Burnt offering!

So this morning I gave the pudding mixture a final stir and put it into four bowls. One large, one medium and two small ones to give away. So far so good. I then gathered up all the saucepans and steamers I had and borrowed from my Mum. I could only steam three at a time so one of the puddings will be steamed tomorrow. Of the three one of the saucepans was larger than the steamer which left a gap round the edges but I thought this would be alright and having got the water on a good simmer I went off to my work room to sew! An hour or two went by ( I reckoned that the water would need topping up in three hours ) and I wasn't worried about the puddings but I began to smell this strange smell. The smell got worse and suddenly it dawned on me that it was burnt plastic I was smelling so I rushed headlong downstairs. Everything seemed normal in the kitchen and on the stove but the smell was stronger. On checking the odd saucepan that was too big for the steamer I found that it had boiled dry and that there were some odd red spots on the bottom of it. I turned off the gas and lifted the steamer off very carefully as it was red hot. Took off the lid, lifted out the plastic bowl containing the pudding and lo and behold the bottom got left behind with a layer of pudding that had baked into the melted plastic. That was the source of the red drops! What to do? Ever seen a headless chicken rushing about madly? That was me! Of course the plastic hardened as soon as it was off the heat so now I had a steamer with a mess of pudding and plastic on the base which was not going to come off in a month of Sundays as it was. (See picture below- see even in these trying times I am thinking of you and taking pictures; what more could you want!) So I had a bright idea! OK so this could be a misnomer! I held the steamer over the gas until the plastic started to melt again and then scraped it off with a spoon. This took most of it off but left a smear of red so I heated it up again and put Vim on it and stupidly used my washing up brush to get the rest of it off. Well it did but I now have a very shrivelled and burnt brush. Again plastic on heat! Has my brain died? Don't answer that! Now what to do with the pudding. Fortunately it had been steaming long enough that it was firm so I was able to tip it out and put it into another small bowl. Rushed down to my mother's and borrowed yet another saucepan which fitted the steamer and it is now continuing to cook. The only worrying thought is.......will it taste of burnt plastic? And it was a small one to give away. Dare I do it! It looks very nice but......

Note: The puddings cooked OK. Such relief! They smell delicious and as they had greaseproof paper wrapping the top they didn't suffer from the catastrophe other than to have lost a minute sliver from their bottoms. The pan has scrubbed up well but I have jettisoned the pots. After all what use is a bottomless pot! Sandy the red was the melted plastic from the bottom of the pot.