Reminder to Self

This is a crucial period of decision making for me and I came across this article that seems to be speaking directly to me:

"However, to define who we are is more than the exercise of choosing as if we were in a supermarket. In order to properly exercise this ability to choose we need to get away from the supermarket type of choosing. It requires that we clarify why and what we want. It demands clarity of the purpose of life. It requires discipline and discipline equates to self-denial, self sacrifice and purification of motives and intentions. Choosing requires discipline because choosing has to be in conjunction with what it means to be human. The key word is “human”—we choose in order to be fully human..." - written by Father Simon from SFX Church for 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B, here.

Pot on Fire

I'm well known for not able to cook but today's incident took this acknowledgment to a whole new level. I have been preparing dinner for the past few days because sis will be having her exams soon. Most of my cooking are either too salty, too soggy or plain tasteless.

Today, I was planning a very safe meal: Gnocchi + seafood with white sauce. Just boil the Gnocchi, grill the seafood and make the white sauce from the packet. Easy ya? I started out chopping the garlic (which reminded me of Shuv :D) and sliced the mushrooms. Chuck the seafood in the grill and boiled the pasta.

After a few minutes, the pasta was done. I whipped up a smaller pot for the sauce and heated some sunflower oil while draining the pasta. Suddenly, I heard a faint "pop" from my back and found my pot on fire! I panicked and took the pot off the stove. I was lucky that the handle wasn't hot. While holding the pot not knowing what to do, my mind was running a quick course on what I should do to put out the "bon fire". As I was pondering on where to get sand (I know this sounds stupid but my mind wasn't working -____-"), sis quickly switched off the stove and told me to cover the hot of fire with the lid. Seconds later, the fire died.

I would love to say "everything went back to normal after that" but the truth is, it wasn't. The pot was black and the house was smokey. I was still shocked after the incident and I was quite afraid to turn the heat up on the stove.

Sis, on the other hand, was calm and I thought she's really good in handling emergencies. I googled what temperature the oil went up to to catch a fire and found that it actually hit 400 degree celsius (not sure how accurate the information is). Seriously, I won't let me eye off the pot when I cook in future. No more burning fire.