Works for Me

We missed Shannon's Works for Me Wednesday last week because I had to study for finals and I stayed up late last night to make sure we didn't miss another week. I've got something that I think is very useful if you grill. I grill all the time. Every weekend throughout the year, even when it's snowing! I love the taste of hickory cooked meat.

But one thing I hate is the fire associated with the grill (and don't even mention a gas grill to me because it's not the same). When we were first married my husband was the one who did all the grilling. He would use a coffee can to start the charcoal instead of charcoal lighter fluid. We had great tasting food but it took a while to get the fire going and it was hard to get the charcoal out of the can. I found a chimney at Brookstone that worked the same way as the coffee can and had a handle which made dumping out the charcoal much easier (the one pictured here is a Weber).

Over time it deteriorated and recently I found a much cheaper one at Home Depot. I got it for about $10.00. They are much safer to use than the lighter fluid. One problem with them is that they are very hot after you've removed the charcoal and remain hot for awhile. When my daughters were younger I would worn them against touching it or the grill. But one day, I was preoccupied and Samantha decided to touch it to see if it was hot. She was not young (she was 5 at the time) and had been around it for years without even going near it. I was shocked that she did it since it had never been a problem before. I asked her why in the world she would touch it and she said she wanted to see if it was still hot. I had to take her to the emergency room and they had to wrap up her hands. I thought for sure she would have scars for the rest of her life.

This leads to the second product that I want to share with you, Neosporin. She had blistering burns on both her hands. Everyday I would change the bandages and put on fresh Neosporin. When it was time to take the bandages off, no scars. It's great stuff for cuts and burns and if the cut is getting infected, it will clear it up.

So, if you use the chimney starter and your kid burns her hand remember to use the Neosporin so it won't scar.