Fried

I have been playing with fire this week, sometimes intentionally, and a couple of other times, well... On Monday I set the tea kettle upon the flame to make afternoon tea as I usually do, but did not close the little...what? What do you call the little cap with the hole in it that makes the tea kettle sing? Or whistle? Or shriek? We will call it a little cap with a hole in it. So - the kettle did not whistle, I got distracted if you can believe that, and I decided to run errands. I was gone an hour. Obvious fire smell hit me when I opened the door, but luckily the only damage was to the white enameled kettle. It was brown, and the lid melted down into it. Into the trash it went.

Last night I flipped a burger in some very hot olive oil, and whoosh, a three foot high flame swept up to the cabinet above the stove. I was impressed by this flame for a second or two, but recovered myself, and very cooly popped a lid on it. Problem solved, except for the billows of smoke that wafted into the family room where Jim sat in front of the TV, looking up at me suspiciously. I casually walked over and opened the kitchen door mentioning to him that he'd best not come into the kitchen for a bit. He complied.

 After dinner, though, I fried up some earrings that I like very much. Here they are!

The fun thing about these copper earrings is that all of the color has been created by using a flame to patinate them. (No paint or gilder's wax!) I was able to get just the red color that I love by heating the copper and quenching in cooking oil - stroke of luck! I was already crazy about torching metal and hammering the heck out of it. Now I am exploring the amazing colors that can occur when one plays with fire!