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Post by evangeline on Jan 30, 2017 9:53:57 GMT -5
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Post by evangeline on Jan 30, 2017 10:00:22 GMT -5
There he is, adjusting the oven flame. The t-stat works! The photo makes the stove/hood look yellow but they are white. Now the cabinet on the left must be installed. Dug's coming back to adjust a couple of the control handles, which are being stubborn. He is so meticulous, he put everything together without a single hitch until a couple of the handles refused to do their jobs. Meanwhile, my first act was to put a small pot of milk on the lowest possible heat. . . Turned my back to switch on the coffee pot and wowza, a boil-over. :-D. Those burners are powerful! Getting over my fear of fire little by little. To those of you who contributed to my quest for new countertops: note presence of "dusty mauve" laminate. The battle rages on! (But now over flapjacks. . . )
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Post by vaporvac on Jan 30, 2017 13:59:37 GMT -5
You made my day Evangeline. She looks beautiful in her new home with that fabulous hood. Eventually, you be able to dial in a very low flame. I'll often put stuff after boiling on the wagon wheel or in the Twell to keep warm or simmer.
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Post by nana on Jan 30, 2017 15:43:59 GMT -5
Yay! It's so much fun to see another one come on line. Is this your first gas stove? Don't feel bad about the milk. That's one of the boilingest over things there is!
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Post by Chuckie on Jan 30, 2017 21:32:41 GMT -5
Such a labor! Dugbug has been cleaning and polishing for a while now. He spent more than eight hours yesterday reassembling the parts. I'm DELIGHTED w/your "new" stove, and EQUALLY delighted that dugbug is alive & well & still among us!!! He ain't been out here in F-O-R-E-V-E-R!!! And it truly IS a "new stove" when himself gets done w/it!!! Congrats again, now get cookin'!!! CHEERS! Chuckie
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Post by evangeline on Jan 30, 2017 22:07:27 GMT -5
Thanks, everyone. Not my first gas stove, but my first GOOD gas stove. The weight of every part, so solid, it's like my dad's old Imperial. This is Dugbug's eighth or ninth stove. . . And he has six in his basement ready to get started. You're right, Chuckie, there's not a screw or a bolt on the thing that isn't original and doesn't shine like jewelry. Amazing! Ok, planning my next week's meals. Koshari? Cornbread? Chuckie's potatoes?
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Post by mach12 on Jan 30, 2017 22:46:46 GMT -5
That's fantastic - Congratulations!! Dugbug does awesome work and I think you're pretty darned lucky to have a stove that he has done. Can't wait to hear about all of the great recipes and meals!
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Post by evangeline on Jan 31, 2017 13:22:34 GMT -5
Mach12, lucky is right. I don't even know how this worked out. . . .seems so far-fetched that I saw a stove and Dugbug popped up and said, I can help you with that. How often. . . ? Friends and neighbors have been tweaking me about this stove . . . .it's been a while. . . But now they see her and their eyes pop! Perfect Spouse said: I couldn't envision how beautiful it would be.
