Having conquered the challenge of filming myself, editing the video, and posting it on YouTube, I felt ready to advance to a higher level of technological sophistication. Herewith my triumphant report.
I had planned a simple dinner for this evening [I do the cooking in our little household] -- seared raw tuna with a soy, ginger, garlic dipping sauce, petit pois, and a baked potato. But then it occurred to me that I would be taking my wife to a four p.m. doctor's appointment in Durham, and doctors being what they are, would not return home much before 5:30 p.m., already past our dinner time [that is early, but we get up at 4:30 or 5:00 a.m.] What to do about the baked potato?
I have been cooking on our stove for eight years now, and have never once even considered timed bake, but with my wife's encouragement, I consulted the manual, and sure enough that is one of its many functionalities. The instructions were lengthy, and apparently each step must be completed quickly or the oven decides you aren't serious and reverts to its default mode. I found the "stop time" button, but could not for the life of me find the "start time" button, until it occurred to me that if I told the stove when to turn off and how long to be be on, it could deduce when I wanted it to start -- rather advanced for a stove, I thought.
So, there is now a big baking potato sitting in the oven, which has been instructed to bake it at 400 degrees for an hour and a half [time for the stove to heat up included], and to turn itself off at 5:30 p.m.
When we return from the doctor, either there will be a fully baked potato waiting for us or there will be a cold raw potato in the oven, in which case I shall take my wife out for pizza.
Have you tried baking the potato in your microwave oven? It only takes about 10 -15 minutes. Google for directions.
ReplyDeleteYou forgot the third option, which is that your house could be on fire. Partly kidding, but let's just say...my wife had an incident with the oven, and some bacon, and we've been trying to clean the debris out for months!
ReplyDeleteSo did it work?
ReplyDeleteIt did, it did! When we got home, I had a perfectly baked potato, ready for the tuna and petit pois. What else do you suppose our appliances can do? This opens up a new career for me, as a twenty-first century apartment dweller. Now, maybe I shoud clean the refrigerator.
ReplyDeleteI’ve been cooking on our stove for eight years now, and haven’t even noticed even the time we chose, but with my wife’s encouragement, I took the lead and made sure it was one of her many chores. I see tech talent for her. The instructions are long, and it is clear that each step must be completed quickly or the oven decides it is not necessary and returns to its default state. I was looking for the “stop-time” button, but could not give my life to find the “start-time” button until I realized that if I told the stove when it was off.
ReplyDelete