Coffee was poured, options were discussed, and we went about the business of making breakfast. I put the biscuits in the oven and started browning sausage while my husband mixed the orange juice.
Four minutes left on the biscuits and he noticed it... the strange glow on a small section of the oven's heating element. Then there were small sparks. At first, we both thought it was a spill... perhaps a bit of grease from last night's roast chicken. After a few minutes we realized that this was no spill. The element itself was burning. We removed the biscuits and turned off the oven, hoping that would solve the problem. It didn't.
Time for more serious measures. Hubby sprayed it with our handy kitchen fire extinguisher, which resulted in a cloud of chemical dust that quickly spread throughout the house and sent us running to open windows. It did not, however, put out the fire.
One final option before calling the fire department was to shut off the power at the breaker box. That finally did the trick. We breathed a sigh of relief (near the open window, of course) and then, after the dust settled, continued with our weekend breakfast. Amazingly enough, the food was undamaged and the biscuits were browned to perfection.
After breakfast, my husband and son disconnected the stove so we could safely turn the power back on, and moved it to the backyard. I actually smiled a little as I said good-bye to the last of our old 1980's harvest gold appliances. (Yuck!)
Anyone who has ever used a chemical fire extinguisher, know that the dust gets everywhere. It took over an hour to clean up the kitchen... and I haven't even started on the rest of the house. I am just thankful that most of the bedroom doors were closed.
Our afternoon plans changed slightly. We still went to the movies (because I really needed to relax), followed by appliance shopping. Our new stove will be delivered in two weeks. Yes, I said two weeks. Our stove is a drop-in model, which is not stocked in any store and has to be ordered.
Things are going to be a bit different for the next two weeks, but we are not without options. I can cook meals using the crock pot, microwave, toaster oven, electric wok, charcoal grill, and Coleman stove. I think we're covered. It does feel strange to walk into my kitchen and see the hole where my stove used to be, but in two weeks, we will have a brand new stove.
Now, if I could just do something about that yellow laminate counter top...