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Post by pooka on Jan 31, 2017 16:08:30 GMT -5
Chambers looks are so timeless as to impress anyone who sees them. But they also have substance to back up their looks, unlike the more modern offerings. A Chambers feels like something substantial & ready for some serious cooking. Modern ranges seem like tinfoil toys by comparison. As sleek as the new ones appear to be, it's just a facade that will never measure up. It still gives me a chuckle to think, the first restaurant style stoves for the home made by Viking was inspired by the Chambers stove the owners wife wanted for their newly built home. She grew up with one & always loved it, but they were no longer made. He approached commercial stove makers to make a version for the home, & in his words were horrified at the thought. He set out to design & have them built himself, & in so doing started the trend. But they'll never compare to an old Chambers in style or build quality. They were built for the ages. New ones are on the fast track to the scrap yard as soon as you get them. It's a miracle if they last five or ten years before they're unrepairable. My model 74 is now seventy seven years old & has never been repaired. It just keeps on going undaunted. evangeline, your new charge looks great in her new home, especially with that hood. She looks like she belongs there, & like she's always been there. She's like a touchstone to build a life around. Like the old phrase of hearth & home. All good things emanate from it. You hit the jackpot getting Dugbug to whip yours into shape. He's as good as it gets. He's so meticulous in his methods. Your stove will be better than new once he's done. This article from slate.com Aug. 5 2009 bears reposting on the virtues of old stoves, not just Chambers. At the end it mentions Viking who started the trend of commercial style ranges for the home. He started out in the early 80s building his stoves. He then built a whole cult around them with a cooking school & an inn to lodge the tourists, but by the time this article was written it was all going bust with others muscling him out with other imitators to his imitator. This Old StoveIt would be nice to think a small company could exist to make a new Chambers that could measure up to the vintage ones. But safety regulation probably wouldn't allow it, & the prices would most likely be astronomical. It would end up being a tiny niche market that would only serve the well heeled customers. So those of use with a discriminating eye will have to go through the trials of searching & finding a worthy old one, then getting it rehabbed by hook or crook. Occasionally, by some miracle, you might find one like mine that needed little or no work, because it had been lovingly maintained by the same family for it's whole life.
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Post by nana on Jan 31, 2017 17:29:53 GMT -5
I checked out that article and she's right about the stoves, but a little judgmental about the refrigerators. I can't really blame her. I used to think the same thing about old refrigerators until I heard from people who actually know about and use them. I think "old refrigerators are energy hogs" is one of those things that everyone "knows" without ever questioning how they know it. After educating myself a little about them, I think it makes sense that the early frost-free ones were to blame for the bad reputation. Soon I'll have my own and be able to see firsthand what it does to my electric bill.
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Post by mach12 on Jan 31, 2017 19:02:30 GMT -5
I've done a lot of refrigerator work and the energy hog issue that I see is when it has bad door seals or the condenser coils have never seen a dust brush. Those long, skinny dust brushes you can get in the refrigerator area at places like Lowes will pay for itself in a heartbeat. Check your seals regularly too. Just take a dollar bill and close the door on it and make sure there's a bit of resistance when you pull it out, then work your way around doing the same thing about every foot. If you have areas where it pulls out without resistance then it's time for a new seal. The same procedure works with your freezer and with both magnetic seals and seals on refrigerators and freezers with the old style mechanical latches. The same procedure works with the oven door on a Chambers by the way, just no seal. You can use a slip of paper but regular paper is likely to tear before you finish a door. A few years ago I got an expensive color ad from some travel outfit wanting me to take a cruise and it was printed on linen paper. My wife thought maybe we were going on another cruise when I got all excited about the ad until I started cutting it into dollar sized strips and told her what they were for. I couldn't tell you what company sent the info since the envelope and the reply page were plain old paper but if I ever figure it out I need to let them know that I sure do appreciate the freebie.
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Post by evangeline on Jan 31, 2017 21:40:08 GMT -5
Oh, oh! Just did a modified version (very) of a beef bourgignon, braised WTGTO. Beef chuck, on sale for $3.99. Thermostat to 350, gas on for 15 minutes then 2 hours off. Wow! Bean pot going with white beans and Hatch green chilis. Tiny red potatoes in the well w/just the pilot light. This is Crazy!
Thanks for the link, Pooka. Strangely enough, I may have an old magazine clipping from that Slate author's apartment kitchen redesign way, way back when. In fact, that apartment inspired me to find a Chambers and to choose that hood. Stay tuned! I'll scan the article & upload.
This house was built in 1903. Lord only knows what's gone on here. The neighbors say that back in the 60s the owners were either cheap or impecunious. They burned coal in 55 gallon barrels in the basements, and cut holes in the floor for the heat to rise! Still, the old girl survived! Times were good here in the twenties - fifties. It's not impossible that a Chambers lived here. Just not this one. She was owned by two sisters, career women, who lived in Lawrenceville, a cool neighborhood on the Allegheny River in Pittsburgh. Their niece sold the stove to me. One of them was an executive secretary to the CEO of a major corporation, the other owned her own business. The stove wasn't used much. I believe they met for dinner at a local diner, ordering rare steaks and very dry martinis. The light had never even been plugged in.
