Solstice Weekend Safety Tip

[dr_pretentious]

You may be planning to set fire to a plum pudding this weekend.

No problem, you're thinking. Brandy burns at such a low temperature, you can play snapdragon with your combustible dessert.

And snapdragon is a lot of fun.

But the plum pudding you're imagining is decorated with holly leaves. Maybe freshly cut holly leaves, maybe dried, maybe--and this would be interesting--plastic.

Igniting your combustible dessert won't burn your fingers, but it will get your holly leaves going in a very serious way, as we discovered a couple of years ago. Your flaming holly leaves could, theoretically, get other things going, too.

So.

Take the holly off and put it well aside before you light the brandy.

Live a long time.

And Happy Yule.

Comments

[jeneralist.livejournal.com]

The Association for Incendiary Desserts would like to thank Dr. Pretentious for her timely reminder! (Remember that in the truly well-prepared home, any dessert fire could be doused with the liquid nitrogen used to make ice cream....)

[siobhra.livejournal.com]

Gasoline works better than brandy. (giggle)

[dr-pretentious.livejournal.com]

If your only goal is to demolish the plum pudding, yes, I see your point. A game of snapdragon played with gasoline...well, I guess a person with mortal enemies might trick her enemies into playing it, but otherwise, gasoline is, ah, not your best option.

It's edible

[tracyandrook.livejournal.com]

Is siobhra making a statement about she don't like no figgy pudding? Since when does gasoline ignite more easily than ethanol vapors?

[wombats.livejournal.com]

actually, i would suggest making cherries jubilee (with the afore mentioned LN2) and not bothering with the flambe part. it's ... giggle... just fine, uh-hunh, just fine...

[tselmende.livejournal.com]

*laughs* I sounds like a scary game, yet at the same time, I wish to play it.

[karenjunker.livejournal.com]

Happy holidays to you!

[jasminewind.livejournal.com]

Wow that looks like a crazy game, I think we will wait until the kids are a bit older before we start digging around in flames.

I would love to read the story that inspired this lesson! :-)

Happy Yule back atcha!

[dr-pretentious.livejournal.com]

I may have to write a Yule story. Uh oh. I definitely have to write a Yule story. Just not now.

[violet-moon25.livejournal.com]

I love the idea of flaming desserts but I think they are not compatible with toddlers. Unfortunately, I have the sort of child who will probably love Snapdragon (I plan to keep it from him for at least another 5 years if possible).


What about making sugar holly leaves? Sugar melts at a very high temperature so they should be okay if you are flaming only the alcohol.

[dr-pretentious.livejournal.com]

The two little boys who were in attendance were too young to play snapdragon, but they thought it was Really Cool. Our friend M said the main thing her son wanted to tell his daddy about when he got home was that people ate fire.

I will endeavor not to mention snapdragon to A before 2014.

Sugar holly leaves ought to work. Or marzipan. They might not be much for eating after the combustion, but they wouldn't get you in too much trouble.

[violet-moon25.livejournal.com]

Presumably you had a merry Yule without the fire department visiting.

[csecooney.livejournal.com]

HA! Thanks for linking this!

You know what you made me want? You made me want a crown made of the 9 different kind of tree twigs. The 9-Tree-Crown I would call it! Better to wear it then hang from it!

[dr-pretentious.livejournal.com]

That would be a truly awesome piece of headgear. A heads-up, though: the nine woods chant is, among other things, a fertility spell, so depending on your plans for eventual family size, you might want to give the 9-Tree-Crown to a fictional character rather than wear it, yourself.

Now I'm imagining all the things that might happen in a story with a 9-Tree-Crown in it, and what sorts of characters might make or wear or desire it, and why.