Don’t try this at home.

Phoebe Lapine’s dinner was supposed to include a shaved Brussels sprouts salad. Instead, it almost included a sliver of her partner’s thumb, which he sliced in the salad-making process. While emergency room doctors successfully glued the wound, the couple learned a lesson: Leave the mandolin — a super-sharp slicing contraption (not the instrument) — usage to the pros. Because the tool slices so fast, “you don’t realize how close your hand is getting to it,” says Lapine, a private chef and author in New York City. For amateur chefs, a knife works just fine to slice foods like Brussels sprouts and potatoes for chips. For your health and safety, avoid attempting these foods at home, too.

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7 Dishes You Shouldn’t Make at Home originally appeared on usnews.com