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Post by pooka on Feb 1, 2017 4:17:56 GMT -5
That article was a bit harsh on old fridges. That view was foisted on us by refrigerator manufacturers to get us to but their new & improved models many years ago. It stuck in our heads as a universal truth about all old fridges. But it's more complicated than that. The early ones were fairly efficient. This 1933 Frigidaire ad boasts it uses the same amount of power as one light bulb. This 1937 Frigidaire ad touts their Meter-Miser compressor as cost a cutter for efficiency. It was in the late 50s & early 60's when fridges became the power hog that the stories are based on. To achieve frost free they added heater to auto defrost. They also added fans to circulate the cool air around for more uniformed cooling. All unneeded power suckers. Bad seals & dirty coils added to the mix. Another factor was that power was cheap, & nobody cared about efficiency. That is until the Arab oil embargo of 1973–1974 which help kill the big American gas hog cars. Over time we've worked back to make everything more efficient. The newer fridges are very frugal, but they seem more fragile & unreliable compared to most from the 50s back. Many fridges were replaced because they were too small, not because they broke down. That's why so many people ended up with an old one in the basement or garage that was extra space when needed, or became the beer fridge or what ever. My 1953 GE is purring as well as it did when it was new. It is a bit cruddy from being in the basement it's whole life. I had to turn the temp up the other day because it had frozen a little bit of milk I hadn't touched in a few days. I had read in the not too distant past that the fridge was the biggest electric user in a home. I know there have been a lot of improvement since then, so I don't know if that's still true. But the old ones before frost free are quite the penny pinchers. I did have to replace the cord on mine because it was scaring me being so dry rotted from age, but that's the only repair since 1953. That about as good as a Chambers. evangeline, it sound like your lucky that house is still standing from those shenanigans of the past. My house had a gravity coal furnace till a new forced air coal furnace replaced it about 1960. It's still here, but it's been converted to gas a long time ago. That sound crazy to bun coal in a barrel like that. That's just asking to die a fiery death. It says something about the build quality of an old house to go though all that & survive. A bit of a facelift & catch up on differed maintenance, & your good for another century. An old house with good bones will always be a good bet.They have character & style that just can't be replicated though some try. They also have that aura of past lives lived through their span. The voices in the dark of the Wright Brothers or the Great War. The madcap 20s & the great fall through the 30s. All are imbued into it's timbers & fibers. It's an emanating atmosphere that doesn't come from a can at the home center. Those two sisters sound like a real pair of cards. I'll bet they had some stories to tell. A Chambers stove could well have been in their lives as successful woman. They were known as top of the line in the 50s. Even if they didn't use it much, their homes would have been up to date with the best of their day. To end, I'm just going to throw this pic out there cuz I been wanting to post it for a while. It's a drawing of a 1954 90-C that the artist said was in a house she rented for a summer along the East coast somewhere. I don't remember where. I thought it as a neat item to maybe print up & maybe color to match your stove for simple cheap decor around your stoves. The artists name is Marcia Milner-Brage. She seemed fascinated with the orange dials & nameplate. So much so she did the nameplate & date big at the top for emphasis.
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Post by evangeline on Feb 1, 2017 9:29:43 GMT -5
Ok, related to Pooka's link to the Slate article This Old Stove by Regina Schrambling: here is an image of her apartment after she renovated the kitchen, from a House Beautiful article in November, 1997. I clipped it back then, and pulled it out a couple of years ago. Thought: I'm going to find an old stove, darn it. I copied her hood style and her idea to use simple hooks to hang my pots. I was going to try to find a Wedgewood when you folks convinced me that Chambers cook better (and thank you for that!!) Anyway, her apartment turned out very nice! Thanks, Regina!
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Post by vaporvac on Feb 1, 2017 11:45:01 GMT -5
Love the drawing Pooka! That is one nice kitchen of Regina Schrambling's. I could move right in. Maybe she's since researched old fridges and has joined the crowd.
