1. When making croutons, do not be overly generous with the olive oil.
2. Be sure to monitor croutons after placing them in the toaster oven. Do not get too distracted with sweeping, dusting, or Battlestar Galactica reruns (if you’re a geek like me, you’ll appreciate the irony), etc.
3. When you notice that contents of the toaster oven are on fire, do not open the toaster oven’s door without something to douse the fire immediately. Otherwise, the sudden rush of oxygen will cause the flames to shoot out.
4. Do not stand and gape at it, either, hoping it will die down. Otherwise, the heat will build, and eventually cause the entire thing to explode, spewing shards of carbonized glass everywhere. Try to put it out (after unplugging it), preferably with baking soda or flour. Don’t be too paranoid about using water. It works okay. Just be careful not to spread it.
5. Keep all the windows open and run the fans for the entire weekend.
6. Dispose of toaster. Accept that you will not be floating croutons in your soup that night. Maybe order takeout.
8 responses so far ↓
AmericanFamily // March 26, 2007 at 5:34 am
Holy Crap! I had no idea that croutons could do so much damage! I am glad the house didn’t burn down.
Violeta // March 26, 2007 at 7:44 am
wow! you definitely deserve awesome takeout after going through that.
Susan // March 26, 2007 at 8:36 am
That is… dramatic. I’m glad you lived to tell the tale. What a photo.
ihategreenpeas // March 26, 2007 at 8:25 pm
Wow! I think you might be able to reuse that wire rack…it withstood the blaze pretty well, no? I will totally not take croutons for granted anymore….
mel // March 27, 2007 at 8:52 am
holy crap. glad no one was hurt — other than the toaster oven.
Ryan // April 4, 2007 at 4:29 pm
ROFL
c(h)ristine // April 5, 2007 at 2:44 pm
Connie–I don’t know whether to laugh or cry! You’ve turned quite a tragedy (and something that could have been catastrophic) into a piece of humor.
camille // May 3, 2007 at 7:37 pm
Oh mon dieu!
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