Lessee,
Here are some questions...
Boil spaghetti in a microwave?
Bacon does great nuked, eggs over easy not so hot. Umm umm microwave hash browns...
I like cold potato salad in hot weather. Microwave the potatoes and hard boiled eggs?
Ever had nuked chicken nuggets? Hell forget the nuggets, do you like nuked slimy chicken, or maybe a flaccid gray hamburger patty?
Chop Suey a la 25 KHz? Sweet and sour, uh, things?
Sauteed scallops. Oops, the butter and wine turned them to mush.
Or salsa veracruzana. Oh jeez the tomato and microwave don't play well together.
The microwave here is 800 watts FOUR MINUTES FLAT to heat coffee A SINGLE CUP OF COFFEE from 84F ambient to 180F.
Microwave ovens are great for specific tasks. Try cooking a tortilla in a microwave and you're going to learn fast the limits of the machine. Yes I eat corn tortillas. I also make chilaquiles, which would turn out to be slop even in my commercial oven back home.
Santa Cruz is a hell of a long way from a desert where we experienced fifty one days of temperatures in excess of 40C 104F since June. The highest was 114F, eight straight days of 110F+ with 90F dawns. A window air conditioner is about as effective as shaking a bottle of beer and pointing it at a forest fire.
Did I mention steam bath humidity during tropical storms and a category 3 hurricane? I was forced to eat canned food, but that's no problem, just hold it out the window for several minutes, pull the tab blow off the steam and enjoy. I wouldn't have lit off that stove if someone was holding a gun to my head. Yes I know, no electricity, but after it was restored it was still miserably hot.
Come on down and play chef. I'd be so grateful I'll throw in the sweatbands. Be careful though! You have to turn on the cold water in the shower and let it run cool or risk getting scalded.
S'Cuse me, the temp has chilled to a knee-knocking 84F for the first time in weeks. Have to go shut down the fans (no this is not a joke)...