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Post by pooka on Feb 1, 2017 17:09:46 GMT -5
evangeline, that's such a spartan kitchen, yet it has everything you need within a step or two. It's dramatic without being overly showy. It makes the best use of the notoriously small New York apartment space. The stove & hood are the obvious stars of the show, with the sink being a close second. Just a smattering of classic white subway tile & an interesting take with the three color checkerboard floor grounds the room. A light use of real wood puts some color in it's cheeks, but doesn't dominate the room. The copper pans on plain coat hooks adds a touch of old world charm, yet they are useful, & not just decorative. I wonder if that old 20s toaster in the corner is meant to be decorative or if it's actually used. It's a far cry from some of the show kitchen we see touted that are meant more to impress that be actually productive. I don't begrudge someone a beautiful kitchen, but my simple taste & frugal ways see an overly extravagant room as a waste of resources. But to each his or her own. A room must please it's user. If it pleases you, go for it.
You never know when an image will spark the kernel of an idea that you'll bring to fruition down the road. Inspiration is everywhere if we train our eyes to spot it & take note. Some ideas pass, while others take hold & stick with you. An old stove is a big step by itself. The rest seem to follow it as you create an atmosphere befitting it.
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Post by nana on Feb 1, 2017 18:13:54 GMT -5
Evangeline, I think you and your stove are beginning a beautiful friendship!
Pooka, the aura of past lives is right. One of my favorite places in my house is to sit at the top of the stairs. Since we moved in 25 years ago, I've always felt it to be a peaceful and welcoming spot. It makes me feel good to sit there, I can't say why. One day I was talking to my neighbor who used to own our house and lived in it for 30 years before we did, and mentioned that. Then she told me that one of the neighbors that was here when SHE moved in had told her that sometime around the turn of the last century a woman who lived in this house had hung herself from the upper railing of the stairway. Well. I gave it some thought, and all I came up with was maybe she regretted it so, that her spirit was trying to make that a happy spot so no one else would ever make the mistake she did. Who knows? Even knowing her sad story still doesn't make it any less nice of a spot to sit. Only now when I'm there I think of her and send her a little love.
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Post by pooka on Feb 1, 2017 18:48:35 GMT -5
When we live anywhere for a time, we can't help leaving a bit of ourselves behind in substance or in spirit, especially in times of trial or tragedy. Your story of the young woman is a sad tale. She must have been very troubled & seen no other option at the time. It's not a great leap to think she left a regretful impression on the space. As the quote at the bottom of all my posts says, "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy." Never truer words have been spoken, thanks to Mr. Shakespeare.
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Post by evangeline on Feb 2, 2017 9:00:18 GMT -5
Nana, that story sent chills up my spine. I'm quite sure you are in tune with something. Perhaps her release was somehow more peaceful, at the end, than we can imagine or understand.
Our 1903 house has seen much, but no one, I'm pretty sure, is hanging around. But my last little house! I think I had to share that one, and the landing at the top of the stairs was involved. I loved the house, it was beautiful and peaceful. It had an aura. When people walked through the door they said Oh, then Ah. . . . I felt something, though. Started chatting (in my head) with 'her' at bedtime. Well. One beautiful clear night I turned off the lamp. Light from the full moon streamed across the floor and the foot of the bed. I was saying good night to my tabby when she looked over at the door, which opened onto the landing. And she went on full alert. Her head swiveled around the foot of the bed. And then she got up, slowly, raised herself onto her hind legs and stretched up, her nose in the air, her paws held out as if to touch. . . And she sniffed a finger. . . I couldn't see. Then slowly, slowly, she melted back to her belly and slunk - slunk! - head down, into the bedcovers.
Ok! I turned on the light. Anyone with cats knows they can stare at a "poltergeist" for hours. . . But I've never witnessed a cat sniffing one.
