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Spots on my apples and gremlins in the kitchen
My kitchen is driving me nuts!
I was so inspired by the delicious dishes on Julie and Julia, that I decided to make one of my favorite recipes from The New England CookBook by Brooke Dojny. The Berkshire Puffed Apple Skillet-Baked pancake is just delicous.
I went out to the apple tree in the back yard, hoping to salvage some of the spotty apples. Initially, I was disappointed, thinking these spotty apples would be all rotten inside, bit once I peeled them, they looked beautiful. I added some cut up cherries and, YUM!
THen came time to melt the butter and, like both Julias, I believe butter is the greatest food on earth! Well, the big front electric burner is so tempermental that it has to be tapped JUST SO, or it will not connect. Unfortunately, placing a pan on it often untaps it. I managed to get it going and loved the smell as apples and cherries sizzled in a butter and sugar mix.
Next, time to mix the eggs into the flour mixture. The first egg I picked up to crack hit the side of the bowl like a rock. FROZEN SOLID! The temperature gauge on the fridge is broken, and everything behind the front six inches of shelf space is subject to freezing. I struggled to try to peel some shell off, but you just can't peel a frozen egg! I finally found enough partially frozen eggs to free them from their shells and continue.
In the mean time, I had not realized that I'd tapped one of the burner controls for an unused burner when I removed one of the oven racks and placed it on the cook-top. The cook-top controls have been replaced so many times that they don't connect properly, so the slightest tap can turn the burners on by mistake. Luckily, I noticed the heat and turned it off before the metal burner cover fried too badly. I find that ironic because the burners are always clicking on when you don't want them to, but you can't get them to go on when you want them to. By the way, I have plenty of fire extinguishers!
Well, finally, I'm ready to put the pan into the oven which, thankfully, has been rigged to work pretty well, but the oven light does not work. Here's the problem with that. You can't keep opening and closing an oven door to check a dish that is supposed to rise, especially if you beat the dickens out of the eggs because they were partially frozen!
When it was time to get the dishes, they were not clean because of an evil dishwasher that does not release the soap properly. I improvised with pie plates, and the result was just fine.
Well, when I took the copper pan with the breakfast out of the oven, it was pretty good, though not as high and fluffy as it had been in the past.
I'm so glad that I peeled those apples, because they were just delicious under all those spots. As far as my kitchen, I can handle some of the most annoying cooking circumstances without any melt-down at all.
Whenever I cook in my nightmare kitchen, I feel like there are tiny gremlins all over the room setting tricky traps for me.
I know that one day, I will build a dream kitchen. I can't really imagine what my dream kitchen will look like, if it will be bright and sunny, or any other details. Right now, all I know is that, one day, in my dream kitchen, EVERYTHING WILL WORK!
I was so inspired by the delicious dishes on Julie and Julia, that I decided to make one of my favorite recipes from The New England CookBook by Brooke Dojny. The Berkshire Puffed Apple Skillet-Baked pancake is just delicous.
I went out to the apple tree in the back yard, hoping to salvage some of the spotty apples. Initially, I was disappointed, thinking these spotty apples would be all rotten inside, bit once I peeled them, they looked beautiful. I added some cut up cherries and, YUM!
THen came time to melt the butter and, like both Julias, I believe butter is the greatest food on earth! Well, the big front electric burner is so tempermental that it has to be tapped JUST SO, or it will not connect. Unfortunately, placing a pan on it often untaps it. I managed to get it going and loved the smell as apples and cherries sizzled in a butter and sugar mix.
Next, time to mix the eggs into the flour mixture. The first egg I picked up to crack hit the side of the bowl like a rock. FROZEN SOLID! The temperature gauge on the fridge is broken, and everything behind the front six inches of shelf space is subject to freezing. I struggled to try to peel some shell off, but you just can't peel a frozen egg! I finally found enough partially frozen eggs to free them from their shells and continue.
In the mean time, I had not realized that I'd tapped one of the burner controls for an unused burner when I removed one of the oven racks and placed it on the cook-top. The cook-top controls have been replaced so many times that they don't connect properly, so the slightest tap can turn the burners on by mistake. Luckily, I noticed the heat and turned it off before the metal burner cover fried too badly. I find that ironic because the burners are always clicking on when you don't want them to, but you can't get them to go on when you want them to. By the way, I have plenty of fire extinguishers!
Well, finally, I'm ready to put the pan into the oven which, thankfully, has been rigged to work pretty well, but the oven light does not work. Here's the problem with that. You can't keep opening and closing an oven door to check a dish that is supposed to rise, especially if you beat the dickens out of the eggs because they were partially frozen!
When it was time to get the dishes, they were not clean because of an evil dishwasher that does not release the soap properly. I improvised with pie plates, and the result was just fine.
Well, when I took the copper pan with the breakfast out of the oven, it was pretty good, though not as high and fluffy as it had been in the past.
I'm so glad that I peeled those apples, because they were just delicious under all those spots. As far as my kitchen, I can handle some of the most annoying cooking circumstances without any melt-down at all.
Whenever I cook in my nightmare kitchen, I feel like there are tiny gremlins all over the room setting tricky traps for me.
I know that one day, I will build a dream kitchen. I can't really imagine what my dream kitchen will look like, if it will be bright and sunny, or any other details. Right now, all I know is that, one day, in my dream kitchen, EVERYTHING WILL WORK!
0 Pixie Dust
Pixie Dust
Tags: broken, gremlins, julie and julia, kitchen
Total Comments 4
Comments
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Please send pixies to beat up the gremlins in my kitchen!0 Pixie Dust
Posted 08-09-2009 at 09:32 AM by Sandra Bostwick 
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I know what you mean. My oven cooks too hot so if I'm not careful I burn or dry out everything I bake. The main eye on top of my stove sits very unlevel so everything slides to one side of my pan. My icemaker intermitantly makes ice, like one week does, then doesn't for three weeks. Like you though I always manage to complete the obstacle course and get something decent prepared and we obiously aren't starving at our house. Sending many pixies for you and your kitchen.0 Pixie Dust
Posted 08-10-2009 at 04:58 PM by GoofEme
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I love your obstacle course imagery! We give obstacle courses to the kids at school to sharpen their motor, visual and problem solving skills. I guess we are like teh cooking SWAT team!0 Pixie Dust
Posted 08-10-2009 at 05:04 PM by Sandra Bostwick
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When we first moved in this house we had a stove burner like that - had to make sure it was connected properly, and not to put a too-heavy pot on it. When the thermometer went out in the oven, we just replaced the whole thing. But I still have my 35-year-old dishwasher that, like yours, sometimes doesn't release the soap for the first cycle. That's why I always run it through 2 cycles, and pre-rinse the dishes before I load it. One day it will get replaced. When? Who knows ...0 Pixie Dust
Posted 08-10-2009 at 05:55 PM by christiejay
