All I Want For Christmas is... a working oven!

It all began the first night we slept in the house back in August. We had set sleeping bags up on the living room floor among the contractor bags and cleaning supplies and got cozy in our new home. When we woke in the morning there was a new smell we noticed, the unmistakable odor of gas! (You may remember this story from our first work weekend at The Nest). We called National Grid and they sent Matt out right away to take care of the issue. He took one look at the ancient appliances, found the gas line to the oven and cooktop and switched them off. All cooking appliances were from henceforth unusable. "Ok" I thought, "that's a plot twist." We managed for quite a while this way, with no stove or oven. I used the crock pot, the toaster oven, the George Forman Grill ... And we ate about 50% of our meals from the Whole Foods Hot Bar around the corner. And if you know me, you know how important food, nutrition, and cooking home made meals is to me! It sure kept things interesting!

Over the next few months we were able to safely resurrect the cooktop, a heavy duty stainless gas number that I love. It needed to be scrubbed and greased and reassembled. And now it does the trick! Except that it needs to be lit with a lighter because there is no pilot light, always a bit hair raising.

But still no oven. Honestly I got accustomed to this. But I called The MassSave Program about a month ago to let them know our knob and tube was being remediated and that I was ready to schedule the insulation job. They looked at my file and... surprise! They let me know that I would also need a working oven to fully pass their inspection and be eligible for insulation installment. So all of a sudden the oven got bumped toward the top of the list.

I hemmed and hawed. It would be a financial risk to try to have the old oven repaired. Just having someone take a look at it would cost $100, then parts and labor on top of that if it could even be done. Still, it may never work quite right. It's probably 30 years old after all. Very few have even heard of the brand: Chambers. And ovens are particular, they need to cook evenly and efficiently to make baking and roasting successful. Still, I didn't WANT a brand new state of the art oven straight out of the box. A large expense considering the way money has been flowing out these days. But I had to figure something out. 

My first stop was to call local appliance repair guys, including my old pal Derron (the hero of the dryer saga from a few months ago). But I learned that no one seems to sell refurbished ovens, the liability is too great.

Plus the built in cabinet space for the oven in our kitchen is 24 inches. An odd size for 2015. There weren't many options for new ovens in this size and they were pricey.

So I scoured Craigslist. And hooray! Finally I got a hit! A guy in Vermont was selling his brand new 24 inch gas oven. They had planned a kitchen remodel and then not followed through with it. That oven could be mine for $299! I called and emailed right away. When he called back and told me where he lived, I discovered that acquiring the oven would be a 6 or 7 hour round trip. I would also need to rent a vehicle and find someone to make the drive with me and help me lift it on the other end. He wasn't willing to meet me in the middle. And in fact, he was downright nasty to me. But he had the goods. So I decided to grin and bear it. A week went by and I finally had a solution. I found a courier through Derron who could go pick up the oven for me. I called the seller again... he was crotchety again... and arranged the pick up. At last! I would have my oven!

Then I got a text from Derron the next day: "He sold the oven locally"... WHAT? We had an arrangement! I called and spoke to the guy. Let's just say that wasn't pretty. And I sulked for a bit. But then it was back to the drawing board.

My parents suggested I try Build.com, a building supply company they've used in the past. When I reached out by Live Chat, I was connected with Kourtney. She found me an oven! The right size, free shipping, and a good price. Crisis averted! I placed my order and we scheduled the delivery window. I'd have to wait two weeks, but at this point I was just happy to have something in the works! Kourtney and I shared Home Reno woes and Craigslist sob stories before saying happy holidays and goodbye. She was great.

A week later I got an email. The oven I ordered had been discontinued and the one I purchased was not actually available. This was getting silly. I spoke with Kourtney again. She was almost as disappointed as I was. Now she was like a dog on a bone. In about 2 hours she had found two other options and had me back on the phone placing the order. Two more weeks to receive the oven.

I scheduled a day off to be home to receive the oven. I booked a plumber to come and do the install. And two days before the Big Day I got ANOTHER email. The oven would be delayed another 5 days!

At this point I was singing "All I want for Christmas is a working oven" in my head daily. Slight change of plans and I was more than ready when the day finally came.

The day before Christmas Eve, two guys in a Budget rental truck came to make the drop off. I was all but jumping up and down when they pulled up. They looked amused when I said "You guys are totally making my day!" They carried the oven up to the second floor. I gave them a Tupperware of Christmas Cookies. And they were on their way. Mike the plumber was just finishing a repair in the bathroom sink and was ready to get that oven locked and loaded.

The kitchen went from a bit rough, to downright chaos for a while there. Pulling the old oven out of the built in revealed 30 years of fine and pungent dust in the built in cabinet, the kitchen was full of ovens, and there were tools and parts everywhere. Madness! But before too long we were testing out the broiler. Success!

I'm THRILLED to close the chapter of The Oven Saga. So as a celebration of this Christmas Miracle, I made a big batch of Spiced Nuts. I love this recipe and it's always a crowd pleaser. Last time I served them, my friend Kate Welby has said "these taste just like Christmas!"

SPICED NUTS

Recipe courtesy of the fabulous Kate Radville. 

Ingredients

1- 1.5 lbs of nuts (the original recipe called for just pecans, but I like to do a mix of pecans, almonds, and walnuts). 

Sugar

salt

cinnamon, nutmeg, other spices

2 egg whites

2 tbsp water.

Directions

1. Mix 3/4 to 1 cup of sugar, 1 tsp of cinnamon, 1 tsp salt, and some nutmeg in a large bowl (you can experiment with other spices added in like clove, ginger, cocoa powder, and/or cardamom)

2. Beat 2 egg whites with about 2 tblspoons of water in a separate med size bowl. Add the nuts and mix/toss by hand to coat. 

3. Dump coated nuts into the sugar/spice mixture, toss and mix to coat.

4. Spread the coated nuts onto a cookie sheet (lined w parchment).

5. Bake for 1 hour at 250 deg, stirring every 15 min. (the stirring seems to be the most important part). If your nuts don't look completely dry at the end of 1 hour, bake for another 10-15 mins. 

Let cool and enjoy!