The next morning (yes I spent the night on the couch) I went upstairs to get ready for work. Tabby cat Fox ran up with me, full steam, to the landing. Her tail brushed. She skidded across the slippery wood floor, braced in all four paws, and slid into the bedroom. Stopped a foot inside. Backed out. Looked up at me reproachfully, and ran back downstairs. Nothing could persuade her to go back up those stairs. This went on for weeks.
Imagine telling your friends your cat believes your house is haunted. I had to decide how I felt about it because I'd just bought the house. Selling, moving: no es possible. So. We made our peace with 'her.' Two years passed, I met my husband and moved to 1903. A good friend moved into the house. I didn't tell her about the cat (not wanting to sound mad). After six months she called me to say, 'Someone wakes me up at night calling my name softly. But it's a friendly woman's voice so I go right back to sleep.' I came clean about the cat and we concluded that the occupant meant no harm. My friend lived with 'her' for hour years. (Fox remains unconvinced but she's well out of it.)
I don't follow all the ghost hunting stuff or think about it much, but when you tell your story Nana, I believe your instincts and marvel at what things there are in heaven and earth as Pooka reminds us.
Just glad my stove does not house the tiny shade of a lady in a smart business suit. . .
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Post by evangeline on Feb 2, 2017 9:07:36 GMT -5
Oh, shoot. I just reread Pooka's question about the 1920s toaster in the pic of Regina Schrambling's kitchen. Took a closer look. Yikes. I own that toaster. A friend gave it to me in 1985. So it was the TOASTER that started the ball rolling.
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Post by pooka on Feb 2, 2017 14:23:26 GMT -5
The supernatural is just a science we haven't quite cracked yet. It's been a field that's been rife with con men & charlatans, so it's no wonder we treat it with skepticism. From what I've gathered, it's basically magnetic fields that effect some more so than others, much like a recorded loop on a magnetic tape. Some spaces retain an impression more strongly than others. Some of us are more receptive to it than others. It's only in recent years that it's been studied with more scientific methods. Someday we may yet unlock it's mysteries. As for now, it's still mostly something we only speak of in hushed tone, for fear of being thought a crackpot.
I only know that there is much that I don't know. I keep an open mind & will consider all evidence fairly. My home was built in 1939-1940. The couple that built it only lived here for three years because they decided to divorce. They like to drink & party which led to conflict. There are marks on the bedroom door where she must have locked him out, & he drunkenly tried to use a hammer around the doorknob to try to get in. They sold the house to my grandparents with help from my mom, my aunt & uncle. I don't think grandpa died here, but grandma died peacefully in the living room right above my desk in the basement. If anything, it's just peaceful here in my solitude. I do seem drawn to things of the 30s & before the house was built. But I think that's just something in my own head.
evangeline, often, it's only in looking back that we realize where we've been. It's because we didn't really notice as we moved forward. That toaster may have lite a fire that was a constant nudge to encourage you along. Maybe it did lead you to the stove. It's a mystery.
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Post by nana on Feb 2, 2017 17:51:08 GMT -5
Consider the chills repaid, Evangeline! Anyone who knows cats knows they are almost incapable of resisting the urge to sniff an outstretched finger. I do it just to tease them: Ha, ha. Made you sniff! As I read that I could just see the pose in my mind. It would be so great to know: did Fox not like what she smelled, or was she distressed by not smelling something she could clearly see? That there is something there seems without doubt.
My personal feeling about the afterlife and spirits is based on my understanding of science, but always keeping in mind your Shakespeare quote, Pooka. Albert Einstein's theory about the conservation of energy boils down to energy can't just vanish. It may change form, matter into energy, energy into matter, heat into light, etc, etc. It's all a vast continuum. But it never just disappears. Our bodies, our hearts, brains, nerves....all run on electrical impulses--a form of energy. When we die, something must happen to that energy. It goes somewhere or becomes something, who's to say that it can't be what we call a ghost? It's a comforting way to think about death in a non religious way. I spoke words to this effect at my brother in law's funeral for just that reason. Not everyone is religious, but they still grieve their losses just as much.
