Not So Victorious Dinner (and a PSA)

Tonight's dinner was not meant for the Victory books, I'm afraid. It all started out well - I prepped and got halfway in to the Pioneer Woman's Mustard Chicken recipe before it all went wrong.

I've made this recipe a ton - it's always been delicious and easy and drama free. Unfortunately tonight was the exception to that rule. I made it through the tough part (in my opinion anyways) of cooking the chicken, sauteed the garlic (smelled amazing!) but somewhere between turning off the burner (since I was dealing with bourbon) and pouring the bourbon into the skillet to glaze the pan -- something went terribly wrong.

At the time it felt like the flames were SUPER high and ENGULFING our kitchen cabinets and OMG WHERE IS THE DOG, and WHY CAN'T I FIND THE EXTINGUISHER (hint: because we don't own one), I somehow yelled for Engineer Husband who came running in and we were able to extinguish it.

Hopefully you have never dealt with a stove top fire but here are a few things that we did that you should NOT do:

- Forget that the right pantry aid is baking soda, not flour.

Because this happens.

And then your dinner, which was smelling really good and just about to start the delicious sauce making phase, will look like this.

You can spot the wet towel that thankfully we did not employ tonight as well.

If you DO find yourself in this situation, use BAKING SODA. Which of course we remembered after we had already doused the flames with what I can only guess is an entire bag of flour. 

But it worked, thankfully since our house is intact and we didn't make the fire worse. We were all safe and the chicken that was already cooked was spared and very gently over a low flame worked into another dish so that we could still eat.

So. Please learn from my mistakes. Be super careful cooking with alcohol and if you find yourself in a predicament like me where you're looking for something that you don't own to put out the flames, reach for the baking soda.

Photo Courtesy of ArmandHammer.com

You know you've got a box somewhere! I'm planning on putting some right next to the stove for anytime I decide to cook with booze - which likely will not be for a little while to say the least.

Baking soda.

(Also, in my googling since, it looks like the wet towel would also work but that seems iffy to me since you shouldn't use water. You could also put a lid over the pan and move away from the burner. That sounds like it would work but in the heat of the moment no way would I have been able to find the right lid.)

Or just buy an extinguisher. Or order take out.

Blogmopolitan Quiz

Another weekend has come and gone but we've already made it through Monday so that in itself is a victory!

I didn't want to bore you with another lake weekend recap (it was fun! we had friends and dogs everywhere!) so when I saw the Blogmopolitan Quiz from Two Thirds Hazel , I figured, perfect!

So here are my answers - though I probably should've completed this on a day that didn't leave me emotionally drained and needing a big glass of wine. Fortunately for me, the Bachelorette Men Tell All is on tonight (my not so guilty pleasure) so I'm bound to be in better spirits soon!

Hope you have a great rest of the week!

Weekend Happenings

This past weekend was the first in a long time it feels like where Engineer Husband and I had no concrete plans or trips out of town. To say this was much needed is an understatement.

Here's what we filled our free time up with:

 1 // Stopped into American Pie Pizza for a couple of pre-movie drinks and some spicy chicken dip. This has sort of become a tradition right before we go see a movie, which isn't often enough!

2 // Met up with a friend and her hilarious fiance to see 22 Jump Street. It was SO hilarious - better than the first which is saying something because I loved that one too.

3 // After the movie we headed to BJ's Brewhouse for a couple of post-movie drinks. Our friend's Fiance got RAK'd (Random Act of Kindness - it's a Chiver thing) which made EH jealous he wasn't wearing his Chive shirt. Good times!

4 // On Saturday we grabbed lunch and after deciding it was ridiculously too hot and too humid outside, I convinced EH to help me set up a little backyard oasis.

Which meant concocting up an "orange thing" (basically a screwdriver with a splash of sprite - so good!), breaking out the super SPF tanning lotion, and diving into a new book. Pretty funny so far - especially if you are read it in Ron Swanson's voice. Which of course I did.

But what really made the oasis special was my very own personal swimming pool.

Which I purchased with the money I received for returning a dress to Target, which basically meant I purchased my pool FOR FREE. Not really, but that's what it felt like at least.

On Sunday we headed to one of our favorite spots - Dugan's Irish Pub - for a late lunch and day drinking while we watched the World Cup!

Which led to another round at Stone's Throw Brewery - which I've mentioned before is a favorite.

And last but not least, we captured the elusive white(ish) chipmunk that has been terrorizing Moose.

Which EH promptly named Moby Chick. Get it?

Shortly after we shuttled him to the nearby park to join the league of other chipmunks we have relocated. Not sure if it's helping control the population in our backyard but oh well! It's so fun to see them sprint off - I'm pretty sure the park goers think we are crazy.

Hopefully that shows up!

Have a happy week!