The Cooker

The Cooker

I am at my friends home she has decided to begin to clean her cooker!

“I am just going to spray the oven with cleaner” she says.

I am interested, I watch her very carefully. She opens the door, looks around inside, gives out a big sigh, picks up a large tin of powerful chemical cleaner and sprays the inside of the oven, within two minutes the chamber looks as though it is covered in snow.

My goodness the chemical is acrid, not only can I smell it, I can taste it as well.

“Why do you use such a powerful chemical” I ask?

“Because it saves time” the answer.

I asked my friend if she cleaned her oven after each use, I was told that she did not, no one cleans their oven after every use and in any case that would be a waste of time.

Its interesting how people use saving and wasting time as excuses. I clean my oven after every use. I let it cool down so it is warm to touch and then I spray it with a light solution of 20% washing up liquid. After 10 minutes, I scrub the whole of the oven with a brush and then wipe the inside with a cloth (I have a bowl full of water to wash the cloth) a number of times until it is really clean.

The whole process takes no more than ten minutes, and my two year old cooker (soon to be replaced) looks like new.

I watch my friend. An hour has gone by and its time to take off the residue, the oven looks terrible! It is still greasy and to me looks like it is going to give my friend a few cleaning problems. Being the good friend I am I made my excuses and left.

What can Carol’s cooker cleaning exploits show me about life?

In my way of thinking, one (there are many) aspect is, we can leave easy tasks until another time, often the easy tasks become difficult ones, which take up much time to rectify. Well, that’s one observation.

Another, is, leaving things until they are too late.

Our health is often neglected. We use the car too much. Over indulge. Neglect our sleep. As we allow the neglect to accumulate. It becomes known, as illness and the repair can be like the foam oven cleaner, it is often drastic and not always gives a great result.

A cooker is a very important part of our lives and it is taken for granted. Go on attempt to have a week without using your cooker. Its like your best friend. It turns meat into tender roasts, raw potatoes into french fries, eggs into omelets, flour into bread, however you want to cook, turn it on and it will produce the miracles of transformation. A really good friend can do this too.

A good friend can turn a tear to a laugh, keep a secret, make an observation of truth, and we have to learn how to be a good friend, in the same way as we have to learn to cook and use the cooker.

The next time you look at your cooker.

Think about the lessons it teaches you about life.

You should maintain the items you own.
Time is not an excuse.
Do not leave things until its too late.
You should look after your body.
Do not take anything for granted.
Look after your friends.

And if you learn to use it well, the dishes it produces, will attract, family and friends around your table to eat the food you have prepared. If you use it in a sloppy and non caring way it will have the opposite effect.

This last paragraph holds well for your thoughts and the recipe’s of words which it turns into the sentences which you speak.

Be careful what you ‘cook up’ today!