This week’s Saturday post, I wanted to touch briefly on “scars of the trade”…specifically, cuts.

As passionate cooking enthusiasts, I am convinced, that the more we cook, the more we would tend to “earn” some scars of the trade, ie: various burns ( I have loads) as well as some minor cuts.. I truly believe these little mishaps become sort of a “rite of passage” into the culinary realm.. I got a blister once, from prepping over 300 potatoes..THAT is putting in some prep time..and I also believe the more you prep, the more masterful you become in a few different ways, like using your knives, as well as the accuracy, speed and consistency with your cutting presentations. I think the more time and effort we put into making our meals, that this time and effort spent, is like an investment on our passion. It actually builds our “culinary character”, and that the more pain we endure, the more adept we become..Almost like an apprenticeship of sorts, taking us into the expert realms..YUP, burns, and cuts, and stuff happens, SO..we learn from it, grow some scar tissue, and ranger on..last night, I have earned yet another kitchen battle scar..it has been YEARS since I nicked myself like this..this slice, actually..took my breath away.. for a minute..

I was preparing for my Saturday weekly recipe post, and felt the need to share my pain..I am currently typing this blog – minus using one of my primary fingers today, my left index finger, (to be exact) because of a NASTY slice I inflicted on myself, while chopping some parsley..Being a stickler for having the various knives in my kitchen as sharp as possible, and my French knife being JUST sharpened, I didn’t feel it at first, so I kept chopping..THEN I felt it.. OUCH!!  With the knife being so sharp, it was a really clean cut, but unfortunately, it was a substantial cut, going through my fingernail. I took off approximately 1/4 of the top right portion of my fingernail, and the flesh underneath, (which remained behind partially on my knife, and the rest on the cutting board …YUK) lol..ummyah…. Sorry to be gross…but it is what it is..

Parsley, (apparently), is a common culprit of getting a nasty slice like this. After re assessing the situation, and doing a fair amount of various prepping, (especially the past week)..I can see now, that the “re-grab” of the parsley, was what put my fingers in the path of the swiftly moving knife…………….THAT EVIL PARSLEY!……………. lol…… Clearly, this was fully owned  “Operator Error”…. I’m FOR sure at “Man down” status for a few days…From now on, I avow to work a bit more slowly, watching more closely to what I am doing, concentrate, and be a bit more conservative with my “prep-speed”, focusing a bit more on that amazing, sharp, French knife.  Clearly this is where “Accuracy vs Speed” wins again, hands down 😉 (or finger down..lol)

The best/easiest way for ME was to “self treat”.. was/is by doing the same thing any ER would do…( other than give myself a tetanus shot..which in this case for some may be an option, as the plant DID come from dirt),…BUT.. the “self treat” way is for me… I immediately washed it well,  with warm soapy water, stopped the bleeding, then dried it, covered with antibiotic ointment, and sterile gauze- I elevated it, and put some ice on it for 30 min.. today, it was STILL throbbing a bit..so- I repeated the ice and elevation as needed..I have no bandage on it right now, simply to let it air dry a bit, but- when I go back to prepping tonights dinner, and for all other activities using my hand, I keep the bandage on, and will put on a full latex glove, at least until it’s started healing – for the next few days, I will assess and make sure there is no impending infection, change my wrap 2- 3 times a day, washing well and disinfecting each time. The human body is pretty amazing and well equipped at fighting off infection. I just wince when I look at it, as there is a CHUNK of my finger missing..and the fingertips are UBER sensitive because there are so many nerve endings there..(I’m wincing just now, thinking about it again..lol)

Time to stop living in the victimhood of it, and start to heal.. I was a victim last night of my own knife wielding skill, but I am a survivor, and onto healing, I have a lot of cooking in this life to do 😉

In the meantime, I have dinner already planned for tonight..I will “glove up” and ranger on..and chalk it up to yet another kitchen experience, that leads to ultimately building my “culinary character”