I burn a lot of stuff - my husband is always joking that he knows dinner is ready when the smoke alarm goes off!  (I'm not really that bad - but almost)  The other night I had a pot of blackeyed peas on the stove just boiling away ... I boil these for about an hour before they are ready to eat.  Well, I got distracted and all the water boiled out of the pot ... something started smelling like popcorn ... I realized it was the peas ... I grabbed the pot and put it outside the front door (by this time it was smoking!) ... I added some water to the pot and let it sit while we ate what was left...