Cooking at 6 a.m.

by

Patti Dickinson

Got up this morning a little before six.  Before I even had to start getting the kids out of bed, one by one, I had a little time to myself.  That first cup of coffee in the stillness of the morning, dark because of daylight savings time. 

I got out the Weight Watchers cookbook (honestly, some good recipes in there!) and found Margarita Chicken.  Ooops.  This needs to be marinated for 24 hours.  Not to worry, we'd do the shortened version of that, and give it a good solid 12 hours.  Not the first time I have adjusted a recipe to accommodate my lack of planning.  (I made a slow-cook homemade spaghetti sauce once that was supposed to simmer on the stove all day on low.  I just cranked it up to high, and voila, pretty decent sauce in under thirty minutes!)  

I threw the rock-hard chicken in the microwave and pushed "thaw". Meanwhile, I was mincing garlic.  Turning to the refrigerator to get the lime juice, I smelled a suspicious odor.  Something was burning.  Turned, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw small, contained FLAMES inside the microwave. Not a good sign.  The little twist tie had gotten hot enough to ignite the plastic bag!!!  (Somewhere in here there is a science fair idea....)  I wanted that chicken defrosted, not burnt to bits!!!  I opened the microwave door and smoke came billowing out.  Another panicky moment.  What if the smoke alarm went off and the fireman came with that red truck, and I had to tell them that I was defrosting a little chicken in preparation for tonight's Margarita Chicken??? What if I woke up FOUR FIREMAN for THAT?????  I opened both kitchen doors, and turned on the kitchen fan in hopes of ridding the kitchen of the smoke.  I must have been living right...crisis averted.  

Now, where's that coffee?