To Microwave or Not to Microwave........

During my stay in Kansas we are living in an extended stay hotel. We have a microwave and a two burner stove-top, two small saucepans and a frying pan (provided by the hotel). Miguel has not been able to chew or swallow food for almost 6 months now, so cooking seems futile. I often wonder if I will ever cook again - it will be months before Miguel can start to eat and even enjoy eating – he first of all needs to have his mouth and throat heal, get rid of the infections in his mouth, learn to swallow with no salivary glands, and then finally, get a whole new set of teeth so that he can chew. He has very little good taste sensations – things taste “metally”, too salty, too sour, too unappealing.

But – having said that, I am still interested in reading about cooking – and this article in the NYTimes examines how a microwave can be put to better use than simply warming up coffee. I have never really used the microwave for more than heating or defrosting - and I am still mindful of my friend Alex’s early aversion to the concept of microwaves – in the lawschool lunch room there was a microwave (no homes had them then!) and she would never sit in front of it – convinced it was emitting bad things that would harm us. I’m still worried that she might be right….

The author claims vegetables are delicious in the microwave and her method for cooking rice seems easy (and avoids the need for cleaning a messy pan). The comments from other serious cooks are worth reading. The eggplant dish sounds good – I promise to make it for the next Canadians that come to visit me in Kansas.