A slippery slope

Purim is a funny time on my personal Jewish calendar.  It's my favorite holiday, hands down, but with it comes a sense of foreboding---Pesach is right around the corner, and then, for all intents and purposes, it's time for camp.  And as soon as we get home from camp this year, G-d willing, we're making a Bar Mitzvah for my oldest son.  So, my friends...let the games begin!

To start off the "Purim season," such as it is, I baked my first batch of hamantashen last night.  (I also determined that if you use a piece of parchment paper that's much bigger than your cookie sheet, IT WILL CATCH ON FIRE.  Just in case you were wondering.)  I baked my second batch today.  And then my oven blew up.  Ok, I think the element died.  But there was a loud popping noise and a flash of greenish light, and for a minute I thought the cookies and I were done for.  Happily, we're all in one piece, but Batch Number Three is going to have to wait.