Alleluia!!!

I have an oven...one that works!!! That is worthy of a big "Alleluia"!!! I had to get that out of my system before Ash Wednesday. For those wondering why I am so excited to have an oven that finally works...Well, I have been without a functional oven since October 1st, 2008. Yes...almost 5 months. It was a nice Fall day in October, Sean and I met our dear friends Sarah & Chad Erwin along the Lakeshore, and visited a few wineries and apple orchards where we bought some yummy apples. In addition I bought a couple apple pie/crisp mixes and was so excited to make some fresh apple pie and apple crisp for my well deserving husband. (I'm not as skilled as my mother, making an apple pie from scratch is not in my vocabulary) With much disappointment, we discovered our start/stop button was no longer functioning on the electronic panel. It couldn't have been the clock or the timer, of course not! So where does the 5 month wait come into play you ask??? Well, it just so happens that the part we needed was on back order, indefinitely! Yes, no date in the near future. Thanksgiving arrived, no way to bake a pumpkin pie cheesecake, Christmas arrived, no need to attempt baking Christmas cookies, and try hosting a holiday party without an oven!!!! Let's just say lots of crock potting and frozen pizzas cut in 1/2 so we could bake 1/2 at a time in our toaster oven. (Thanks to Bryan and Kate for that idea!) They house sat for us one weekend only to discover the dysfunctional oven and were the idea behind the "1/2 pizza at a time".
So what's on the menu for our first night with a working oven??? Lasagna and garlic bread, yummy! I can't have my oven back and not bake something so I am baking my first two loaves of banana bread from scratch! I'm practicing, although I will never be as good of a cook or baker as my mother is. Ask my husband!