Nope, I did not get to choose what turned out to be my 'lifelong stove' because my 'lifelong husband' and his father took the initiative, and the wedding money , and the truck, and went to Yorkton , and bought the stove, and installed it , all by the time I (aka the bride) came back from a day of work.
If that was a run on sentence it is nothing compared to the sentences that have run on and on and on whenever the stove/bride subject comes up in conversation.
The worse thing about this stove is that it has one of those black all glass oven doors that magnifies every spot of dirt by about 100x..
The best thing (I thought) about this stove is that it has a 'self cleaning' oven...only trouble is it really isn't. I am always a bit hesitant of actually using it because anything that one has to 'lock down' and have heat up to 500 degrees Celcius is just too much like the recipe for a fire for my liking. As a consequence of this hesitancy, my oven cleaning sessions have gotten farther and farther apart until it has been at least 5 years since I actually used the self cleaning feature. That statement should conjure up some sort of vivid imaginings of the condition and colour of the inside of the oven, even by die hard non baking people with or without the oven light working (which it doesn't).
In short..and even in long..my oven is a mess. This messiness is matched only by the top of the stove. The shiny paper that once covered the 'faux' silver knobs has peeled off only to show the dull gray plastic underneath. Of course, the non digital clock has long ago ceased to give the correct time and therefore, any oven timer feature has long been a thing of the past. The burners have all been replaced numerous times along with the rings that surround them.
I think the most age telling of the whole stove is the fact that the metal part underneath the big burner has completely rusted away. This is from countless containers of boiling water overflowing from coffee making, potato boiling, palt making (see note), and pasta preparation .
There is now only the soft itchy insulation beneath the big burner where once there was a metal panel to separate the oven from the stove. Thus another reason not to start up the fire bomb of cleanliness.
Yes, most people would replace this 'lifelong' stove with one that has stainless steel outside, ceramic burners, convection capability , and an above stove fan. The replacement perhaps would include, dream of dreams, an oven that is placed in the wall permitting eye ball level checking of contents and doneness.
I really don't know why I just don't take the initiative, and my money, and the truck, and drive to Yorkton, and buy a stove, and get someone to install it, all before my husband gets home from work. It might be because I know it so well. I know just where to turn the knob so the potatoes won't boil over, I know how long it will take for a batch of bread to bake, and I know which burner to use when boiling syrup for puffed wheat cake.
Actually my 'lifelong' husband is not unlike my 'lifelong ' stove because even with all his faults I know just when to cool him down and at the same time to get him in hot water.
That old stove is not unlike our 30 year marriage itself..a bit marked up and scorched , time has no meaning, and even if the light in the oven doesn't get turned on as often as it used to (wink), things can still heat up pretty quickly creating a warmth that only those who love the sweet and savoury can appreciate.
Sometimes I have no shame...no shame at all.
.note. Palt is a Swedish dish made of flour and ground potatos boiled for 45 minutes in a roaster on top of the stove.
No comments:
Post a Comment