Thursday, October 30, 2008

This Pioneer Woman Doesn't Cook

A child of the modern era, I'd never really understood the phrase "dishpan hands."

Now I do.

About two weeks ago, our dishwasher broke. The new one that we bought less than two years ago. Eddie spent a night under the sink, cleaning out tubes and pipes, and we thought we were in the clear, but apparently blockages aren't our problem. What is? Not sure, but I have a feeling it's going to be expensive.

As I mentioned at fMh a week or so ago, it was during our dishwasher surgery that we discovered the demise of the oven. It got really, really hot, and then the bottom coil went kaput. While I had chocolate chip cookies in the oven. Eddie, unsuccessful at dishwasher surgery, decided to try his hand at fixing the oven. So we looked up the parts online, and while we were already at the parts replacement website, decided to order a new handle for our microwave, which has been broken for at least a year. In order to determine exactly which part we needed, we had to take the whole dang thing apart. But Eddie eventually ordered an oven coil and a microwave handle.

So if you're following along, we were down a dishwasher, an oven and a microwave, leaving us with only the stovetop and the refrigerator. No nuking chicken nuggets, no tiers of sparkling clean dishes awaiting me in the morning, no homemade baked goods.

My mom, visiting at the time, approached our lack of major appliances as a culinary challenge. One night she whipped up an Asian stir fry, potstickers and a salad with wilted greens and sweet potatoes. I, on the other hand, know that if we cook we have even more dishes, and rather than subject my hands to further abuse, decided to eat out until all three problems were solved.

Eddie fixed both the oven and the microwave last night, leaving me with the task of calling someone about the dishwasher. I haven't done it yet. Yeah, having a broken dishwasher is a major pain, but so is trying to put dinner on the table while supervising homework and keeping Maren from watching yet another episode of Dora. As long as the option of eating out is still on the table, I think I'm going to exercise it.

No pioneer blood running through my veins, apparently...

1. Writing for catharsis
2. Babies who nap
3. Long phone conversations

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

wow and I thought I had it rough with just oven issues!! And I second the eating out option.

Queen of the Castle said...

I'm pretty sure that eating out wasn't really an option for pioneer women. I'm also pretty sure that if it had been, they would have eaten out every meal, every day.

Shelah said...

Uh, yeah, I recognize that. But since it's an option for me, I'm taking it.

scraphappymama said...

I like the eating out idea, but not sure I'm willing to take the broken oven, microwave and dishwasher for the benefit. Hope things get fixed soon - but until then - enjoy take out!!

Anonymous said...

Oh, Shelah, I feel your pain. I really, really do.

Anonymous said...

On the dishwasher anyway. I admit I cannot empathize with the simultaneous failure of three major kitchen appliances.