A Simple Kitchen Tool Not So Simple To Find Here

Those of who have seen my apartment know that it is nice, but not the newest one on the block. Continuing in that motif is my oven, which instead of having the actual temperature listed, has numbers 1-9. The other day I was invited for dinner and told them that I would bring dessert. I thought that I would bake something until I realized that I had no idea how hot my oven was. “I’ll just buy an oven thermometer” I thought to myself. Little did I know how hard a task it turned out to be.

In the states one can buy an oven thermometer in any number of stores including the supermarket, a kitchen store or something of the like. I started off my day of errands on Friday with the best of intentions. I looked for a thermometer in the open air market where there were numerous stores selling Tupperware, can openers and silverware. “Do you have an oven thermometer?” I asked with my nicest smile. “What? No, I don’t carry anything like that,” was the reply. When I asked where I could find one, someone said “maybe try a specialty chef store.” I walked down another street with one house-goods store after another and got the same response. I went into hardware stores, home-depot like stores and even stores that sold ovens in the hopes that someone would have this item. Not only did no one have it, but I kept getting looks like I was crazy.

Finally after 2 hours of searching I went into this random store on a whim. The owner said that he didn’t have it, but that one of his suppliers did. He made a phone call and said “ok, so he has one in stock but it is only in Fahrenheit and it is 140 shekels (roughly $30). I politely smiled and left.

How can a country that is on the cutting edge of technology not carry oven thermometers? Unbelievable! I promptly called my parents to explain my predicament. They went to target, found a thermometer with both Celsius and Fahrenheit on it and are now sending it my way. Thanks guys!

Now its time to tackle that poppy seed cake I have been afraid to make….