The Casserole We All Like

First of all, as I logged in today I noticed that my last post was April 17th! Yes, April 17th, I'm so pathetic! Worse, my last post had no pictures at all, and this will not either, but I promise more are coming soon. The no pictures is due to the fact that our computer suddenly came to a crawling halt a month ago. It was so unbelievably slow, and I would get so frustrated trying to use it. That lasted about a week, and then Shawn in all his computer competency thought that it might be related to the amount of pictures we had on the computer. So he took all our pictures off and put them on an external hard drive and the problem was solved! Yay for smart husbands! The only problem is while I thought that I knew how to get the pictures off the external hard drive, it turns out I don't, and therefore I have not updated my blog in months. Shawn is going to show me how, we both just keep forgetting about it.
So, the reason for the title. I have to share my morning with the world. I woke up bright and early with the tender loving thought of making banana bread for my family. I knew I had to hurry and get it done before the house got too hot to turn the oven on. So I mixed the batter, and poured it into the pans. As I was pouring it I turned on the oven to get it pre-heating, something that cannot be done too soon when you do not have AC. As I opened the oven to put the bread in to back, I was horrified by what I found. There were two of my Pyrex glass baking dishes in the oven, with their lids on, one on top of the other!
Why were two dishes with plastic lids in my oven you may ask? Well, I blame this on 3 things:
3- My Refrigerator is a terrible black hole
2- I'm laziness
1- I'm Absentminded
About a week ago, Shawn and I were having some friends over to watch the US World Cup game (the one that we won). I was making a yummy dessert, and it was one that had to chill in the fridge to set up. Well everyone was on their way and I put the finishing touches on the dessert. When I went to put it in the fridge, what did I find? That the fridge was packed to capacity of course! I had been putting off cleaning it out for weeks now (come on, I know we are all guilty of that from time to time), so there was absolutely no way this dessert was going to fit anywhere to chill. So, I pulled out a couple left overs that I knew were ready to toss, and put the dessert in their place. Then the door bell rang, so instead of being embarrassed by cleaning out my moldy left overs with company over, I opened the oven, and threw them in. That was a week ago, A WEEK! And they were moldy when I put them in! But because it has been so hot, I haven't used my oven in a week, we've been living off ward potluck parties and the grill.
First I was really sad because the lid of the top dish was completely melted. But I noticed that the bottom lid was totally fine, so as fast as I could I pulled the top dish off the bottom one, and the took the lid off so it wouldn't melt. That was a BAD BAD idea. As I lifted the lid, the most horrible smell this earth has ever produced escaped. I mean honestly, there is not anything anywhere ever that could possibly smell worse! Imagine the worse thing you have ever smelled, and triple it, and that doesn't even come close. I instantly grabbed a couple grocery sacks, and spooned the stuff out, and tied the bag. At this point, I knew I was going to throw up, but I was on my way to the trash can outside, so I was praying I could at least make it out there. I threw the stuff in the trash in the garage and ran out to the front lawn where I spent the next 5 minutes puking. Then I came inside and tried calling for Shawn, but my calls were choked by continued gagging, to the point that Shawn came running downstairs in a panic because he thought something was seriously wrong with me. I managed to tell him what was going on (though his nose told him first), and asked if he could finish washing the pan out. He was shocked to find that what he was smelling was only the pan, and what residue was left in it, and the food itself was gone. He lovingly sent me outside to breath while he washed it and almost lost it himself a time or two.
What was this food? Well, it was a casserole that the Hammond family introduced me to. It really is called something like Chili Macaroni, but we call it "The Casserole We All Like". I'm pretty sure as of this morning, that name will have to be changed. I don't think I can ever think about it again, much less eat it. Just reliving this experience while typing this story has caused me to gag enough that I have had to stop and take a break. It was awful, and an experience I would never wish upon anyone. The smell was so strong that even with all the windows open, there was no escaping it, the dog was whimpering in the back yard, and a passing bird or two may have fallen dead from the air. I have never been so grateful to clean out the old tuna fish from the fridge, it smelled like a field of lilacs after a fresh Spring rain. You can only imagine how we all felt as the smell of fresh home made banana bread filled the house. I am forever grateful banana bread!
So, what have I learned? Never under any circumstances put anything in the oven that is not being baked! It's just a bad idea. And to leave you on a happy note, I've included the picture of my melted Pyrex lid, the only other casualty of the morning besides my pride and my stomach.