Cleaning up Smoke damaged homes.

We had a little kitchen smoke accident the other night.
My hubby left a full pan of hamburger frying on the stove as we left for a 2 hour Roller Derby Practice. (He thought he had turned it off, but really did not...)

If you've ever seen me cook, you're probably saying this right now: "It was HIM, and NOT YOU who set the house on fire!?!" - I know! Right!?

We came home to our house billowing smoke out of the front door as we opened it.
We proceeded to run through the house and open all windows  after he had picked up the pan and taken it outside. I found and grabbed my cat, Paris, and took her outside with me. Smoke was pouring out all the windows of our house. It smelled horrible. 

Luckily it was not a huge fire. But there was nothing left of the pan by the time we found it.

Once the house was secure enough, We set off to the local store for basic quick fix cleaning supplies:
Febreez and air fresheners.

Then sprayed down our house, and started a load of washing clothes to wear the next day.

Today I've been searching cleaning tips for smoke damaged homes.
I found this great link which I want to share, because, you never know when it might happen to you.

Home Guides: How do I Remove Fire Smoke Smell From Apartment?

Basic how to:
- air out the house with a fan pushing air into the house to help drive out smoke.
- wash clothing, curtains, linens, anything you can put in the washer.
- wash down floors, walls, fixtures, all surfaces.
- some things you may prefer to just replace. but most can be saved with some TLC and lots of Vacuuming, washing, steam cleaning.

And don't freak out too much. It could have been a lot worse. If you were not in the house, and no one was hurt, then you are doing pretty good. These things happen.

King Ranch Chicken

We all know how bad I am at cooking.

Well, I gave it another try last night.
I found this recipe for King Ranch Chicken on Pinterest.

and then I  gave Hubby a big plate full. and he ate it quietly.
...then he got up and went back for seconds!
...and then went back for Thirds!
 I Did it! I made something edible AND yummy! Yay Me!

Here is my masterpiece
not burnt, not too spicy, not too soupy; just right.

Cooking Fail of the Day

I am a horrible cook.
I just don't cook. and I really shouldn't cook.
I usually stick to veggies, fruit, popcorn or anything super simple, for this very reason.

and then sometimes I like to "try" and be cooking savvy. and that's usually when this happens...
I burn things. Everything. So much, that I have gotten used to eating my burnt food because I hate to waste whatever it is I was trying to cook.

Here's today's cooking fail:

This is my lovely Apple Crisp. A friends recipe which usually doesn't turn out to bad.
but today I forgot to add flour. and may have put in too much brown sugar.  And saw on another recipe to add a bit of water to keep it juicy.
I opened the oven, to find out why it was smoking... and there it was, bubbling and boiling over.
It's pretty much a pan of caramelized brown sugar.

I'm going to make the Hubby try some anyway. I love how he humors my cooking attempts. This one should be good when he realizes its 80% sugar. lol.

Stay tuned for more Cooking Fails.
I'm going to start posting them as often as they occur. Which lately is often, since SpitFire and my mother want me to try harder. Joke is on them...