In the Kitchen

I am convinced that, late at night, my kitchen appliances are talking to one another, and not in a good way. We have been in our house for 14, almost 15 years. That means that most of my appliances are also 15 years old - some are older. They have recently mounted a rebellion. I'm seriously considering dragging my 27 year old washer into the kitchen to set a good example for them and insist that they behave. When did 15 get to be "old"?

I think the trouble actually started a few years ago when the white refrigerator that didn't match anything else when we moved in finally passed into appliance heaven. It was replaced by a mammoth black frig with french doors and freezer on the bottom. Why not stainless? I don't care what kitchen decorators say, I hate cleaning fingerprints off of stainless. I'm 100% "easy clean" when it comes to kitchen equipment. I have a stainless toaster that I would gladly replace in a heartbeat.

Last week our dishwasher went kaput. We shuffled off to the local home improvement store and purchased a new sleek, black model with hidden controls. Cary installed it last weekend. Now the frig, cook top and dishwasher "match", but the cook top is the only "old" item in the group, and it isn't happy.

I originally selected a black cook top because I have a dark counter top on my island and it was easier to clean than stainless. Shortly after we moved in one of the 5 burners on the cook top developed a problem. I am not what you would call a 5 burner cook, so the warranty had actually expired before I noticed that one burner didn't really work. Cary fixed that issue, but in the process created another. For the last dozen years I have had to use the smallest burner in tandem with any of the others if I want them to work properly. Believe it or not, it hasn't been that big of an issue. If I am cooking with burners, I usually use more than one. Now that the new dishwasher is installed, the cook top has decided to throw a tantrum every now and then. It refuses to light, clicks incessantly and practically begs to be replaced. It will have to get in line.

The microwave is the oldest kitchen appliance we own. It is huge, and it too is jealous of the new dishwasher. From time-to-time the digital touch pad gets confused. It is like having a micro with dementia. When you have clearly pressed 2:00 cook time, it registers 3:00. Lately it likes to make that one minute mistake into 30:00. Using it is like keeping an eye on a misbehaving child, turn you head for just a minute and you will live to regret it.

At this point the only two things not giving me problems are the oven and the garbage disposal. I'm pretty sure the garbage disposal is deaf, so it hasn't heard the other appliances whining an complaining. I have to assume that the oven is working properly. I won't really be able to say for sure until next fall. At the first sign of good weather I give up using my oven and head straight for the outdoor grill.

The problem is, I am lusting after a new microwave "drawer". Clearly 4 to 5 time pricier than a normal microwave, but it would look great installed just under the only working appliance, the oven, which would have to be moved up to accommodate the micro drawer. Just a "minor" adjustment of resizing the cabinet opening, removing a drawer and rewiring everything...... my husband seems to think a counter top model will work just fine.

I think eating out is our best option.