Ed

Exquisite Timing

I was pretty sure this was a no-nuts recipe, but there it was on the baking sheet as I took out today's second batch of shortbread: a lone hex nut with a sheared-off piece of bolt inside it.

"If the recipe didn't call for nuts", I reasoned, "I wouldn't have put in nuts". Besides, I usually prefer pecans. So where did this nut come from and why didn't I notice it on the baking sheet when I put it into the oven? I resolved not to rest until I had figured out this fiendish puzzle--or until I got tired, whichever came first.

Have you solved the mystery, dear reader? You might, once I give you one final clue: I need to spend most of tomorrow and Saturday baking a wedding cake, so this would be a most inauspicious time for the oven to break. Yep, it's the oven. There are two bolts holding the back panel in place, and both sheared off.

Fortunately, the oven still works: I have 8 dishes of creme brulee in there right now. And even more fortunately, Mike at Miele was able to find the parts and thinks I can replace them myself. They're sending me the parts at no charge, even though the oven is well past warranty. That's a huge savings over a service call.