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Monday, December 7, 2009

It's in! It's in! It's in! It's in!

Our lovely new oven and cook-top was installed today. You may recall my excitement when we bought the oven a few weeks ago. The gas company ended up surprising us by installing the gas in only two weeks instead of six, but then we still had to prepare the space.

Before: Originally this was where the wood stove was, our fire-place is behind it, with a shared chimney. By the time we bought the house, there were already cupboards here. When we renovated the kitchen in the early 90's, we put the cook-top above the large cupboard.

Before

During: We had always wanted to tile the space around the stove top, so this was our opportunity. Who would have realised there were so many different white rectangular tiles? Well, lots of other kitchen/ bathroom renovators I guess, but it allowed for some frank exchanges of opinion between Rick and myself. I thought I didn't mind what we did, but then when something was suggested I would recoil in horror at the idea! And the edging of the tiles! That was another major topic of discussion, negotiation and compromise :-)

During - the hole in the wall

But, I did learn a new skill - you can call me "The Tile-cutter". I don't think I'll be giving up my day job any time soon to go into the tiling trade, but it was very satisfying to learn something new and be able to help Rick who did the majority of the work.

Of course, in an old house, there are no square edges and few straight ones, but Rick suppressed his engineering exactness and fudged as necessary.

After: At last! It's in. I was at work and popped in at lunch time to see a pot of pasta that Jono had already cooked on the new stove! With cherry tomatoes and home-made pesto no less.


Jono and his friend Danny then christened the oven by baking a deliciously moist apple cake. I hope this cooking style continues (ie me NOT cooking).

All that was left by the time I got home.

I didn't get an opportunity to cook on it tonight as we went out for fish and chips with friends, but here's a picture with the complementary grill plate in place and the wok - ready for action!


I feel ready now to tackle lots of Christmas cooking.... any requests?

5 comments:

  1. Congratulations on your newest family member! I look forward to sampling its many delights. It looks fantastic and Jono seems to have done a fine job. Did he read the manual or just go for it, man-style?!

    I'll work on my requests ... formulate a priority list ...mmmmm.

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  2. Hi Juliette, there was actually no manual with it, which I was a bit disappointed with. I was hoping for that sort of cookbook/ manual that used to come with such appliances. Not that Jono would have read it...

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  3. It does look fantastic :) Congrats :)

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  4. Most Excellent!!! I can't believe I'm this excited about someone else's oven. I look forward to next weekend when we enjoy the bountiful Christmas feast that will come out of the oven.

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  5. Ooh she's beautiful! I know how you feel, it's so exciting isn't it! :D

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