Kitchen Safety

Last Friday I had an accident. A freak accident.

We were preparing for a gathering for my husband's birthday. I was using my beloved Cusinart food processor to whip up a marinade for pork chops. My husband had just walked the dogs and our papillon, Zelda, bolted into the kitchen, excited about dinner. She ran under my feet. The work bowl was in my hand. I stumbled. The blade flew in the air. Somehow the arch of my foot (only protected by a leather flip flop) landed on the blade. I was in shock. Blood everywhere. My husband couldn't even understand how it happened. Neither could I.

Needless to say we tried to fix it with a BandAid and an Ace bandage (I know!) and we ended up in the emergency room. I now have 7 stitches in my left foot. Oh, and I have to take antibiotics for 10 days. The great part? Although the pain was excruciating, I didn't need a tetnus shot because this wasn't my first kitchen accident. I nearly cut off the tip of my finger with a Santoku knife in April 2007 (see my old blog: http://delkee.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2007-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-05%3A00&updated-max=2008-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-05%3A00&max-results=4).

After two trips to the emergency room (both related to kitchen accidents), I have some new rules:

1. When using a knife, always curve your fingers inward to avoid cutting your fingertips.
2. No flip flops, sandals, or bare feet in the kitchen. Ever.
3. Keep hyper dogs away from food preparation areas.

Lessons learned. The stitches come out next Monday.