On Sunday, I brewed my first batch of beer since last August. The final product is expected to a dark, low alcohol Belgian beer hopefully suitable for entry into the Portland Cheers to Belgian Beers homebrew competition. Last time I submitted a beer was two years ago, and due to a cold snap and an unheated house the beer didn’t fully ferment before bottling, so I ended up with a beer that was too sweet and had a tendency to foam over when opened, and in the case of two bottles, outright explode and leak beer all over.
Since Hanne was out with her Mom, I invited my Dad and grandmother over for lunch and to keep me company while I brewed. I got to taste some of my Dad’s recent brews, visit with my grandmother, and it was generally a good time.
Now, I mention the brewing and an afternoon of drinking not just for posterity’s sake, but as an intro to my evening. The plan was to use the gnocchi dough I made Sunday morning and have gnocchi with caramelized onions and spinach for dinner, so in preparation for caramelizing the onions I pulled out the mandoline and began thinly slicing. I typically use the guide to protect my fingers, but I’ve avoided it a number of times for things that are difficult to slice when using it (mushrooms, potatoes, etc.) and I’m generally pretty careful. My afternoon of drinking apparently took a toll on the caution center of my brain, though, and I managed to run my finger right into the blade that is so sharp that the Amazon review page is filled with people saying how sharp the blade is.
Of course, I immediately knew what I had done and pulled my finger back, but it was too late. I was bleeding all over the sink and cursing like a sailor for doing something so stupid. The first thing Hanne said was “Do you need to go get stitches?” I’d give her crap for not first asking if I was going to be OK, but every time I slice without the guide Hanne stands there and watches, expecting me to do just what I did. I declined to go to the hospital and rinsed my finger and she ran and grabbed some gauze so I could put some pressure on it. I’m not bothered by the sight of blood, but I did so light-headed I need to lean on the kitchen counter so I didn’t pass out and bleed all over the floor.
It could have been much, much worse though. It all happened so fast, but I just realized that it’s my left thumb that got sliced. When I use the mandoline, whether I use the guide or not I slice left to right with my right hand. Because my left thumb got sliced, that means I was pressing on a stubborn piece of onion to get it to go through and wasn’t applying the full amount of pressure as I would have otherwise. If I’d hit my thumb when actively slicing, well, I’d be missing a piece of my thumb and not just have a half-inch gash.
So, the moral of the story is to always use a guide with your mandoline. Or at least, use the guide to push that stuck piece of onion through. It’s probably stating the obvious, but I’m not that smart to begin with. Also, gnocchi with caramelized onions isn’t the best combination. The more you know.
I had hoped to write up a little bit about my new iPad and my initial impressions of using it, but it’s only been two days and I don’t have any real insight to share quite yet. I’ll leave you with these two teasers, though:
- Using the touchscreen on iDevices, whether it’s an iPad or an iPhone, heavily relies on your thumbs. I hadn’t really been aware of that until this week.
- After using my iPad for awhile, Hanne handed me her iPhone and my first thought was “WTF is this little toy?” Make of that what you will.
Cheers.
