This is more than just a food story, but it all revolves around that, so it is there that I will begin.
I was preparing foods for an upcoming gathering when an electric oven in my dual fuel range unexpectedly shut off. We've had a heat wave, and it's not uncommon when that happens for a power company service spike to occur, which can cause a circuit breaker to trip.
I looked at my microwave oven clock, which was still on, so I knew that we hadn't lost all power. Good sign.
Then I went outside to my electrical panel. The range fuse toggle was in the ON position, but sometimes breakers don't fully retract, so I switched it off and back on again, then went back inside to see that the oven electric clock was flashing.
That's a good sign, I thought.
I turned the oven back on. The Power On light stayed off. The fan didn't automatically start like it should.
"That's a bad sign," I sighed.
After checking everything else out, I isolated the problem to the two electric ovens only. Everything else on the appliance, even the electric broiler, worked fine. That probably meant that a power supply within the appliance had experienced a partial or complete failure, depending on its configuration.
Now, I've got other appliances that I can use to get by with for many things until I or a service person could repair it. As for the pie crust I was baking? That wasn't going to happen.
I realized that I had three problems to deal with here, overshadowed by that fact that tomorrow was a major national holiday, which meant that many businesses would be closed, and repair and/or parts would be delayed.
I broke down the issues. The primary one for me was determining if oven parts were, indeed, available. I called the number on my 2009 oven brochure.
It's common for a business to initially route you through an automated system that may or may not try to answer your questions before routing you to a human. In this case, the system was extolling opportunities to win cash by playing games or such by selecting the appropriate number.
None of that sounded like any appliance company I'd interfaced with, but right before I could hang up, a human came on the line with a come-on.
"Pardon me, but it this the number for AGA customer service?" I asked.
The line went dead. Apparently not any more.
I then did a browser search, and came up a business that apparently reps all of AGA sales and services in the US. I was still within their posted business hours and called. I got a message that they were closed for the national holiday. As in tomorrow's national holiday.
I found another number for AGA and dialed it. While waiting for a connection, I noted that the number on screen did not match the number dialed. Having just experienced scam-line, I hung up.
No problem, I told myself. I've got this.
I did another browser search for a local company that serviced AGA ranges. The first three didn't list AGA on their site, but I called anyway. All had never heard of hte brand.
The forth one did list AGA, and could send a serviceman in six days for $100. However, they repeated twice that, unlike any other service provider we'd dealt with, that money would not be applied to the actual work if we proceeded with them.
With the difficulty of finding any useful information, I booked the appointment.
Problem two was whether parts were even available. That was clearly pushed downstream by the inability to get information, as noted above. I did review a schematic I found online, but it was only for the wiring within the range, and did not show the power supply.
Which left problem number three: my need for a baked pie crust. The one that had been baking for my very wonderful and specifically requested peach pie was a goner. I reached out to neighbors and friends, hoping that I could use their ovens. Of the six I tried, only one was available. She said it would be no problem, and to use the key I had for her place, as she was at work.
I gathered my stuff, drove the twenty minutes to her place, and made my dough. In the oven it went and baked while I caught up with the world on my smartphone.
When my timer went off, I popped open the oven door to find...goo. Bubbling, oatmeal-looking goo.
I'd used this gluten free baking flour before, and never got goo.
What the heck?!
I had smelled it before use. All was fine. Then I looked at the used by date. It was fifteen months ago. Despite being stored properly, I could only guess that it had lost its reactiveness.
I had to leave her place soon, and had no time to get fresh ingredients. I thought of all the little children's sad faces, including the adults who were very child-like inside, saddened because Uncle Bobby had failed them.
Right before I arrived home, the solution presented itself to me. Peach pie filling over vanilla ice cream. Perfect!
I took out a large dish, then spread the sweetened cream cheese that normally went on the crust along its base. Next was making the filling, which is incredibly simple.
I peeled the peaches, leaving some tiny remnants of skin so the finished product had a rustic look to it. Six cups of solid slices went into one bowl, while a cup of mushier pieces and remnants surrounding the pits went into another. The latter went into a blender with tangerine juice, cornstarch and sugar, where it was whipped.
The blend went into a pot, where it simmered while being stirred into a lovely glaze. Lemon juice was added, followed by the nice-sized peach slices.
Voila! I had a pseudo-compote for people to scoop over ice cream. The world would not fall off of its axis. No sad faces. Just the flavors that complimented a loving gathering, filled with memories and laughter.
PS
Just before I left for the party, I tried the ovens again. No luck. Then I reset the electric range clock time. Now the ovens worked. The schematic doesn't show any obvious means by which one would affect the other.
😕
I'm going to enjoy my peach dessert now, thank you.😋
This tale has been brought to bobbyb, in association with peachy goodness, the flavors of summer, and Creative Work Hour. Any implied connection to people and places that do not love making good food for people is an aberration.