Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Christmas Morning Fiasco

 I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.  We did, other than one "little" issue!  

No, the new kitten didn't climb the tree and knock it over, whew - that actually was a concern we had!

 Our kids were surprised with their gifts - they liked everything
My Mom made it here from Upstate NY to spend the holiday with us.
I actually remembered everything I needed at the grocery store.

Hmm....so for the perfect Christmas day.

This innocent looking appliance was just waiting...

 waiting for me to put in my Orange - Cranberry bread for breakfast, the first of several foods that needed to baked on Christmas day: homemade cinnamon rolls were going in second, dinner rolls and the ham for Christmas dinner.

For 15 years this WONDERFUL oven has done it's job perfectly - why did it have to pick Christmas day to go on strike?  

Here's a quick recap of the morning - I had just closed the oven door after checking on the orange cranberry bread - it had maybe 5 more minutes to bake.  No sooner than I close the door, there is a very bright light (like a welder's torch)  snapping noises and sparks  flying inside the oven.  In my state of panic I open the oven door (If I had read the manual I would have known this was NOT the appropriate course of action!)  I'm now screaming for my husband and trying to remember which side of the sink my fire extinguisher is on.  Thank goodness my husband is a little calmer than I am, he walked over, closed the oven door and waited for the show to be over.  (he did admit later that he knew I needed him immediately by my scream - it wasn't my "big spider" scream!)     
Can you tell from this picture that the element is fried?  It is completely bent out of shape and detached from the plug in.  The whole fireworks took only about 6 seconds and was contained to the oven, thank goodness, but my heart was racing for another  30 minutes!  

The dinner rolls and cinnamon rolls went into the garbage.  The ham, mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes went into crock pots instead of the oven.   A new element was ordered within minutes and I'm expecting it today. 

I've told all the other appliances that New Years Eve is going to pass by unnoticed.   

9 comments:

  1. Glad you were able to salvage it with some crock pots! My mom's oven went out the day before Thanksgiving. Isn't it Murphy's Law that all appliances go out on holidays or special occasions? :-)
    Laura

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  2. Oh what a mess I'm sure - just like our computers - we depend on our ovens too! Sorry it happened to you on Christmas! Glad you had the crockpot!

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  3. Oh my goodness!!
    Loved his comment about not a big spider scream.
    Funny, how well Hubby's know us.
    Yes, so glad you had a crock pot! ;)

    You sure are smart for having read the owners manual. I admit it, that is something Ive never done. But maybe its time I go find it. :|

    Take Care,
    Tam

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  4. Oh goodness, I am glad you were nearby to catch it and make sure nothing worse happened. I am so sorry your some of your meal had to be scrapped.

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  5. I am new here but I had to laugh. The same thing happened to me a couple months ago.
    I threw salt,baking soda, whatever came to my mind. My husband got ti out for me. Guess I need to read the manual, also. I invite you to visit my blog and become a follower if you wish.

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  6. Wishing you a wonderful 2011! Peace, Love, Health and Happiness for the New Year!
    xoxo

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  7. The exact same thing happened to us about 15 years ago so I feel your pain
    Donna
    Atlanta

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  8. Greetings from rain soaked Southern California.

    I added myself to follow your blog. You are more than welcome to visit mine and become a follower if you want to :-)

    May God bless you and your family in 2011 ~Ron

    And always remember... Smiles don't have to be saved for a rainy day. It's good to waste them :-)

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  9. Oh my gosh, I would have panicked also! More about the sparks than the loss of the oven, the food would have gone to my MIL's next door. See there is something good about having your MIL next door!

    Cathy

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Thank you for visiting my blog. I'm so happy to "meet" you through blog land. ~Ann