Let's get cooking!

Here's the deal. I bought a house in February. It's a real fixer-upper and I love it. There's some fairly basic needs things that are missing, though. One is the ability to really cook, because there is no stove. So, for my birthday I'm asking for folks to chip in towards a stove. I can get a basic range for about 5-600$. I need it installed professionally. Why? Finicky gas connection. I also need TWO other stoves removed. Why? Here's the back story.

When I moved in, there was an existing stove in the kitchen. I was told it worked. Friends, not only did it not work, it was rusted solid to the gas lines existing in the house, and parts were falling off. OK, so I had a friend disconnect it and help me move it to the carport. Then, a few monthas ago, someone I knew offered me a stove from a rental he was managing. It looked good. He brought it and we tried to install it (granted this person has installed many stoves and this should have been no issue.) Even though installed correctly, the connection had an issue and leaked gas, set off alarms, etc. I turned off the gas again, evacuated and the gas company came and connected it correctly to stop the leak. We plugged it in, got it set up and...an error code. Fine, I agreed to call a technician to get it sorted. Technician was called and guess what? The error code is a control panel issue and the part would have cost twice as much as a new stove, if I could even find it. Argh!

That stove was also moved to the carport, thanks to friends with a dolly. So now, yes, I have two unusable ranges in my carport, and no useable one in the house. Consider also that I bought parts to connect the past stove, and got a tech to help me, only to find out the issue was unfixable.

I have a small toaster over and have gotten quite good at using it. You're seen what I have produced from it, through considerable effort. Honestly I should write a cookbook on how to use it, I'm so good at it at this point. But, it seriously limits the amount I can roast or bake at once. And all the soups, sauces, pastas, etc. that so many enjoy me posting are out of range (haha, a pun).

If you don't want to donate, definitely don't! But if you do, here's a way. I'm really good at 'making do' with limited food supply and very low income, but that's with the proper tools. This is a way to help me attain one of those tools.

Plus, if you come visit, I'll be able to really cook for you. And food and hospitality are love languages for me.

If for some incredible reason this raises more than the amount being asked for, the remainder will go to bills. Of which there are many.

pics: me! Stuff I can cook and bake when I have a stove and an oven! The wall where the stove will go when I have it! The old stoves!