A Hunka Hunka Burnin' Love

Let's face it: the appliances in our kitchen were outdated. I'm willing to bet they came with the house, which would make them more than 10 years old. Which really isn't too bad compared to some of the other homes we've seen, but still.

We've learned to live with them, mainly because we've been saving pennies to put toward a new house and because they technically still worked. I mean, it would have been nice to be able to simmer something on the stove instead of only having two choices: boil or lukewarm. It also would have been nice to have a dishwasher that wasn't crazy loud (seriously, when that thing is on, I'm surprised the neighbors don't stop by and ask what all the racket is about).

So when our landlords (aka my parents) asked if they could take our old stove to use in another one of their properties and give us $400 toward a new one, we had a hard time saying no. Brian actually did a lot of the back-end research because I'm lazy I've been busy with other things and he ended up choosing a Kenmore stainless steel beauty. With my stamp of approval, of course.

Here's a before shot of our old stove. Nothing to really write home about.

And here's the new stove. Shiiiinnnnny. Five burners of awesome. (Just ignore that plastic wrap along the bottom handle). ;)

We debated whether or not to get an electric flattop instead, but since both Brian and I are such foodies we ultimately agreed that with gas you have a lot more control over the heat and intensity of flame than with electric. Yes, the handles are in front, which aren't terribly child-friendly, but they do come off with some coaxing (and every time Owen goes near the stove, I shout "DON'T TOUCH!!" and he usually gets the hint). However, the oven does have a locking mechanism that you don't need to activate the oven cleaning feature for, which is reassuring.

Anyone else get a shiny new appliance lately? Any tips on what to use the center burner for (apparently it's for casserole dishes, but any other uses for it?).