For those of you who might remember the delicious Polenta Pot Pies...they ended up being the downfall of the range. They leaked oil on the bottom of the oven and it's been smoking ever since. Finally, on Sunday, I decided it was time to "clean" the oven. Pushing the clean button produced some odd clanging noises and eventually a persistent beeping (in the middle of the night) - but no cleanliness. In fact, the whole range is now on the fritz. Not that I was sad to see it go. It was gross and dirty when we moved in and, appalled by the idea of what the origins of the caked on grease were, I never bothered to scrub it clean.

All in all, I'd say it died a needless death but we're looking forward to the arrival of our new, shiny range. Thom's always wanted a new stove for his birthday anyhow. Lucky boy.