About a year ago, as chance would have it right before cookie-making season, the top element broke in our lousy, developer's-special oven that came with the place. This was after we had already replaced one of the burners, but before the glass door cracked, at which point I gave up any notion of trying to fix something that was so determined to be broke. In fact, I've never before seen an appliance so dead-set on being bad; I don't ever recall my mother's stove pulling an attitude, even after decades of daily use bordering on punishment. But then, the developer's-special dishwasher we also were stuck with has already been replaced, and the accompanying refrigerator has been likewise been trying my patience for years. So maybe there's more to all the choices currently available in appliances than marketing smoke-and-mirrors.
Researching a new oven has been on my dread list since August, when the oven door cracked. It was crucial to get the oven in the fall, but the whole process just sort of overwhelmed me. Features, specifications, warranties, price: it was a big purchase with so many variables to consider, I just kept putting it off and putting it off, until here we are, just two weeks before cookie-making season kicks off, and I still don't have an oven capable of browning ginger snaps. Obviously, something had to be done.
So after a couple hours of research, I made my choice and ordered my dream range: a convection double-oven, the better to support my cookie-baking mania. The two things that most helped my research: a subscription to Consumer Reports on line (for a monthly fee of $5.95) which provides shopping advice, photos, detailed reviews, and extensive comparison tables of product features, and pricegrabber.com, which, sure enough, ferreted out by far the best overall price (due to no taxes), even beating out the manufacturer's corporate benefits offer for which we qualified. The delivery date is slated to be within 10 business days. If all goes well, we should get it just in time for T-Day, followed, of course, by Cookie Friday.
