TheBanyanTree: Pioneering (long)

[Indiglow]

The day before yesterday, (well, Monday - doing it doesn't leave a lot of time for writing about it.) I used the "self-clean cycle on the oven.  I grew up with gas ranges, rather than electric, so this was a first for me.  I knew I had to wipe out the oven on Tuesday, but was struggling to reach around the door and get my big hands under the element.  Deb came over and said there should be a hinge or something where the element will either lift up or will come out.  She jiggled the element.  There was a spark, and poof - we blew a circuit.  I went and reset the breaker.  The toaster and fryer came back (on the circuit) but we could not get the stove/oven to come back on.  Figured it was fried.
  Our financial situation is day to day - even though Bob makes decent money.  He's also supporting two households, primarily.  With what Deb and Erik make, we do okay if nothing surprising happens.  Well, she worked a lot of overtime last month, which was the month she needed to re-file paperwork for food-stamps, so she did not get that benefit.  Sorta used up the extra overtime income making up for the deficit in grocery money.  I figured there was no way we could repair or replace the stove before the 21sr, which is the only payday not already ear-marked for mortgage payment or apartment payment,  
  On Monday, while I was doing the oven, Deborah went to the food bank.  They commented that they hadn't seen her in awhile and she told them she'd not gone in last month because she'd worked extra hours and figured there were people who needed it worse.  The woman was grateful.  I think she may have heaped the cart a bit.  Still, Deb came home with fewer bags than sometimes, as she did her own "redistribution" in the parking lot.  
  The way they do it at this food bank, is you take your own bags (reusable, of course) to carry home and the food bank workers roll out a cart filled with your allotment.  Obviously, with two kids and hubby, Deb gets more than some people.  They ask the people to leave in the cart anything they won't use.  I would leave things like canned beef stew, but Daniel will eat it, and while they earn enough that they don't qualify for any assistance, they are desperately trying to save for closing costs on a home before the tax credit disappears, so she earmarked some things to share with them.  In the parking lot, she saw a distressed woman, who was saying, "Oi, no hay pan!"  Mustering her pidgen Spanish, Deb managed to ask if she needed bread.  The woman wanted whole wheat, and the only thing Deborah was given that was whole wheat was a package of English Muffins.  She grinned when she came home and said, "Sorry, Mom, I gave away your muffins."  We
 both
laughed.  I can (and have) made them from scratch if I want them.  (Well, assuming I have a working oven.)  Another woman saw her giving food away and approached.  She was missing beans.  Deb gave her the dried beans.  (We do use them, and they don't spoil.) But, she knew we have plenty to last the month or more in the cupboard.  I think she also redistributed some canned fruits etc.
  At any rate, since I was planning on the oven cleaning, she didn't want the kids around the house, so she came home from the food bank, dropped off the food for me to put away before starting the self-clean, and went over to meet Erik at Jupe's so the kids had some Grandpa time.
So, here we are, Monday evening, the rest of the family at Jupes.  One of the guys that hangs around belongs to a group called Gleaners, and often brings odd items to Jupe, who also redistributes depending on what the friend brings.  Sorta like the food-bank and a box of chocolates - ya never know what you're gonna get.
  I was already in the sitting room, watching "Dancing with the Stars" when they got home - carrying in a lug of produce, then going back to the van for more.  I figured one day wouldn't make that much difference, and I'd deal with it after cleaning the oven in the morning,.
  Okay, no stove, no oven.  Took stock of what was available to do for dinner for family.  We have a microwave, tiny toaster oven, crock-pots - all perfectly fine for preparing a meal if you can go out and buy whatever you want to prepare by those methods, but we try to eat what we have.  I also have a woodstove in my sitting room, but am not strong enough to chop wood small enough to fit in it.  We also have a set of cast-iron cookware for the event that we ever lose power.  The big fireplace needs a liner, so is not up to code, and we don;t have the funds at the moment to do that.  I told Erik I knew he'd be too done to chop wood (he leaves for work before 6a.m. and after picking kids up from sitter, doesn't get home until nearly 6p,m, - when we typicaly eat dinner, and then it's time to start getting the kids ready for bed.  Probably a bit after 8:30ish before they get settled in.  They are also still young enough that it doesn't necessarily
mean they are down for the night.  Mommy and Daddy still get morning bedroom raids in the wee hours.  I suggested he stop and see if the Outlet had firelogs (they sometimes do) which will fit in the stove and I could manage.
  So, unable to deal with the produce at the moment, I did what any pioneer would do.  I went shopping.  Well, thrift store shopping.  I figured if I could find an electric skillet for cheap, I'd have all the bases covered to cook whatever with a bit of creativity.  
  I found the skillet, and also a nearly brand new winter coat in my size that I couldn't pass up for $5.95.  I mean really, do Californians come equipped with winter coats unless they're into skiing or some such?  By the time I got home, it was getting late, so I dumped - you guessed it - the canned beef stew into the skillet, and wrapped some pre-baked biscuits I'd frozen in foil and put them in the toaster oven.
tbc
Jana