1. Cleaned the Oven.I never imagined it would take three days. I laid newspapers, wrapped all the elements in Saran wrap and sprayed the oven and racks on Monday night before bed.
On Tuesday, I washed it out--and then applied the foul, evil oven cleaner again. I did manage to clean out the oven on Tuesday but the racks defeated me. (Wait until I get the "before" pictures developed--you'll never want to use an oven again!)
Today, Wednesday, I finally asked for help. "Use a brillo pad." said the LadyJ. "What's a brillo pad?" I asked. "A steel wool thingy." she replied, and inspiration struck. I have three boxes of steel wool in the basement, one in each fine, medium, and coarse. (Don't ask, it has to do with camping in bear country with a rusty truck and a mouse problem.) Finally, finally, after much soaking and scouring (and a half a box of baking soda) those racks almost twinkle. My hands are a shriveled up, cut up mess, but who cares? Dinner tasted divine and the muffins I baked tonight puffed up just like they should and were browned, crispy and moist. Never again will I let the oven go that long. (It had been on last fall's to do list and never got to.)
2. Once I had the racks off the drainboard, I took some of that baking soda and a toothbrush and gave it a scrub.
3. Washed yesterday's backlog of dishes and those from dinner tonight!
4. Cleaned the trash can (above). I'll spare you the details.
Now that's an impressive Boom Dada Boom! Wow. I had a self-cleaning oven in my previous apartment. I'm going to really yearn for it when oven-cleaning time comes around (the oven was cleaned before I moved in here, so it'll be quite a while before I need to break out the heavy equipment...)
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