Quiet days in the schedule right now, with inspections coming between Monday and Wednesday and the sheetrock guy coming on Thursday. So the weekend was really for getting the dining room truly organized as a field kitchen and cooking a full meal.
A couple weeks before demolition day, I cleared out the secretary in the dining room to make it a pantry. This is the only heirloom I have from Granny and Grampa’s house. It was between the French windows in their little living room, and Granny had set up her card table next to it to play solitaire while she watched television. In the panel at bottom left she kept a bottle of creme de menthe (only to top vanilla ice cream) and a bottle of Taylor sherry, like all genteel old Southern ladies. It makes a great pantry. The sideboard makes an adequate home for the convection oven, hot plate, coffeemaker, and toaster. And lots of storage for other kitchen stuff. Why do I have so many coffee mugs?
Clearing off the table turned out to take less time than expected. My centerpiece for the duration will be bouquets of utensils and fruits and vegetables. Half the table will serve as the kitchen counter, and the other half for dining.
Saturday night I planned to cook my first real dinner - chicken and risotto - but the chicken just refused to defrost in my lipstick red mini-fridge. So that meant boiling up a pot of pasta. And that went fine. But to keep this place organized means washing the dishes right away. The bathroom sink is small, and the logistics are a bit complicated, but I didn’t slosh too much soapy water on the floor.
Sunday night was a slightly different story. Risotto went according to plan on the hot plate. The water was heating for a small pot of frozen green beans. I slid the (finally defrosted) chicken into the convection oven and started it. I became engrossed in Seven Days in May. Just another cooking-at-home night at Maison Robaire.
And then the lights went out.
Consternation! First, unplug everything. Then I knew I’d have to take a trip to the circuit breaker, which meant going outside in the rain to get into the basement. And then moving a couple boxes of yard sale items in order to stand in front of my circuit breaker. After a couple minutes even I could figure out which switch to flip. So that was fairly easy.
Not being able to find an additional outlet within reach of the oven (I knew I should have gotten an extension cord longer than six feet!), I ended up cooking dinner in equipment shifts. First I finished the risotto. With the hot plate off, I could then switch on the oven. Oy!
But it was all delicious, if late, especially the risotto. Om nom nom.
I’ll say this. It beats cooking sausages over a gas jet like poor Magnolia Ravenal in Show Boat, but I may end up eating out more than expected.