Wanna Play Hot Potato?

For as long as I have lived with J, I have fussed at him about leaving food cooking unattended.  He always insisted that my worries were completely unfounded

Last night, J and I took Stella on a nice long walk around the neighborhood.  Before leaving, he put a potato in the microwave to cook while we were out.  Aside from the fact that I tripped on the sidewalk and hurt my foot, it was an enjoyable adventure.  All was well until we returned to the house...and were greeted at the door with an unappetizing smell.

Smoke.

J ran into the kitchen and opened the microwave, releasing an amount of smoke that probably would have intimidated the monster on Lost.  He promptly closed it, unplugged it, and carried the microwave out to the back porch for further inspection.  

Obviously, his potato was a bit overcooked.  Part of me was a little disappointed that we WEREN'T home as I've never seen anything catch fire in the microwave.

He didn't use foil or anything unusual so we're not entirely sure how it happened.  When he pulled the potato out, we realized that it was actually still smoldering.  

So, I got to have a big "I told you so!" moment and J finally learned his lesson.
At the cost of a new microwave.
And trying to find something else to have for dinner.
And 3 hours of desmokifying the house.

Welcome to the family, new microwave.

Fried, then baked.

As Thanksgiving approaches and I begin to settle on recipes to cook for our first holiday in our home, I realized I never posted the most scary/hilarious home-owning story to date.

First off, here is the stove that came along with the house, as pictured in the listing.

One day a month or two ago, it was raining and Stella and I were hanging out on the back porch with a good book, enjoying the ambient noise and the breeze.  I had left the door cracked for her to go in and out as she pleased, but then I realized that flies were also taking the same liberty.  I stood up and put my hand on the door to shut it when - at that exact moment - lightening struck the greenbelt behind our house.  I felt a jolt of electricity move through my hand and up my arm and immediately decided it was time for us to take the reading inside.  (My arm tingled for a good two or three hours afterward, if you're wondering.)

J and I discovered a couple days later that our stove wouldn't work.  We flipped the breaker a couple times but to no avail.  So, off to 3 different stores we went a-hunting.  J was being super particular about the stove, and I about the oven.  We were the couple every sales person dreaded.  After several hours of driving - and debating - we settled on one.

A few days later, it was delivered.  We plug it in.  It doesn't work.  Guess what! The plug was fried. (They did check the stove to make sure that it wasn't just the plug...they were both goners.)

Enter: My do-it-all-himself father to install the new plug.

Et voila - a shiny new stove that looks super pretty with our fridge.  I've also found that cooking is much more fun than it was with the old stove.

Now the only things not stainless are the vent above the stove and our dishwasher.  [Please don't break, vent and dishwasher, just because you don't match.]

J- Cabinets are Stupid

I've painted a lot of cabinets.  I've helped build a lot of cabinets.  I've even SEEN a lot of cabinets.

But I don't know what the heck these strange anti-stick, fake wood, super absorbant things in the kitchen are made from.  And anti-stick + super absorbant doesn't even make sense, but I have proof of both.

Anyway, I tried to paint them.  It looks good in places, and in others it just peeled right off.  I decided (was told) to spray paint them with a KILZ primer and try again.  I've been too scared to try painting them since, but heres a time lapse of the first wave of spray.  Its mostly about the mask.

Chillin'

Last week, Stella, J and I went on a fridge hunt.

Ladies and gentlemen, the fridge has arrived!

 I was more excited about what was in this box than I usually am about Christmas presents.

Isn't it preeeeeeetty?