A new job and a new oven.....

This past weekend was monumental... I finally got a new oven. And it is a purty one.... It has a hidden bake element so hopefully spills will be easier to clean out of the bottom of the oven. Not that I ever spill anything in my oven. I wish I had taken a picture of the inside of my old oven- it was embarrassing how much food spillage had happened in there. My new oven also has a convection feature. And the cook-top is ceramic. I really wanted a flat top stove after having to deal with coils for the past few years, but I have recently heard mixed reviews from others about the ceramic flat tops. So the jury is still out on what I think of the stove.

And the drum roll...... Here is a picture of the new oven.

And since I was spending so much money I figured I might as well go for broke.... So I got a new dishwasher as well. I did not end up getting the same brand of dishwasher as I did oven, but I am very happy with it. My new dishwasher is super quiet, allows me to run a half rack load and has a stainless steel interior. I had never heard of the Bosch brand before I went shopping, but I heard universal praise about the brand. And I must say so far I agree.

I used my new oven for the first time the other night and I am glad I broke it in on a casserole I made before making cookies. I never knew that the first time you use a new oven it can produce a strong "chemical/burning smell". And oh boy did it smell. So it would not have been a good idea to bake up some yummy cookies because you would have never been able to enjoy the smell of deliciousness baking.

So tonight, I decided to give the oven another whirl and baked up a recipe I found on Pinterest. I made the "Cherry Chocolate Cookies" by The Curvy Carrot.

I must admit this cookie dough smelled divine as I was mixing it up. And as I was chopping up the cherries I kept eating them. Just an FYI- this cookie dough is more of a shortbread dough as it does not use any rising agents and bakes at a lower temperature. The cookies appeared a little dry as I pressed the chocolate kisses into them, but they were perfectly delicious.

Here is a quick snapshot of the dough- I love the pale pink color and pop of red from the cherries.

Here are a few cookies from the first batch from the oven. The cookies were just as beautiful as promised. The faint hint of almond and pop of cherry flavor is delicious and the chocolate is the prefect finishing flavor in your mouth. So pop on over to The Curvy Carrot to try out this recipe for yourself.

I plan on doing some more baking in the next couple of weeks and really need to get started on my Christmas shopping soon.

Smiles,

Marci