Ho creato un fuoco nel forno!!!
The day started like any other. I arrived at work for 8am and began preparing for the busy day ahead. If I had known the events that were going to take place, in preparing, I would have gotten out gas masks, fans, and a fire extinguisher. Now for those of you who don't know, I work at a day program for the frail elderly. So why on earth would I need these belligerent items? Let me tell you!
I'll start by informing you that you are reading the LJ of the official "baking queen" of the organization that I work for. Therefore, it was no surprise to anyone that my morning duties included the preparation of morning muffins. This is a task that I enjoy doing, and take pride in creating.
Today I decided to bake Strawberry Streusel Muffins. The recipe was nothing that I couldn't handle. So after mixing, chopping and blending I was ready to scoop the batter into the muffin tins. Upon arriving to the cupboard where said tins are kept I remembered that the other day program had borrowed one of them. I walked over to their kitchen and asked for it back. At which time my (only male) colleague informed me that he was using the tin. I told him that I was desperate, as the participants were going to be arriving shortly and the morning muffins weren't even in the oven yet! Now, one might say that it's my own fault for taking suggestions from the guy who used an actual drinking glass to measure "one cup" of sugar on his first day. At any rate, He handed me a small brown muffin "tin" and said "this should do the trick". Reluctantly, I took the damn "tin" and went back to finish scooping out my muffin batter.
After sprinkling the brown sugar mixture over the top, I put them in the oven, and set the timer. About 15 minutes later I could smell something kind of funky. I knew that the strange smell couldn't be MY muffins. But decided to take a peak into the oven, just incase. As I walked towards the oven, the toxic smell became stronger and I noticed smoke billowing out of the oven top. When I looked into the oven window I didn't expect to see what I saw: a melted heap of dripping plastic mixed with doughy muffin batter. I was in shock. I pulled the door open, was blinded by a toxic cloud of smoke, and with an oven mitt on, tried to lift the heap out of the oven and into the garbage. Of course the bottoms of the muffin cuppy things fell out, leaving me with even more of a disaster to try to clean up. Anyway...I got most of it out, with the exception of the drips of plastic that were pooling at the bottom of the oven. My colleagues found this entire thing amusing, and assured me that the mess in the oven was nothing to worry about, as this particular oven is equipped with a self cleaning option. However, they could not understand what had possessed me to use a plastic microwave muffin pan in the conventional oven. DUUUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHH...
Sooooo....at the end of the day, after our participants had packed up and left, I decided to try out this self cleaning oven thing. Now, this doesn’t mean that the oven sprays cleaner onto itself and scrubs until sparkling....it means that it gets really effing hot and burns anything in it! Well sounded like the easiest way to get rid of the hardened plastic from inside. So we started it and began a meeting to debrief about the day. A few minute into it I decided to go and check on the oven. I certainly didn't expect to see flames!!!!! I created a toxic fire inside the oven! I couldn't believe what was happening. AS IF IT GOT WORSE! The oven door automatically locks when the self cleaning option is selected and remained locked even after I cancelled it. As the flames continued to burn I scrambled to open all the windows and search for a fan. Luckily the fire burned itself out. However, shortly after it went out, a maintenance man came running into our program room asking what was burning. Apparently the fumes from my toxic inferno were being sucked into the exhaust system and redistributed into the long term care facility that our program is attached to.
I left work today with my tail between my legs and a drooping crown. I'm officially resigning from my position as baking queen. I've also learned an important lesson. NEVER assume that a guy knows what he's talking about when it comes to ANYTHING regarding ANYTHING in the kitchen!
I'll start by informing you that you are reading the LJ of the official "baking queen" of the organization that I work for. Therefore, it was no surprise to anyone that my morning duties included the preparation of morning muffins. This is a task that I enjoy doing, and take pride in creating.
Today I decided to bake Strawberry Streusel Muffins. The recipe was nothing that I couldn't handle. So after mixing, chopping and blending I was ready to scoop the batter into the muffin tins. Upon arriving to the cupboard where said tins are kept I remembered that the other day program had borrowed one of them. I walked over to their kitchen and asked for it back. At which time my (only male) colleague informed me that he was using the tin. I told him that I was desperate, as the participants were going to be arriving shortly and the morning muffins weren't even in the oven yet! Now, one might say that it's my own fault for taking suggestions from the guy who used an actual drinking glass to measure "one cup" of sugar on his first day. At any rate, He handed me a small brown muffin "tin" and said "this should do the trick". Reluctantly, I took the damn "tin" and went back to finish scooping out my muffin batter.
After sprinkling the brown sugar mixture over the top, I put them in the oven, and set the timer. About 15 minutes later I could smell something kind of funky. I knew that the strange smell couldn't be MY muffins. But decided to take a peak into the oven, just incase. As I walked towards the oven, the toxic smell became stronger and I noticed smoke billowing out of the oven top. When I looked into the oven window I didn't expect to see what I saw: a melted heap of dripping plastic mixed with doughy muffin batter. I was in shock. I pulled the door open, was blinded by a toxic cloud of smoke, and with an oven mitt on, tried to lift the heap out of the oven and into the garbage. Of course the bottoms of the muffin cuppy things fell out, leaving me with even more of a disaster to try to clean up. Anyway...I got most of it out, with the exception of the drips of plastic that were pooling at the bottom of the oven. My colleagues found this entire thing amusing, and assured me that the mess in the oven was nothing to worry about, as this particular oven is equipped with a self cleaning option. However, they could not understand what had possessed me to use a plastic microwave muffin pan in the conventional oven. DUUUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHH...
Sooooo....at the end of the day, after our participants had packed up and left, I decided to try out this self cleaning oven thing. Now, this doesn’t mean that the oven sprays cleaner onto itself and scrubs until sparkling....it means that it gets really effing hot and burns anything in it! Well sounded like the easiest way to get rid of the hardened plastic from inside. So we started it and began a meeting to debrief about the day. A few minute into it I decided to go and check on the oven. I certainly didn't expect to see flames!!!!! I created a toxic fire inside the oven! I couldn't believe what was happening. AS IF IT GOT WORSE! The oven door automatically locks when the self cleaning option is selected and remained locked even after I cancelled it. As the flames continued to burn I scrambled to open all the windows and search for a fan. Luckily the fire burned itself out. However, shortly after it went out, a maintenance man came running into our program room asking what was burning. Apparently the fumes from my toxic inferno were being sucked into the exhaust system and redistributed into the long term care facility that our program is attached to.
I left work today with my tail between my legs and a drooping crown. I'm officially resigning from my position as baking queen. I've also learned an important lesson. NEVER assume that a guy knows what he's talking about when it comes to ANYTHING regarding ANYTHING in the kitchen!