to the kitchen, the dish exploded. Glass shot across my kitchen in hunks and shards, blasting through my kitchen and into the living room. The sound was terrifying – like a bomb had gone off. My heart raced, and my hands shook uncontrollably. By some stroke of luck, I’d been standing in front of the refrigerator when this happened, so I avoided a face full of glass, but even that bit of luck couldn’t calm me.
I called my husband in tears, explaining what had happened, and he raced over to my apartment with a broom and a dustpan and helped me clean up. The chicken, by some miracle, was spared, so after picking greasy pieces of glass out of the shoes in my closet, we ended up eating a roast chicken dinner as I’d planned (though my hands still trembled as I cut up the food on my plate).
Was the chicken as good as his mother’s? I’ll never know. But the lesson I learned that night has stuck with me forever: never try to outdo your mother-in-law, and never, EVER put a glass dish on a hot stove.
About Ariel Lawhon
Ariel Lawhon is the co-founder of She Reads, novelist, blogger, storyteller, and life-long reader. She lives in Texas with her husband and four young sons (aka The Wild Rumpus). Ariel believes that Story is the shortest distance to the human heart.
Wow! Two pieces of great advice for all of us! I never envisioned an exploding Pyrex pan, but I am pretty sure I need to share the story with my offspring. It’s more impressive than just pointing out that “It’s dangerous to put anything on a burner that doesn’t belong there.”
Dana! How fun to see you here at She Reads. You know I read your book and loved it. Although it should come with a “Read with snacks nearby” warning label.
I learned the Pyrex lesson watching a TV show about people suing Pyrex because pieces exploded. Something I never knew, and it’s always good to be reminded of what not to do in the kitchen!
xo!!
I’m so glad you weren’t hurt. Mine was a tuna casserole – who would have thought that, with a name like Pyrex, that it wouldn’t be able to withstand a burner. No one got hurt, but oh the mess.
HM at HVC dot RR dot COM
I never knew thst could happen and I have been cooking for over 40 years!
This sounds like a book I would love to read.
I would love to read this book. I broke a pyrex 9X13 pan years ago trying to make gravy on the stove. What a mess. Gayle
This sounds like a great read with you being the author. You have a “way with word” that hold our attention!!
So glad you weren’t wounded, but loved the laugh this morning.
This reminded me of a cooking funny that happened to me many years ago. One Thanksgiving I wanted to make homemade dressing instead of the box kind, so I measured, mixed and poured into a 9×13 pan. Looked great and smelled wonderful. After it was baked and on the table and my brother in law went to dish some out, he dished out the spoon that I used to stir it before I put it in the oven! Baked it right along with the dressing. Oh my! Still laugh about that today.
I had a very similar experience two weeks after the birth of my first child. Like you, I had been cooking for years and knew better…Perhaps it was out of control new mama hormones that made me lose rational thought…for whatever reason, I placed a pyrex dish of hot potatoes on a coil burner to “keep warm”. From experience, you know the rest of the story…
Thankfully, the glas shards missed both my new baby and me. It was a lesson learned…and the horrible sound of that explosion has embedded the lesson in my memory. I never pick up a piece of Pyrex without remembering that day!
I made mac & cheese in a circular Pyrex dish once and when I positioned my potholders on the handles and lifted the dish from the oven, the entire circular portion of the dish lifted completely off the base at which time the mac & cheese went south all over the oven door. After reading your experience Dana, I’m grateful there was no explosion, but I had an oven disaster none-the-less. Looking forward to reading your book.
Wow – good story and good advice. Thanks for sharing and for a chance to win.
Loved your story of the Pyrex dish. I’m just glad no one got hurt. I’d love to read your book – and thank you for the chance to win. And thanks for sharing!!!
I want the book and the cupcake!!
She is adorable, the excerpt is adorable and the cover is beyond adorable. I would love to have a copy and I am so glad Dana stopped by.
Oh my goodness — some of these stories are as terrifying as my own! Glad to know I’m not alone!!
xo
This sounds like a wonderful book! Hope I win.
Jaime
This sounds like a wonderful book.
I would love to read it!
When I was growing up we somehow had a thermos full of hot chocolate that exploded! This looks like such a cute, fun book!
“never try to outdo your mother-in-law, and never, EVER put a glass dish on a hot stove.” Timeless wisdom! Thx for sharing.
I love the long, intriguing names that books seem to be having now…..this is just another example of it. And, I used to think that supper clubs were a thing of the past but just discovered a great one last summer in Door County: Donny’s Glidden Lodge & Supper Club!
Wow, never knew Pyrex could explode — scary!! I love books about food, would love to read yours.
Lol It sounds like something I would do! I once started my purse on fire while making mac n cheese.
Another book to add to my growing list. Exploding pyrex, who knew??
Wow, an exploding pyrex and great advice. Would love to win the book. Thanks!
Never knew about exploding Pyrex! It’s true-you learn something new every day!
How scary, thanks for entering me to win a copy.
Would love a copy!
thanks for the chance to read this fabulous story
Thanks, everyone! Love hearing from all of you
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sounds like a great book!
would love to win a book!!