I'm Dreaming of a Hot Christmas

For the past few years, Christmas has brought more than its fair share of surprises ... financial ones, that is. You can pretty much guarantee that something will happen that will involve forking out several hundred pounds at a point when you really can't afford to.

As I have just been paid, I was planning to hold back on buying stuff for myself and use this money for purchasing the majority of this year's presents. No such luck!

Whilst cooking tonight's dinner, the nine-year-old hob decided to cook more than just the contents of the pan and tried heating the worktop, too. Personally, I'm not into flame-grilled pasta, so opted to douse the unit in cold water (after switching it off of course!), and placed a large pan of cold water on it to help take the heat away.


Ooh, déja vu moment there just reading over this first bit ... weird!

Anyway, I don't suppose you can see it in this pic, but there is a nice puddle of water surrounding the heating element to try and cool the base down. Seemed to work, which was just as well, as I hadn't really planned on inviting the local fire department round for a charcoal party.

So, a new hob is in order. However, as is usual with my "gotta get the best" head, a short conversation with my Mum convinced me that an induction hob is the way to go, for a variety of reasons, i.e. faster heat-up times, cool to touch and more energy efficient. Well, I'm sold on it!

I am now convinced that I have to have a Neff hob, specifically the T4543! The trouble is, this costs between £650 and £750, depending on where you buy it from!

*GULP*

This has, of course, led me on to thinking about perhaps buying a proper oven whilst I am at it, i.e. the Neff B1564: Series 5 oven which, I believe, is roughly the same price as the hob unit.

The whole kitchen only cost £800 to fit and now here I am looking at appliances costing nearly twice as much!! Perhaps I should get the whole kitchen re-fitted whilst I am at it...

There's just one thing bugging me ... this has come earlier than normal, so does that mean there is going to be a second hit over the next month or so?

I hope not!
* * * * *
Browsing my phone today, it seems that I didn't quite remember everything that happened on Saturday night, as I have a series of photos and videos on it that I had totally forgotten taking!

Here are a couple of the better ones:

Julie Noted and Franc Le Orrful prepare for battle!

Cover me, I'm going in!

Well, James Bond's job is safe! I think I'll save the video until those in it are okay with me releasing it!!

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