Today I am thankful for… thermometers

• the difference between being sick and… holy goodness we better go to the hospital because his brain is on fire!
• the spread between sushi, salmonella, mouth-watering medium rare and… what the heck you burned it!
• the cause of disagreements in households everywhere over the proper sleep temperature…

yes i am thankful for thermometers.

while i appreciate the little device that tells when my body is above 98.6 and i am grateful i do not have to use fire and ice to regulate the temperature of my house, there is one thermometer i value above all else.

i am going to tell you a secret. there are only a few things that have catapulted me into becoming a better cook. some are techniques, others are ingredients, and of course there is the tried and true practice fail practice method. but of all of that i did not realize how important utensils could be to taking cooking from lame to restaurant worthy.

one of my top five kitchen gadgets is the in-oven-thermometer. i feel no shame in using what i need to, in order to be a more consistent cook. and the kudos for this brilliance goes to Tim Ferriss author of The 4-Hour Chef. seriously. brilliant. why is this practice only somehow culturally acceptable when cooking thanksgiving turkeys? how many roasts, pork chops, steaks, chickens, sausages have a ruined prior to this little tool of precision? how many dinners have i agonized over the timing where everything else was done and we had to wait and wait and wait for the main actor to be complete only for it to be under done or dry and needing to be gravy smothered to be edible? no more. no more i tell you.

today i am thankful for my in-oven-thermometer that brings me sanity as I watch my beef roast slowly tick up to medium. my potatoes (whose timing are no longer a mystery to me) are quietly resting… awaiting our the main actor to be ready. i have no fear of wasted meat. no anxiety over wasted time.

• who knew the thing that tells us its just a cold, or time to go to the hospital…
• who knew the thing that tells you its cold, wear a scarf (besides your mother)…
• who knew the thing that causes strife at bed time…

could also be one of the few inventions in life that take cooking from an anxiety to a place of confidence and pleasure.

So today I am thankful for thermometers. You made dinner rock tonight.

(and for the record… the thermostat should be around 68 at night for ideal sleep. bundle up.)