"kitchen safety" news and stories

Each Thursday, we round up a selection of scrumptious links from our friends over at YumSugar. Here's what they've got cooking this week:

• Parlez-vous food? Test your command of the comestible lexicon.
• This burger recipe hides a cheesy, oozy surprise.
• Before strawberry season says sayonara, make these 10 simple dishes.
• Peek-a-boo, ForageSF, an underground farmers market -- and, no, it's not run by mole people.
• If your blazing-hot baking skills result in an conflagration, put it out with these tips.
• Ellie Krieger wants you to grill lettuce.

If you know a chef, or have read accounts like Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations, you know that the chef's world is one of insane injuries and uber toughness. But usually that's a bad burn here, a sliced finger there -- not stab wounds to the chest.

The Daily Mail reports that Italian TV chef Antonio Carluccio was in intensive care after stabbing himself in the chest with a kitchen knife. They feared the knife might have penetrated his lung, but he has since been discharged, making "a remarkable recovery." The chef's spokesperson says that she doesn't know at the moment if this was a suicide attempt, or one of those insane freak accidents; it's being described as a private matter. Hopefully he has a speedy recovery, whatever the cause.

Should this all be an accident, that whole "running with scissors" warning seems a lot less silly right now. As do chainmail aprons...

I'm the clumsiest person ever -- a likely candidate for finger loss in the kitchen. To protect myself (and my cooking skills), I've tried to research some tips for disaster-proofing my workspace.