This is not by choice! In the spring our oven started to have a mind of its own; not a characteristic I look for in any appliance.

Given its age and the model, the thing’s not worth fixing. And since the rest of the kitchen is also falling apart – it is at least 20 years old – it made no sense to replace the oven without fixing the whole kitchen. Kitchen reno! Aack!!

We’ve decided to invest in a stunning BBQ while we wrap our heads and finances around a kitchen renovation. So we bought the BBQ on sale in September, and we’ve been cooking all sorts of things. Obvious items like poultry and meats, but also a very nice lasagna and even cookies! We had ten people for Thanksgiving…and we did it all without an oven. And no take out either!

To be honest though, we have quite a few other options which are picking up the slack: stove, toaster oven, slow cooker and a combination microwave/convection oven. Some of these are getting a bit elderly too, and I’m hoping they have the good sense to wait a bit longer before having minds of their own.

So which appliances in your kitchen could be doing more to make things easier?