Parting with appliances

Today I said goodbye to two appliances; the dishwasher, that I hated, and the waffle maker, that I loved.

The waffle maker was a wedding gift (wish I could remember who gave it to us) and back when we were newlyweds we would get up on the weekends and make waffles together from a recipe my mom gave us that includes club soda. The waffle maker got put away for a few years, then pulled back out again as my kids grew and waffles became the Breakfast Choice in our house. My daughter has been making waffles on her own for years. All with this same 16 1/2 year old waffle maker.

Lately, the waffle maker has been behaving like the dishwasher. Which is to say, sporadically. The last few times I've tried to make waffles I got more "waffle piles" than waffles out of it and today I had to give up and make pancakes with the batter.

Still, it sat on the counter for a few hours before I could make myself throw it out. Is it wrong to love a waffle maker? I don't care. My daughter has already moved on. She's requesting a new waffle maker with a "cool shape." The young can be so cruel.

Luckily, I have a new dishwasher to make me forget my appliance grief. It's stainless and big and shiny and I'm chomping at the bit to dirty up some dishes.