Spent my birthday evening mowing the lawn and running the dishwasher, and had good all-beef hot dogs for dinner.
Every single one of them made easier by electricity. The quiet little lawnmower runs batteries and is so quiet that it's not unneighborly to run right through 'til you run out of twilight. Having grown up doing the dishes with my siblings most night, a modern dishwasher remains one of the great wonders of the kitchen to me. And the hot dogs....
There's a little toaster-like gadget that holds two frankfurters and two buns. Drop 'em in, push the lever and in a few minutes, there's dinner! In practice, you're better off setting it so the dogs can run about half as long as needed, and then add the buns at the halfway point, but even at that, it's quite the countertop marvel. I had my dogs with horseradish, ketchup, a little pickled ginger and long, skinny, medium-heat Spanish pickled peppers, a combination that's not for everyone but it was better than you might think.
Oh, these modern wonders! I think we take them too much for granted.
BUILDING A 1:1 BALUN
4 years ago
4 comments:
I would have one of those hot dog toasters, but my wife insists that hot dogs must be grilled. On a grill, preferably charcoal. She settles for propane or even (in the winter) pretending that our panini griddle is a grill and "grilling" them on the stove. The key, you see, is that the dogs must have grill marks on them.
Sigh.
I'll eat them boiled, broiled, grilled, dog onna stick over a campfire, shoot, I don't care. But she's picky.
Bravo on using ketchup and not bowing to the mustard-only snobs! Ketchup, mustard, onion, and sweet relish fan here.
Last winter, in February, we had an exceptional snow storm hit Northern California. Our area resembled photos I have seen of forests in European battlefields after an artillery bombardment.
Since most of the power lines are strung on poles the trees that went down took out the power lines.
We were without power from the grid for six days. We were fortunate in that we got power back sooner than others.
We had been prepared with, multiple generators, fuel, food, and stored water. We heat with wood, so we were toasty warm and our well provided water when I fired up the generators (my father is 89 and lives on an adjacent property, so I made sure he was warm and fed his critters). We did laundry as needed when the generator was on.
Oh, those little rechargeable battery operated LED lamps are awesome, as are the battery operateed decorative candles to illuminate the house for navigating to the bathroom at night. iPads or other tablet devices are highly recommended.
We checked on neighbors, but most were in good shape. I did have an extra rare electrical plug for generators that was made of unobtainium that I gave to one of my great neighbors so he could run his well. He is an awesome neighbor. Every St. Patrick's Day his wife brings us a Guinness cake. Mmmmm.
Our survival was not in question, but I worked my fanny off while in pain and went in for total knee replacement the day the power came back on.
It was not a fun experience and there was no time to sit by the fire and read The Little House on the Prairie for inspiration.
By the third day wifmann decided the pioneer life was not for her (this from a woman who reminisces about working beside her mother to can 900 quarts of fruits and veggies on a wood cook stove during the summers in Arizona but, you did that or went hungry. Hunger is a powerful motivator).
She got a little cranky on day four.
Electricity is a wonderful thing.
I can almost forgive Lyndon Baines Johnson all of his sins for helping, as a congressional aid, to get the Rural Electrification Act passed.
Almost.
I have produced great amusement in onlookers by hooking hot dogs up to the mains. Also large pickles, which flicker and glow.
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