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Post by pooka on Feb 4, 2017 8:28:35 GMT -5
The universe is such a vast unknown, it boggles the mind. Take every scrap of knowledge we possess up till now & it's just the bare rudiments of what there is to yet learn. If we could throw off the shackles of pagan faiths & petty politics & fighting over wealth & territorial scrabbles, we cold be trekking the far off stars, but for now we are but scrapping animal in the wilderness.
Forgive me for that outburst, but I'm not sorry for the sentiment.
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Post by evangeline on Feb 4, 2017 9:48:12 GMT -5
Pooka, that clip is glorious. Chaplin was such a treasure (I almost said national treasure. Fail!) I hate Facebook but I'll provide a link for my friends to share. We need to take heart.
Nana, I agree that there will be a better understanding of these phenomena through science. I read an article in a reputable source, I think the NYT Magazine, re: how some internationally renowned physicists are so convinced that there are parallel universes (in which multiple versions of ourselves carry out our lives. . . ) that they are afraid to take even simple everyday actions for fear of altering a 'nearby' reality and harming someone. Perhaps the barrier between worlds is a tiny bit porous? Anyway, I can't live my life by mathematics I will never understand. As Elaine once said, (in the English Patient episode): Give me something I can use!
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Post by pooka on Feb 4, 2017 12:03:00 GMT -5
You hit the nail on the head evangeline with that quote from Elaine. Big ideas are not the fodder of the common persons thoughts. They want to be kept fat & entertained. That why they're so easily led by the nose by some with ulterior motives. Often dark motives. Sun Tzu taught as a strategy for dominating a situation, divide-and-conquer. Plus fat & happy people don't revolt until it's too late. I just saw this posted on reddit today. It epitomizes the shallowness of most of the populous. Shower thoughts"With just my phone, I hold in my hands the ability to listen to any song I want, read or write a book, watch a movie, even learn a language, but instead I browse social media looking at memes and accomplishing nothing."We are sheep to be led willingly to slaughter before we realize what's happening. Today, the latest lure is a flickering screen that we can't resist. The big picture is just too much for most to even contemplate wrapping their heads around, so they watch reality TV or some other worthless pursuit. It's an old story. As old as human kind itself. That will never change. We do what we can & wonder if it's ever enough. Hope is all we have. The other side of the coin is oblivion.
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Post by nana on Feb 4, 2017 12:15:16 GMT -5
How eerily sad it is that a speech given as the dictators of WWII were spreading their dark stain over civilization, is still so applicable to our current situation. People say never again, yet they always seem to forget what it was they were swearing to remember.
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Post by dugbug on Feb 4, 2017 14:18:27 GMT -5
evangeline, I'm so happy that you and your husband are pleased with the Chambers! It was a pleasure bringing her up to par. Enjoy it!!
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Post by pooka on Feb 4, 2017 16:30:26 GMT -5
dugbug, you truly are a stove whisperer. You breath new life into old Chambers ranges. You make them better than new. You're one in a million.
Sorry we hijacked this thread into deep waters of the supernatural & gloom & doom. They say history repeats itself, but it's people that do the repeating.
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Post by evangeline on Feb 4, 2017 17:52:58 GMT -5
Well, Dugbug, we can't live without it now. Made steaks last night: dry rub, three minutes per side in the broiler, then finished in a pan w/butter and garlic. Perfect Spouse said: delicious! Finishing the spanish rice and rosemary potatoes tonight. I spent half an hour cleaning her this morning, then I brushed the cat Fox, and then all was right with the world. ;-). Oh, and telling ghost stories to Nana and Pooka. That too.
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Post by dugbug on Feb 5, 2017 15:28:09 GMT -5
dugbug, you truly are a stove whisperer. You breath new life into old Chambers ranges. You make them better than new. You're one in a million. Sorry we hijacked this thread into deep waters of the supernatural & gloom & doom. They say history repeats itself, but it's people that do the repeating. Thanks pooka! Those are very kind words. I strive to improve my methods with each stove that I do. I learn something new each time. Sometimes that knowledge simplifies the process; sometimes it complicates things. Either way, I love discovering the little nuances.
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