I’ve never claimed to be great in the kitchen. I’ve already revealed to you that I spend a good amount of cooking things that come straight from a box.
I’ve also told you all about how our dishwasher has been out of commission for far too long now. And no, we still haven’t gotten it fixed. And did you know, that when you are accustomed to having a dishwasher & it breaks that it flips you’re entire house upside down? For real, it does.
A few weeks ago, Todd & I were hanging out with some friends and on our way home Todd got a text that a friend was coming over. Of course our kitchen was a wreck from the lovely dishwasher being busted, so we hurried home & I scrambled to get the kitchen in somewhat decent order while Todd picked up Lboy’s mess in the livingroom.
I got all the dishes done, except the cookie sheets. So, I did what all normal people do & I hid them. In the oven. (What? You’ve never done that?)
I told Todd as I did it, “Do NOT let me forget that these pans are in here before I cook supper tomorrow night, otherwise it’s going to be a mess.”
The next day rolls around, I end up going out of town to visit my parents, Todd doesn’t cook the entire week I’m gone, & when I got home it was time for supper. So I preheated the oven, pulled out a frozen pizza or something like that and went about my business.
The oven beeped that it was ready & I opened it up to put in the pizza…..
AND….
My oven was on fire!
That’s right. I had completely forgotten to take out those blasted pans. What I didn’t realize was that our dog’s plastic food mat had been stuck to the bottom of one of the pans & it had completely melted & caught fire.
Of course we didn’t have a fire extinguisher. Of course we didn’t have any baking powder to put out the flame. Of course Todd was flipping out. Lboy started crying. Giorgio is barking like mad at the smoke. I’m just standing there knowing that if I bust out laughing Todd will come unglued.
We eventually got the fire out & no it didn’t involve the fire department.
And here’s the kicker.
It doesn’t matter how many times I’ve cleaned the oven. It doesn’t matter how many times I’ve scrubbed & scrubbed.
Every time I heat that baby up, it starts billowing smoke out of the sides, the top, & oh goodness when I open that door black smoke goes everywhere! The house smells like plastic for hours! But we have to eat, so I have to cook in it. Which means, all of our meals taste like plastic. Chicken parm? Yup. Plastic. Pork Chops? Yup Plastic. Pork loin? Yup, you guessed it, plastic.
I have learned that if you dig around to the middle of the piece of meat you’re eating, you might taste actual food & not a burned up dog mat.
So….note to self. Take a few minutes to wash the damn dishes the next time, the oven is not the best place for them.
Oh my gosh..and I just re-read this post! I have a dishwasher too!!! I pray you live close by!
I guess my first comment didn’t post…I sent you an email. I have an electric stove w/ self cleaning oven and dishwasher now sitting in my garage. I pray that you live close to me!
I don’t know why the first comment didn’t post because I have it in my comments in my blog dashboard & I wrote you back! Weird! I just emailed you!
I emailed you back. Some how we’ve got to work this out. I can’t believe we live in the same state!!!
I know! Me either! I’m going to check the email now!
Plastic tasting food is the worst. I hope you get a new oven soon or at least that the plastic taste and the smoke goes away.
I really hope that I don’t have to buy a new oven AND a new dishwasher. That would suck! Right now we have 0 credit card debt….we won’t be that lucky if we have to buy appliances! lol (Will you let me know if you get this response in your email?)
OMG I had to LOL at this post. I did a similar thing when I was at uni. I pre-heated the oven and didnt check inside before switching it on and only noticed there was a problem when the fire alarm went off and black smoke seeped out the edges. I had set my flatmates take away pizza box on fire – literally on fire. He didnt thank me and I had to cook him dinner which too tasted char-grilled 😉 Take care Kate xx
hahaha! So glad I’m not the only one! When I was pregnant I did the exact same thing, I put the pizza in the oven on top of the box…fortunately I realized what I had done before anything got set on fire. No such luck this time!
I am seriously laughing out loud right now as I ALWAYS throw the cookie sheets in the oven as a way of “tidying up.” Your post is a word to the wise – always check the sheets before stashing them away. Hilarious!
Yes, always check! Always, always, always! I completely forgot….and then remembered as soon as I saw the smoke coming out of the oven!
I. Am. Dying. Haha!
Bless your heart. I toss cookie sheets in the oven all the time and never remember them. Fun times. Have you tried actual oven cleaner?
