Bacon Danger

Crepes are a Christmas tradition in our house. It's one started by Troublesmith's parents; growing up, his family always had crepes for Christmas breakfast, and we decided to keep that going when we moved away. (Our addition, in a nod to our current home, is mimosas with fresh California orange juice.)

Since he was the one with 20+ years of watching at his mother's elbow, TS became the de facto crepemaker in our house -- which makes me the de facto prep cook. This year, I also made the bacon to go with the crepes.

Everything went just fine until the very, very end. Apparently I had the pan hotter than necessary, because the bacon grease was popping a little more than usual. As I was picking up the very last piece of meat, a splatter of grease hit me high on the arm, above my elbow. Even as my brain was warning me not to flinch, my reflexes kicked in, and I jerked the arm holding the bacon. That caused the dripping slice to swing toward me, and sent hot drops of grease flying toward my face and neck.

Luckily the bacon platter was sitting on the counter, because I immediately dropped everything I was holding and raced to the sink to splash cold water on my neck. Poor TS had no idea what happened; he just saw me screech and leap for the sink. I didn't get any real burns, but for the start of the new year, I had a nice red mark on my neck.

Fortunately, that mark has since faded, so there isn't a permanent scar. But there is a lesson here: when cooking bacon, don't flinch!