When was the last time you went an entire week without using your microwave? Assuming you HAVE a microwave. For the sake of simplicity, let’s just assume that most every U.S. household (and beyond), has one. Standing at the ready to heat leftovers, melt chocolate, or actually “cook” food, the microwave is easy to take for granted. Except when it’s broken.
Since our 2003 kitchen remodel, our KitchenAid stainless steel microwave had reliably done it’s duty. I spent last Saturday afternoon whipping up my version of Mark Bittman’s “Pinto Beans Enchilada-Style” from How To Cook Everything Vegetarian http://content.markbittman.com/books/how-to-cook-everything-vegetarian, with the microwave in full-on heat/melt/warm-up mode.
But sometime during the night, it met its demise. Other commitments on Sunday prevented us from dropping everything to replace it – and that’s when the challenge began.
My husband took to re-heating his coffee in a pan on the stove, with me heating dinner “planned-overs” in the same way. Not difficult, mind you, but the “just nuke it” habit was certainly put on hold.
Thankfully, we picked out a replacement yesterday. After quadruple checking the dimensions to be certain it would fit into the microwave cubby, who would have thought about a bulky vs. flat plug-in and the extra space it would require. . . .grrrrrr.