Too much cooking?

I can't believe I'm sharing this, I can't believe I'm sharing this, I can't believe I'm sharing this.

The beauty of sharing my kitchen adventures this way is that I get to pick exactly what you see.  I don't take a picture of my cabinets if they get too cluttered nor do I share my complete disasters in the kitchen (however, I'm planning on sharing quite a few flops soon).  But I just feel like I have to be honest because a.) maybe you have no idea what's under your burners either or b.) you don't know how easy it is to fix.  I am fully aware that I am running a huge risk here.  Not only am I "airing my dirty laundry", you could also be fully aware of how easy this is to fix and think I am a lunatic.  Well, anyway I got over it and I am sharing this anyway because I am also in shock that this could even happen.

So apparently the metal plates under my burners have literally disintegrated!   Who knew!  I mean I could definitely tell they were dirty and I have had intentions for way too long of taking care of this mess, but I wanted to totally replace these rather than just cover them with foil.  Like most things, I was procrastinating because I thought this was a big hassle.  I was imagining I would have to track down the company who made this oven (probably some time in the 60's) and order replacements.  Well, I was very very wrong.  We have a great little hardware store in our neighborhood and I happened to be perusing one day and saw that they carried a whole wall-full of replacement plates.  It seems that they are almost all universal and really easy to use.  So I went ahead and brought my decrepit plates so I would get the right sizes.  The best part is all sizes were under $5.00.  A cheap, much needed renovation.  Oh, and as I was checking out, I got quite the shocked response for the store clerks and they were looking at me with a mix of ewww... how ignorant are you  and cool I didn't even think that was possible.

So this is just a friendly reminder that if you haven't peaked under your burners in a while, it might be time.

the burner... looks somewhat innocent right? right?

A side burner, which was at least not disintegrating, but in desperate need of a change.

Ahhhhhh, so much better.

Also, I am very aware that some people cover these plates in foil so that is a great option if you want to extend the plates even longer.  However, for a couple of bucks, I might just treat this little kitchen to a fresh pair every year.