Smoke Signals

This afternoon I decided to make chicken tacos for dinner (recipe to follow).  They are so yummy, easy, and we all love them so I thought this would be a perfect meal for a Friday night.  I turn on the oven to 350 degrees and go have a seat on the couch to prop my foot up because my ankle is still hurting.  A few minutes later (like 8-10) the beeper goes off that signals that the oven is ready.  As I continue to sit on the couch I get a whiff of smoke that signals my brain that something is very wrong.  I don't clean my oven often (confession #4,687) and so I thought it might have just been something that dripped from the last time I cooked something there.  As I go to open the door, a plume of black smoke rolls out of the oven.  I quickly close the door and panic.  Panic is what is what I do best and so panic I did.  My brain raced and I decided to call Big Grasshopper.  Why I didn't call 911 with the thought of my oven being on fire is beyond me but  I called Big Grasshopper. 

Me:  I think the oven is on fire!
BG:  What did you do?
Me:  I didn't do anything!
BG:  Do you know the oven is on fire?
Me:  No....but there is smoke coming out when I open the door.
BG:  Did you turn the oven off?
Me:  Good idea!
BG:  Pour some water on it!
Me:  That will ruin the oven.  How about the fire extinguisher?
BG:  Um...if water will ruin it, so will the fire extinguisher...I have to go...your my Little Grasshopper figure it out.

OK....so now I am on my own.  I open up the oven door again and let the smoke billow out to find that one of my lovely little ones has put the pizza cutter with the rubber handle on one of the racks along with something else that I still cannot figure out.  I get a potholder and pull out the pizza cutter that is melting and the other thing and throw them on the counter.  Then I try to figure out what to do.

BG:  Yes.
Me:  It was one of the girls.
BG:  I am busy.
Me:  Yes, but our house almost blew up.  Do you care?
BG:  Do you have it under control?
Me:  Yes. 
BG:  I am busy being king of the book world, I am smart, funny, and everyone needs my intellectual abilities.  Gotta go!

OK...so maybe I made up what BG said about himself...but I was on my own again....trying to figure out how to get the black gunk off of my oven.  After consulting Face Book Friends and my father-in-law (who is was a volunteer fireman...I thought I might need help in case I tried to blow up the house) I decided to try to scrape off the rubber that adhered itself to the bottom of my oven.  I don't know if it was a God thing, Kristin thing, or something else but the rubber actually came off in one big chunk.  Amazing.

Now if I can just get the self cleaning oven clean (that doesn't self clean anymore...that is another post for another day), we will be back in business.

UGH!  Smoke Signals!