Yes! But the first time I did it there was all this black smoke coming out of everywhere….we shall see if it gets better!
Oh God! I have on occasion hidden things in my oven too and I do the same darn thing. I always forget that I put stuff in there and then heat the oven up. Luckily I haven’t caught the oven on fire, but I have ruined a number of pans from cooking the ba-jeekers out of the left over crap on them!! No matter how much I soaked or scrubbed the blackened mess wouldn’t come off so out they went!
What are you going to do about the oven? Is is so bad that you have to get a new one or do you think a couple more times of smoking and heating it up will burn the rest off?
Well, I’ve used the oven off cleaner a couple of times. And that didn’t work…at all. So I’m hoping that I can just cook it out. It’s getting better with each use, but it still smells like plastic with every meal. And the taste is getting less & less, but it’s taking forever!
I may or may not have set my oven on fire that when ever you actually use the oven it starts to smoke up again. so much so that it sets off our fire alarms and my 2 year old says “Oh man. Momma burn house down”
Yea, it may or may not have happened.
OH NO! That’s hilarious & awful all at the same time!
WOW! That smell is the WORST!!! You may have to bring in a professional…or this could be an excellent excuse to get new appliances.
I could not live without a dishwasher.
Ok. I could…but I’d hate my life.
Yes, hating my life is not an under statement at all! lol We’ve called someone to get it fixed but he & I have been playing phone tag & it just hasn’t happened yet.
Love this story! you are too cute!
I’ve done this once! It’s definitely a learning lesson. Hope the smell and taste goes away sometime!!
My fingers are crossed! lol
Glad to hear I’m not the only one!
Ooh -what a mess! I can totally relate though: when someone calls to say they’re coming to visit, I’m throwing stuff in closets, the washer, the dryer, and yes, the oven!
Reminds me of the time I was mopping the kitchen floor, and was placing the bottle of floor cleaner on the counter beside the range. It tipped over and spilled on the burner. Took FOREVER for that smell to go away every time I turned on the stove.
I’ve (knock on wood) never left dishes on the oven, but we have had so many things bubble over or spill in our oven that it kind of does the same thing. Minus the plastic smell. Our smoke dectors go off almost everytime we bake anything because we have so much burnt food on the bottom of our oven. We keep saying we are going to clean it, but it’s been almost a year…
Oh my gosh, HILARIOUS story! I would totally be laughing about that for weeks if it were me.
Luckily I have no dishwasher and haven’t ever used my oven, so I think I’m safe 🙂
I bought these cute little teaspoons and tablespoons that nest inside one another with a magnet hidden in the plastic. Once I was baking and went to take the cake out of the oven and there sticking straight up in the grill was the teaspoon, the plastic melted and stuck on the grill. It had magnetized itself on to the pan and I didn’t notice when I put it in the oven.
Oh no!!! I bet that was a HUGE pain to clean up and horrid smell to clear out!
Crazy story! I had to laugh at the part where you said that if you bust out laughing Todd might come unglued. I could seriously picture the situation. I’m so glad you guys got the fire out an no one was hurt. Hopefully your food with stop tasting like plastic one of these days. Yuck!
I use a lot of Pampered Chef stones and I always throw them in the oven after parties and get togethers since I can only wash a couple of them at a time. I can’t tell you how many times I have forgotten about them and turned the oven on. Luckily there has never been any plastic in there with them. 😉
Okay first of, Im really glad nothing bad happened to you and your family. This post was fun, by the time I read the part where you were telling your husband to remind you about the pans, I totally knew disaster was coming.. 🙂
At least you have an excuse for a bad tasting meal! My diet dinners these days have nothing to hide behind. LOL Loved it!
Must be in the air… I actually set the toaster oven on fire this weekend with a frozen Eggo. Not my best mommy moment! LOL
I hear (and smell!) ya! 🙂
I “hide” stuff in the oven, too, on occasion. The only “incident” we’ve had involved my aunt’s plastic cake-taker. I appreciate you baking me a cake and all, but PLEASE don’t make me responsible for your cake-taker…that I don’t have extra room to store in my cabinet until the next time I see you, which will probably be in SIX MONTHS!!!
Fortunately I realized my mistake before it caught fire, and it was actually very easy to clean up. Something about that (no doubt) BPA-infested plastic peeled right off my oven rack!
Hahahaha!!!