Kitchen Medicine

I woke up naturally in the pre-dawn hours this morning, ready to go for the day. But, afraid of getting tired halfway through the day from starting so early, I elected to stay in bed. Then, ultimately, I started my day late, and sluggish.

The same energy carried over into cooking my first meal of the day around 1pm, which was buckwheat and fermented-oat-groat pancakes. I cooked them in way too much boiling olive oil, and I didn't put a lot of love or attention into the cooking process. A hard lesson in the art of awareness, because upon flipping my first pancake I received a spray of boiling oil right to the face. It seemed like several droplets, but the most noticeable, and ultimately the only one I could locate later, was on my left eyelid (such useful things, eyelids, or else I suspect I would be blind!).

All in all, this was a very lucky adventure: First-off, my reflexes led me to close my eye! Secondly, it was the dead of winter, so the water coming out of the tap was frigid cold and I could splash plenty of it onto my face for a few minutes. I also had some raw cider vinegar on hand, so after the water treatment I put on a (STINGING!) dab of vinegar and waited for that to take effect. Then I dried it (professionally, with my cotton shirtsleeve) and went to the bathroom and dabbed on some raw honey (a holiday gift, thanks mom!) to help with pain and infection prevention. Then I took some Bach's Rescue Remedy, just because I had it on hand and I thought, why not.

Overall, the pain wasn't much, but I'm missing about a centimeter of the top layer of skin on my eyelid, and I was surprised by how the suffering was so much more based in the fear than actual pain. I wasn't thinking, "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow," but rather, "Omigod, there's boiling oil on my face, omigod, I can't open my eyes, omigod, I'm alone in the house and the stove is still on behind me and I have no idea how bad this injury is, omigod I'm going to be scarred and ugly for life." Yeah, even the vanity aspect was frightening.

I knew the remedies by heart, but I re-consulted my all-time favorite home remedy book, Lifetime Encyclopedia of Natural Remedies, which is one of the best gifts I've ever received. All of these remedies are in there, and I definitely recommend it as a kitchen companion. Or, just keep your face out of the way when you're splashing heavy objects down into boiling oil.