Fire in the Hole

So today is Richard's birthday dinner night, and if the title is any indication, preparations for it are coming along nicely.

Woke up at 7:45 this morning and was out the door by eight so that I could hit up the grocery store before the crowds started. I was in front of Emart by about 8:20 and was quite disappointed to see that it didn't open until 10. I walked over the bridge and across the highway to Homever, only to find out that it too, did not open until 10. Refusing to admit defeat I walked back past Emart and headed towards the other Emart that is open 24 hours. By about 9:20 I had finally made it to the grocery store. Got the ingredients I needed to make spaghetti and broccoli salad and jumped in a taxi for home.

Spaghetti sauce came along nicely as did the salad. I decided to make use of some other ingredients I had kicking around and make some brownies for dessert. Brownies in a toaster oven, what could possibly go wrong?

Well, the first problem was that my teeny tiny kitchen was full of my other preparations, so I moved the toaster oven into my other room and set it on a chair. The brownies I made (from scratch) were meant to fill a 9 x 13 pan, but the pan didn't fit in my oven, so I put all the batter into a smaller pan. 30 minutes later the top and bottom of the brownies were smoking, batter was running over the side of the pan and my bedroom was filled with smoke.

I turned the oven off and headed out with Heidi for a bit.

Upon getting back I decided to see if I could salvage the brownies. I scraped off the crispy bits and turned the toaster oven back on, then jumped in the shower. Ten minutes later the room was filled with smoke, yet again.

I gave up.

After letting the mess cool, I managed to scrape the charred on the outside, gooey on the inside brownies into the garbage and finished cleaning up my apartment. I moved the toaster oven off the chair and discovered that the smoke had not been coming from the inside of the oven, but from the cushion of the chair that is now burnt beyond repair.

So other than dessert, dinner is ready to go, all I need to do is make a quick stop at the bake shop and we will be ready for birthday festivities!