Dying for Bread

As I've mentioned before, I love The Barefoot Contessa.  Ina Garten is really an inspiration to me.  She has a calm confidence in the kitchen.  Her show brings me so much joy to watch and inspires me to do better, and to do more.  When I need an idea on how to make something, the first thing I always Google is "{fill in the blank food} Barefoot Contessa.

Two weeks ago, some friends were hosting Italian Dinner Night.  My only job was to bring garlic bread.  Seriously.  How easy is that?

When you're me, not so easy.  I have to make things complicated.  Over complicated.  I mean, I cook.  I bake.  I will NOT  just go buy frozen garlic bread and throw it in the microwave.  (Even though the only time I've ever made bread, it imploded and nearly burned the house down...)  I googled, "Garlic Bread Barefoot Contessa.  And came up with this.  Easy enough, right?  Right.

Everything was going swell.  I decided to avoid all the washing of my huge food processor and just used my stick blender to grind down the herbs.  It was working like a charm, until it wasn't.  I put my finger in the chamber to clean it.  I've done this a million times.  Literally, the chamber is so shallow, it is necessary to do this if I'm going to use this device.  However, I'm now rethinking this.  I'm rethinking and considering using a knife or a spoon or ANYTHING other than my finger.  Or perhaps, I should just use a full-size food processor.

All of a sudden.  Within a second.  Everything changed.

There was blood.  Lots and lots of blood.  I mean, LOTS. Of. Blood.

And then the pain came.  My left index finger was so covered in blood, I didn't know if it was even attached anymore.  I was pretty sure it wasn't.  And then it hurt more.  And then I couldn't breathe anymore.  And got dizzy.  I thought for sure that a stick blender was going to be my demise.

I laid on the floor of the kitchen crying, called my parents, and bled out.  No matter how tight the paper towel, it wouldn't clot.  And I'm dying.

I pulled myself up after a while, determined to move forward.  I cannot die from bread.  I cannot die from a stick blender.  I sent out a text and one of my friends volunteered to bring garlic bread to dinner.  Thank god.  I had to shower.

In the end, I have about six cuts on the pad of my finger, three on the top side, and the fingernail is pretty much sliced.  It's super painful, and still healing.

I wasn't hungry when I left the house for dinner.  I was still super nauseous, but I wanted to at least be part of the friendship and fellowship of the evening.  Turns out, that was exactly what the doctor ordered.  I am so fortunate to have friends who are like family, who love me and tease me and care about me no matter what.  My parents were also at the dinner, and that made it all the better.  I ate food - good homemade, real deal Italian food.

The lesson of this day is simply:

All you need is love.

...and a food processor.