Hooray for the microwave! It is easily my single most-used kitchen appliance. Without it, I’d probably have had to learn real cooking skill.
My parents bought their first microwave in 1980, it was actually part of a double stack thermodor oven. Had a microwave in house in some form ever since.
Interesting fact, my aunt who passed away last year never owned a microwave, she was a toaster oven type of person.
Microwaves can do a decent job cooking vegetables, soups, even chicken or pork as long as you aren’t going for a crusty skin, as they’re essentially steamers. The requirement or secret is to have a newer microwave with inverter technology and to use a lower power setting.
Most microwaves, when you set is to set the power to say 50% and double the time, just turn the magentron to 100% off and on every few seconds. It’s better than just using 100% power, but in comparison the inverters provide a true 50% power setting which allows a constant stream of lower energy so the heat can build slowly and better equalize. It also encourages more accurate times to avoid over-cooking.
Even knowing this, I never do it, and always re-heat leftovers at 100% with mediocre flavour and cold spots. So if you’re like me, a new inverter microwave is a good idea only in theory.
Very sensible woman. Toaster ovens FTW!
I had a microwave once, but I gave it away when I moved, and then didn’t replace it when I realized I only ever used it for making popcorn and boiling water.
Man, I’d love a built-in Thermador oven, though…
Microwaves are essential if your diet (like mine) includes lots of rice based leftovers, unless you’re looking to boil up a fresh, but tiny, pot of rice every meal. Juuuust about everything else can go into the toaster oven or get rewarmed on the stove if you’re dedicated enough.
Yep. Mine works this way. My most used setting is 40% for 5 min. Hot through and through, not screaming hot anywhere.
I don’t even know how to operate my microwave at any setting other than MAX POWER!
October 26, 1881: The Gunfight at the OK Corral
The famous gunfight that ensued lasted all of 30 seconds, and around 30 shots were fired.
Per his own tweet, today is the 50th anniversary of the date Sen. John McCain’s plane was shot down in Vietnam.
99 years ago today Erich Ludendorff, second in command of the German Army for most of WWI and architect of its final offensive, resigned. As Ludendorff predicted, the German government would last less than two more weeks:
October 29, 1969 (the link is from 2009, ignore the ‘40 years ago’ part):
The best part is that the network crashed after transmitting only the first two characters of “login”. Imagine if the first telegraph message had been “wh” or the first phone message “Mi…” :)
October 30, 1938, Orson Welles scares the shit out of America with his War of the Worlds broadcast:
70 years ago today: The flight of the Spruce Goose
If anyone ever happens to be in McMinnville Oregon, stop by and see the Goose! She may not fly any more, but still impressive in person.
I saw the Goose back when it was parked next to the Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA. Definitely worth seeing, though I don’t think I understood at the time why it couldn’t fly.
But if the Goose flew, or was flying-adjacent, 70 years ago, note well that 60 years ago, the first doggonaut bounded into space. She was a good, if doomed, girl.
Ah, the good old days.
In the “maybe” category:
November 7, 1908 is the day that Robert Leroy Parker (Butch Cassidy) and Harry Longabaugh (the Sundance Kid) were killed in Boliva. Unless they weren’t.