Over the years, working with knives and other sharp objects in the kitchen has forced Rachael to go to her junk drawer a few times for Band-aids. Dr. Billy Goldberg, an emergency medicine physician, tells her that she's not alone. "The kitchen is a dangerous place," he says. "Up to a million patients a year are presented to emergency rooms with kitchen-related accidents." Dr. Goldberg points out three common kitchen activities and how you can make them safer.

Cutting bagels. "Use the table and cut through the bagel on its side," the doc advises. One hand should be flat on top of the bagel, holding it down while the other hand slices carefully through it.

Working with hot peppers. "There's a chemical called capaiscin in peppers which is the same used in pepper spray," he says. "The chemical soaks into the skin and mixes with the oil and gets stuck." To avoid this pain on your skin -- or in your eyes -- the doc suggests wearing gloves and/or safety glasses while handling or cutting hot peppers.

Opening cans. The doc says the danger isn't from the can opener, but from the sharp lid edges once it's removed from the can. He suggests using either a mechanical can opener that has a magnet to hold the lid, or use an ordinary manual opener and then grab the lid with chopsticks.