by Nasoosie » Sun Aug 22, 2010 7:06 am
It sounds as if Tina and I could exist without ever using a stove or recipe to cook anything! My idea of cooking is to throw a frozen, prepared dinner into my microwave and set the timer! I so despise recipes, preparations, like cutting up veggies for a recipe, cleaning up, etc. etc. When my oven caught fire back in the 80s as I was preparing a huge turkey dinner for about 12 people, I never replaced or repaired the stove! The wiring caught on fire (it was/is a Jenn Aire stove) which I loved only because it had the inside electric grill I could use in the winters. I had to finish cooking the dinner at a friend's house about a mile down the road! When the kids were young and at home, and my husband was working every day, I DID cook suppers. However, when they didn't show up to eat on time (for various reasons----the kids' activities, the husband's drinking habits) I ceased that part of my 'job' as well. Now my oven is a storage pantry for whatever! My dishwasher, which developed a leak back about the same time, is also a pantry now.
In subsequent years, I have shoveled out my outside grill on my front deck to grill any meats in the winter. That grill also has a huge burner to cook a pot of potatoes, or some veggies, if I so choose. At 30 to 40 below zero, however, it takes hours to cook anything!
Once in a while, I break down and create a vat of some sort of good food, like the chicken-noodle salad I made for the Ruckus, and this week I utilized all my leftover corn to make a vat of corn chowder. Then I made a cauldron of beef stew. All the while I was cutting up the veggies I was swearing this would be it for along while to come! However, I must say, that when I DO cook something, I love what I made and tend to eat it all for weeks on end, and freeze some individual servings for the future.
I do wish I were going to this GTG, but just cannot manage it this year. Too much going on and too many adjustments to make right now make it impossible. However, next year, if I find out I can exist on my new retirement income, will be another story! Tina, you and I can chat about what we will bring so we don't have to actually cook or prepare anything! I think we can even figure out how to avoid even having to use/wash dishes! I am a big fan of paper plates, hands, and already roasted chickens you can buy in super markets! Raw veggies solve a lot of prep time, also!
Life is about learning to dance in the rainHappy travels!
But I'm always finding all these recipes - and it's just me - so how else to try them?
