No baking for about a week...just had a fire!

I gave this oven a chance, I really did.

I had my hopes. I saw dozens of cookies and desserts baking up golden and delicious behind that oven door. I pictured a Thanksgiving turkey roasting beneath those 'antiquated' burners, to put it nicely. Sure, the oven was ugly, but it worked...sort of...


Ok...so maybe the knobs needed a little attention. With just one simple twist, they came off. Poor little guys needed to be replaced...and I thought that was all that needed to be replaced...


Then I tried baking...boy, was that an adventure. The oven knob wasn't quite up to date. Let's just say the numbers 1-6 as oven setting indicators on the knob instead of actual temperature settings (with degrees) were evidence of this poor oven's age...all I did was turn the oven on, with hopes that I could bake my mover a batch of cookies as a way of saying thanks for helping, and then sparks flew -- NOT THE GOOD KIND. My exposed legs were literally inches away from the fiery sparks...I'd purchased an oven thermometer a few days ago, so that I could figure out what temperatures matched the numerical settings on the oven knob, and the oven went up to 600 just 5 minutes after turning it to setting '4'! I tried turning it off and the knob wouldn't turn, it was about to break off too!

Finally, I got it to turn off. The oven kept popping, so I called the fire department with my cell phone and they unplugged the thing. The Lt. himself said it was no longer safe to use :(. Good news is that I'm still alive and I'll be getting a new oven soon. I won't be baking or cooking for about another week, though, seems they'll have to order a new one. I just don't understand how HARVARD, yes HARVARD, can have such crappy appliances in their grad student apartments and yet be such a well endowed school! It literally receives millions of bucks from its alumni; Jose and I decided that they spend all their money on the landscaping. Also, I find it funny that our neighbors drive a BMS SUV and have an old mansion for a home, but we don't even have an oven that functions...

Ok, so don't get me wrong. I love this place. My apartment has a certain charm about it; it's quite pretty on the outside, actually. Sad thing is, they try to preserve the place so much that they don't exactly keep anything up to date. Check out our heater. I don't even know if I want to try connecting it when it starts cooling off here!

As I mentioned a few paragraphs ago, I won't be baking or cooking for a few days. Our stove/oven unit is completely unplugged (thanks to the firefighters) and I plan on leaving it that way...I kinda want to stay alive to see the rest of Boston :); I'm sure you all understand :). For now, I'll be working from home (woohoo!) and staying busy trying to get this place cleaned up; it'll be awhile before we actually get situated. But guess what?! I live literally right down the street from Savenor's, where Julia Child used to shop for her groceries! I stopped by the place yesterday and took a few pics! Also picked up some fish (before the oven explosion) and they gave me a free lemon :)! I have a feeling that place will be seeing a lot of me these next few years. So you want to see more pics of the Boston adventures? I'll be starting a new blog for Boston in a bit, but for now you can check out my flickr page by clicking here! Cya'll later :).