Recently, I made a fire in my kitchen. That’s worth mentioning because I don’t mean the controlled kind that comes from a burner, a candle, or one of those awesome lighters that you use to make the tops of your creme brulee all fucking delicious (I wish I had one of those). I’m taking about an unexpected, uncontrolled fire.

Here’s the thing. I’ve watched enough professional cooking on television to know that, in a kitchen, fires happen, and you should just stay calm and, like, put out the fire. And maybe not keep kindling in the kitchen, just in case.

What had happened was, I came home and started preparing some salmon for dinner. (And lunch and dinner the next day – cooking for one is hard!) I whisked vinegar together with some kicky artisanal mustard and honey that my best friend‘s father-in-law farmed. Fuck, it’s like I can’t NOT be a little hipster. At that point I accidentally threw some olive oil in the bowl. Just a little! And I immediately thought, “Hm, that wasn’t necessary.” But, look, it’s not like I was going to start over. So I poured that stuff over my salmon fillets and ever-so-carefully put the broiler tray back in the broiler.

In case you were wondering, I find the broiler kind of scary, but incredibly efficient.

I thought about taking out the trash for a second, but figured that could wait so I started in on the dishes. When I was nearly done there, things started to smell a little like burning. After that went on for a several seconds, I figured I should check on this fish situation. Upon opening the broiler, I discovered that the glaze – not the salmon, the but glaze that had spilled over the sides and onto my foil-lined broiler tray – was ON FIRE. Fucking olive oil. As I was (calmly. CALMLY.) using my cheap metal Ikea spatula to put out the blaze, the crickets in my iPhone started chirping.

Do you know what happens when the crickets in my iPhone start chirping? I take a picture.

THAT IS A RULE.

Every night at 9:07pm, the crickets come out and I take a picture and I post it on the Internet. I modeled this after my good friend and occasional mentor, Amber, who takes a picture every night at 7:37pm to ensure that she doesn’t spend thirteen nights in a row “catching up” on Grey’s Anatomy. However, at 7:37, I’m usually doing some arm exercises and  can’t take a picture, so Amber assigned me my own special time of 9:07pm. Which is usually around dinner time. Or dinner-and-do-stuff  time. Or make-it-work time. Or, evidently, set-my-house-on-fire time.

So that’s how I came to post a picture of slightly blackened salmon on the internet. After putting out the fire, of course! Safety first. The crickets can wait. That is, in the case of fire or being lost in the dark, which happened the other day, too. 9:07 is apparently a really dangerous time for me.

It was a pretty humbling experience, making a fire out of my food and then forcing myself to immediately tell the internet about it. Although I must tell you – the salmon actually turned out delicious. I ate it (and continue to eat it) with Trader Joe’s pre-cooked lentils and steamed broccoli with a squeeze of lemon. I heartily approve of this meal.

But I guess that’s the point of this 9:07pm Project. Sometimes, maybe, I will be doing good things, like writing or homework or spending quality time with people I care about. And, other times, I might be elbow-deep in a bag of Doritos or creating kitchen disasters. But, good or bad, at 9:07pm, I am accountable as shit.

You can follow along on Instagram (I’m andreaki) or Flickr. I’m going to keep doing this until at least my birthday next month and I encourage you to do the same. That is, to be mindful and accountable about how you spend your time. It’s the most valuable resource we have. Sounds cheesy, yeah. But I believe it.

Here’s how the salmon looked after I rescued it. It was yummy!