And be careful not to do your good deeds when there's no one watching you

[venta]

Tut, tut. I have, up til now, regarded ebee as one of the world's most well-prepared people. She can produce a first-aid kit which would shame a minor hospital from nowhere, and remains unflappably calm and competent if required to use it. On a recent holiday, some mischievous guests attempted to manufacture circumstances she hadn't catered or allowed for. We They failed.

I'm briefly camping out at her house just now and was about to make myself a sandwich (using a foodstuff which has been provided for me even though she doesn't eat the item in question).

This is why you can't trust a vegetarian to equip a kitchen. They don't treasure those vital, purpose-built little bits of metal which are so hard to do without. They don't, apparently, keep a pair of pliers[*] in case emergency intervention is called for. Bluntly, they don't have a strategy for dealing with corned-beef tins which have lost their keys.

Yes, yes, I'm sure you're all carnivores, and the reason that you're not equipped for this particular brand of crisis is just because you're southern or middle-class or something. So sue me.

[*] Long-nosed pliers, known in the family house as "81s" (after their part number on my Dad's original GPO tool-list). Useful for any number of cookery-related things, including tricky jobs like getting the funny stringy bits out of the legs of turkeys or opening corned-beef tins.

Comments

[huskyteer.livejournal.com]

As a carnivore who always snaps off the key from corned-beef tins, how do you open one with a pair of pliers? I'm always faced with the problem of coaxing a tin-opener to go round corners.

[venta.livejournal.com]

Either grip the remains of the key and carry on turning, or just grip the end of the strip with the pliers and wind it round them like you would round a key. Must be long-nosed pliers (http://www.e-directrade.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=13_424&products_id=193&zenid=2a2a2c1e5b6e45c4d2240f88320ac5b0) for it to work sensibly.

The hard part is unwinding the strip from them without taking your fingers off :(

[huskyteer.livejournal.com]

Smart! Thanks!

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

A big hammer also works, if you don't mind the corned beef coming out rather squashed.