A few years ago, my sister had stitches on her index finger after having a kitchen accident with her stick blender. It was a wake up call. I'm usually so careful in the kitchen but after hearing about her trauma, I made a mental note to be even more cautious with my stick blender. I religiously unplug it EVERY time I take it out and plan to stick my fingers anywhere near the blade. Or so I thought.
I guess I was in a hurry. Or just not thinking. On Saturday night, I set out to prepare the spice rub for a pork shoulder that I planned to slow roast Sunday for some awesome Super Bowl nachos. My sister and her family were planning to join us for the big game and nachos is their Super Bowl tradition. I'm happy to comply. I had just finished tucking in my baby and my three year old for the night. My husband and seven year old were just finishing up a book before she headed to bed for the night. I had my phone beside me and intended to take photos of the meat and the rub and text them to my sister with a message along the lines of "oh, it's on!"
Somehow I forgot to unplug.
As my right hand scraped the rub mixture off of the blade, my left hand somehow pressed "on." I'll spare you the gross details but tell you this: 27 stitches later, I don't think I'll be using the stick blender for a long, long time. Maybe never again. It's so sad because that thing is so very handy, and I use it ridiculously often.
I'm incredibly lucky. It could have been worse and frankly, I'm feeling so grateful that I still have ten fingers (and their tips... I thought I had lost the thumb tip). I'm also forever thankful for my sister, the calming force even in the face of disgusting injury, who came from across town to be with me for a long night at the ER while my husband held down the fort with our three kiddos. We've never had emergency plans in place for things like this (though we definitely have plans for emergencies that involve the kids) but I've been thinking about it since Saturday; Adults need back up plans and reliable people to call in an emergency too! It was so clear to me that my sister was the right person to call. Do you have adult emergency plans in place at your house?
p.s.: see my pinky finger? I had an accident at a friend's birthday party when I was 4. It got caught in a folding chair. I lost most of the tip. In those days of no cell-phones, my mom went to pick me up from the birthday party and there was a note on the door: "Went to emergency room. Everything fine. Meet us there." She had no idea that I was the center of that emergency until she got to the hospital! But alas, that's a story for another day.
p.p.s.: my husband cleaned everything up, rubbed the pork shoulder with the seasoning to let the amazing flavors penetrate the meat all night and slow cooked it all day Sunday. His nachos were outstanding, as was the rest of the feast that he prepared for Super Bowl Sunday!