Do you remember when my mom and dad were on a road trip and wanted to find my mom’s old childhood house, and we all squinted at an old picture trying to figure out what the house number was? Well, there’s an update on that post, because my mom found some old postcards that had the address on it. We still don’t know what the OTHER number on the house is, or why there ARE two numbers—but I see two mailboxes, so maybe it was a multi-family unit, or maybe it was a rental and one box was for the landlord, or maybe one mailbox was for the newspaper and the other number was a word and not a number, or maybe there was a re-numbering of houses and the old number hadn’t been taken down yet, or maybe there was some other system in place that isn’t familiar to us 60 years later, or ANYWAY AT LEAST WE HAVE ONE NUMBER. And seven people in the comments section were right about it!
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Our microwave broke, which completely surprised us because that has never happened before. And just like when the power goes out and I keep thinking the downtime would be a great time to get caught up on email, I keep finding myself bumping up against the no-microwave issue in a way that makes me feel repeatedly derpy.
I’m accustomed to making a pot of coffee, taking a cup, turning the coffee pot off, and then microwaving cups of cold coffee throughout the day or even the next morning. This morning I got out a mug, put milk and cold coffee into it, walked toward the microwave—and then stood there trying to figure out why this idea no working.
Also, I’ve been cooking more new stuff, and with new stuff comes more leftovers, and this week we have an unprecedented number of them. Paul and I had no fewer than FOUR conversations yesterday evening about how he was going to heat up some leftover lasagna to eat when (1) there was no microwave and (2) I was using both oven shelves for the children’s fish-sticks-and-star-tots dinner. We just could NOT figure it out. He was going to have to…WAIT? and then WAIT MORE? instead of just putting it in the microwave for two minutes?
Our microwave broke like a year and a half ago and I couldn’t bring myself to get a new one since we were going to be moving. I recommend steaming to reheat things – wrap in foil as needed and place in steamer basket. Surprisingly fast! And yes, somewhat annoying :p
If you have a vegetable steamer, you can re-heat food on the stove in a way that gets very similar results to a microwave: Put an inch or so of water into a big pot with the vegetable steamer. Put your food on a plate or bowl that will fit in the steamer. Cover the pot and heat until the water’s boiling, and let the food steam for a minute or two until it’s hot.
You could also probably use a double-boiler setup and just put the food straight into the top pan.
When I was 17 I went to stay with my aunt in Poland for a few months and she didn’t have a microwave, so I learned the vegetable-steamer trick from her.
My SIL doesn’t have a microwave. Well, she has one but it is stored away because she doesn’t use it. I cannot imagine not having one/using one. Then again, they don’t do leftovers in her family because her kids and husband refuse to eat them, so all uneaten food gets thrown away, DAILY. I cannot imagine that either!!
With all these new recipes you’ve been trying- any good ones to share?
And WTH does “derping” mean? I’ve never heard the word before!
Swistle – I love you. Love your site.
Leeann- “Derp” is relatively new to me, too; I got it from the kids! It seems like a derivative of “duh,” but cuter. So for example, a Pretty Pony that’s trotting around all dim and silly with slightly-crossed eyes is a “derpy-hooves.” If you had a photo of a cat caught with a very silly/stupid expression on his face as he slipped on a banana peel, you could label it “DERP.” Me standing in front of my broken microwave with my cup of coffee, looking like I can’t figure out what’s going on or what to do next, could also be labeled “DERP.”
No particularly compelling recipes yet. A good lasagna (but most people already have a lasagna recipe), a good spaghetti (ditto), etc.
Ah! Yes, life is possible without microwaves… but it takes TOO. LONG. I also can’t believe that I once lived without a dishwasher. How is that even possible???
We have had 2 microwaves die in the past 3 years (they have a one year warranty! HAHAAAAA….NOT!) and each time, we’ve struggled. I had no idea how much we rely on the microwave until we didn’t have one. Thawing foods? You have to PLAN AHEAD! We tried using our son’s no-longer-used small college microwave. That worked for some things, sort of, but most definitely not thawing (unless you have 3 hours free to monitor the thawing process) or popcorn (unless you want a portion of the bag popped and many of those burned). I most definitely rank the microwave as one of the most necessary appliances in the house. Who knew?!
Just so you know: A derp is a simple, undefined reply when an ignorant comment or action is made. Brought to life in the South Park series, when Mr. Derp made a guest apperance at South Park Elementary as the chef for a day, followed by hitting himself in the head with a hammer and exclaiming “Derp!” Thanks urban dictionary for keeping all us moms hip and cool. Right :)
Our microwave died suddenly and dramatically (hello small fire!). We lasted about two days before replacing it. Life is too short to make the kiddo’s daily oatmeal on the stove, it seems.
If our microwave died, I have little doubt that my husband or I would be immediately driving to the store to replace it because I am not sure I couldn’t function properly without one for any span of time.
We make two big meals on the weekends and then the family lives on leftovers M-F. It’s critical to have them heated and ready within mere moments of walking the door after work three days a week due to the kids’ sports schedules. The microwave saves dinner regularly. I guess we could eat sandwiches? Evidently even the thought of trying to figure out how to manage without a microwave is beyond me ;-)
I make coffee and then keep it in a thermos to keep it warm. Low tech but effective!
I haven’t had a microwave in years. We just put leftovers in a non stick skillet that has been sprayed with olive oil spray and put a lid on it. If the leftovers seem dry, I’ll sprinkle some water on them. I think it tastes better.
I have nothing to comment about the post but I thought you would appreciate the fact that I was in the middle of a smallish meeting when I got the email you had posted and, sitting RIGHT ACROSS from my boss, I clicked over to your site on my phone. Self, I said, you CANNOT read Swistle on work time. And I BARELY managed to make myself put it away. I wonder what we’d call it if I got fired for reading Swistle during work hours?
I don’t cook, and rarely do I re-heat anything in the microwave, but if mine died it would need to be replaced ASAP because how else would I get my popcorn!!!!
I would not handle it well if something happened to our microwave. Mostly, though, I had to comment because last night WE had fish sticks and star tots for dinner (the toddler loves it). WEIRD!
When we moved into our current house two years ago, we realized after a few days there was no microwave over the stove. And there wasn’t really a place on the counter for one, so we went without for a little while.
And then a little while turned into two years, and we’ve been so long without that we don’t even think about it anymore.
Just re-read this post and the word “Derp” made me laugh so hard for some reason. derp, derp, derp.
Hope your microwave is fixed by now (truly, how does one function?).