How NOT to cook Au Gratin Potatoes

It's been a busy summer...but Labor Day was Monday, so we are now home again, trying to organize and sort all of the stuff we've had in the car, the truck, at the lake, etc for the summer. After Labor Day means real food, real cooking.......so....

Tonight, I thought grilled ham, au gratin potatoes (yes, from the box) and salad would be a lovely dinner. I preheated the oven, boiled the water, measured out the milk and butter, mixed the water, butter, milk and cheese sauce and stirred in the dried potatoe slices and waited for the oven to preheat.

All of a sudden, I smelled this awful smell......and went into the kitchen to see a glow in my oven door. I know the light bulb has burned out....it was a french fry, fully engulfed in flames. I turned off the oven, grabbed the baking soda, opened the door and tossed in a few handfuls. Fire went right out. Kitchen was a bit stinky.

What to do now? Oh, look, there are microwave directions on the box of potatoes. It says to not put the milk in (2/3 cup) til the water, cheese, butter and potatoes have cooked for 15 minutes. I dumped it all in a larger dish and popped it in the microwave. 2/3 cup milk can't make that much of a difference, right?

Well, after wiping the baking soda out of the oven and cleaning up milk/butter/cheese/water from the plate in the microwave, I think I would have been better off ordering pizza......