My stupid oven!

OK, so I have a dumb oven.
What does that mean exactly?
I'm not going to drone on and on about the background of my oven woes; but, I'll give you the short version.

I actually have two ovens -- one American sized oven and one Filipino sized oven (small).
We bought all the appliances that were in the house when we rented it.

Sidebar: In the Philippines, you have to buy your own appliances when you rent a place. The owner doesn't usually provide anything. Renting in the Philippines is another blog... or fifty blogs!

ANYWAY......

We moved this summer to another house closer to the school -- I love it and it's so convenient!

But, this house, and the country for that matter, use 220 volts of power. If you don't know, the United States uses 110 volts.

Well, I thought my American sized oven was 220 volts because it was bought here.
No can do!
It's 110 volts, so I haven't been able to use it yet.
I'm trying to get 110 into the house or some solution to use my nice sized oven again; but that is happening very slowly.

ONE POSSIBLE PROBLEM:
The day we moved in, I plugged the oven into the 220 when I didn't know my oven was 110 and I smelled burning --- so I'm not sure if I fried it.
If we rewire the house, it still might be shot because I fried it, so...

We looked for an oven yesterday and I found one I love!
It's beautiful and I even think I dreamed about it last night.
I say "I think" because I slept so terrible last night, I'm not sure if I was sleeping or just
dreaming about it as I lay in bed waiting for sleep.

Why can't I use my Filipino sized oven?
Well, I can and I have been using it but it's really small, so it doesn't fit every pan that I have.
And it doesn't work properly -- when you open up the door, the flame blows out, so you always have to restart the flame.

Which leads to the next problem with it: It doesn't keep consistent heat -- there's no reason to have a gauge to set the temperature because the oven heats at whatever temperature it wants to anyway. It has a possessed mind of its own.

There is no guarantee anything will come out properly when cooked because it's so temperamental.

See my problem!

We used to be able to make the yummiest breads (in my big oven) and now they just taste tasteless (in the small oven) -- the texture is blah, and the shape is narly. Downright nasty! And I wanted to really start making killer breads, so now I'm disappointed & frustrated.

I even began to question my cooking & baking skills, which I have always considered myself a better than average cook. Oh dear!

I was so flabberghasted this last week that I even considered making a clay oven outside. I googled it and printed off a "recipe" to make my own clay oven.
All you need is sand, water and hay or rice hulls. I can get all that stuff!
So we're going to start on the plans this week. Sorta cool & very "green."

Actually, my husband is so keen on the idea he wants to use it as a possible livelihood project for Filipinos. He could teach them to make clay ovens and they could sell them for income.
One of our ministries to the Filipinos is teaching livelihood projects, so it fits.

The thing is that the average Filipino doesn't use an oven, so we would need to access the need and evaluate whether they could make money from it.
Rich Filipinos use ovens and so do expats and missionaries, so they might appreciate a clay baked pizza or hearth breads made in their own clay oven.
Svveet!!

So, lesson to be learned from my frustration: God works things out and may have revealed a new way for Filipinos to make money from the nature that surrounds us so bountifully.


To the journey,
just julie