The Roof Is On Fire

...Ok well maybe not the roof, but the oven was definitely on fire last night. That's right, this kitchen perfectionist screwed up and set the oven on fire last night while trying to bake the most perfect french apple tart. This all happened because we're missing our particularly useful jelly roll pan. Basically, it's a cookie sheet with 1 inch sides all the way around. GreatPerfect for baking tarts, roasting veggies, basically anything that you need a shallow flat pan for where juices might run. Since this pan is missing, I opted to bake the tart on a regular, side-less cookie sheet. HUGE mistake. On top of that, I got a little carried away with the butter and added more than I should have. Butter + hot oven + side-less pan = butter all over the bottom of the oven, which then lit on fire. I'm talking full blown flames. (If I hadn't been so worried about burning my house down, or better yet, burning the tart, I would have taken a few pictures.) So after successfully retrieving the tart from the flaming oven, which required reaching my own oven mit covered hands INTO the flames....and setting off the fire alarm, the flames subsided and all was well again at Thomas Manor. The tart finished cooking in the toaster oven on the bake setting but with the excessive amount of butter I added, the outside edges were the really only edible parts. Delicious nevertheless!

But the real issue here is not the fire, believe it or not. It's my pride. Confession: I am a PERFECTIONIST in the kitchen. I have actually been known to throw away whole cakes/cookies just because they weren't pretty. I rarely have such disasters happen in the kitchen because I'm careful to choose the right tools and ingredients as well as learning all kinds of tips/tricks from watching the food network and my mom. So as the flames are spilling out of the oven last night, all I could think about was how I didn't want my roommates to know - that I had royally screwed up in the kitchen.

Moral of the story: A little hurt pride is always better than running the risk of setting your house on fire.