46 Years

The new stove is here and the cookie baking must continue ... or does it? The stove is very basic. White with various scratches that I will touch up with appliance paint. The kitchen appears to be much brighter, since the old stove was black.

I had thought I wanted a black stove. I hated the way is showed everything that ever came into contact with it. The window had dust and dog hair trapped between the two layers of glass. How does that even happen? I researched methods of cleaning it. Because it was self cleaning, you couldn't just pull the door off and clean it separately. One tutorial would have had me taking the drawer out and laying down on the floor and scooting my head under the stove and using a long thin item to stick up between the glass. After the part where my head was under the stove, I was pretty much done with that tutorial. Yeah, that didn't happen. 

No worries about that with the "new" stove. No window, not self cleaning. Old style ring elements atop the oven. Doesn't even have a timer. The one time the man listens to me! I got what I asked for.

You know how you become one with your appliances and know all the little quirks? Let me just says that when you have six batches of cookies to make is not a good time to become acquainted with an oven. I over cooked two batches of macaroons before I finally located a thermometer to check to make sure the oven temperature was accurate. This oven is almost 25 degrees off.

I finished the cookie dough that killed the stand mixer and baked those just fine the day the stove came here to stay. As waited for the stove that day, I wondered why HeWho just didn't hunt down a new oven element and replace it. Perhaps he thought I expected him to lay on the floor and shove his head under the old stove to clean the window? I had mentioned it more than once.

Now that the white stove is in place, he is all excited about "fixing" the black stove. Does he think I want two stoves? Who knows. I could cook twice as much.

So, after the initial cookie baking resumed, I was making the dough for thumbprint cookies. In my defense, I am often distracted while working in the kitchen. The phone still rings enough to make me want to open the back door and sling it as far as I can. Add four dogs stalking my every move in the kitchen, hoping I will drop something, as well as a giant cat weaving himself between my legs endlessly. So maybe I forgot I had already added the butter and did it again.

Thank goodness I used parchment paper! Other wise that excess butter would have been in the bottom of the clean oven. As it was the "cookies" were flat gooey things. My mind was calculating all the ingredients and we all know I hate waste. I scooped all the "cookies" into a bowl and today I added a block of softened cream cheese to the bowl of the unfortunate cookie mess. I figured I could roll the results into balls and dip them in white chocolate if nothing else. 

Turned out it made a reasonable dough and I re-baked them. Turned out fine. Now I am exhausted and have to sit for a bit before cleaning the kitchen and moving on to dipping the macaroons in chocolate.

Today is our anniversary. I had to do some math to figure out just how long we have been married. 46 years. Wow, that sounds like a long time. Seems like forever and just yesterday all at the same time. I wouldn't change a thing, because I wouldn't be right here if I did! I wouldn't want to be anywhere else or with anyone else!

All the cookies are done and I baked 8 small cakes today and made a peanut butter pie for my anniversary man. The kitchen has been closed down and HeWho loves me is off to get our take-out.