On Thu, 16 May 2013 22:36:55 +0000 (UTC),
(Andrew Gabriel) wrote:

Called fire brigade but, luckily, it was all disgusting mess rather than
burning building.

Mum used to make banoffee pie quite often.
Part of that involves cooking an unopened tin of condensed milk for
a couple of hours in a saucepan of boiling water to turn it in to
caramel.

Kids should be introduced to kitchen appliances at an early age, but
under some degree of supervision.
My early experience of the Kenwood Chef involved sticking a knife into
the blade, snapping the blade of the knife (and the mixer), said
broken bits whirling past my ear with a deadly trumm noise and one of
them embedding itself in the doorpost.

In the same kitchen, the following year, my first foray into home
brewing involved following a recipe on Blue Peter for ginger beer.
It all went swimmingly. Right up to the point where all the dozen
bottles exploded in rapid sequence, late one evening.
The recipe had said nothing about releasing the pressure every so
often...
The bits of glass embedded in the ceiling and woodwork were a mute
testimony to the charnel house that kitchen would have been if the
bottles had let go during a busy period.