25 January 2008

To boil or not to boil? Oh, spooky...

Before I keep on writing this post I want to declare I’m absolutely SANE (you wouldn’t even doubt it, would you? *smiles*)!

My Dear Folks, I’ve got a poltergeist stove in my kitchen that’s in my hired apartment. Surprised? So am I! More than that, I’m puzzled. Let me pause for breath (I’m really pretty much excited about it) and tell you this. Yesterday I had a peaceful and ordinary intention to boil some water. So I poured the liquid into a saucepan, switched on one of the burners and headed away for a while to busy myself with my daily routine. When according to my estimation the water had to reach the boiling point I returned to my kitchen to find out that it was NOT boiling yet. I shrugged my shoulders, thought that probably it was still too early indeed and waited for another 5, 10, 15, 25, 30, 40 minutes!!!!!! I wouldn’t be baffled at all if there was no heat coming up from the burners, I would just write it off to my stove’s life end. But no. There was heat coming up, and the water was too hot. It just didn’t get boiled!! *an indescribable expression of amusement on my face* As to the oven it works all right, so I can bake or roast. Probably my stove is going through a midlife crisis and thinks upon to boil or not to boil??? Yes, there is an egg on my face now. And a smile too. I’m totally perplexed!

In this entry I wrote about yoga of cooking. And those lovely guys who left their comments* (you are stars, buddies!) mentioned the Slow Food Motion of which I wasn’t aware before (to my shame, I know! But hey, they say one lives to learn. Or maybe it’s about that one who lives to cook? *wink, wink, wink, wink*). So, now unintentionally I’m really practising the Slow Food Concept in my adaptation, ‘cause the food I cook recently is slow indeed. Mostly, it’s stewed rather than cooked or fried. Have you ever had ‘stewed’ pasta**? May I brag just a little to say that I have! Stewed al dente. With a herbless pesto***. What a twist! *smile from ear to ear*

People, please, set my mind at rest by telling me that probably you’ve also got a kitchen poltergeist experience. I need to know I’m not alone in it. *smiles*

At least I’m trying to convince myself it’s cute and normal. Oh, is it?



* With all my heart I thank you all who stops by on my blog to read what I write: whether you leave a comment or prefer to keep a low profile (*wink*), you are all heartily welcome!! If you share a smile or two (or hundreds of smiles) with me, it’s already a great reward!

**Stewed pasta is pasta that’s cooked not in a boiling, but boiling-to be water (in a case if you possess a spooky stove)

***Herbless pesto is pesto made without fresh herbs. My version included ground hazelnuts and cashews, ground parmesan, freshly ground pepper and extra virgin olive oil.

P.S. In case you wonder what this photo is about, it's me forced to be spooked. *smiles*


6 comments:

Unknown said...

Well you seem to have Slow Water already, at least when it comes to boiling.

anya said...

I even didn't consider a 'water' factor. :))

My sourdough sponge is resting in warmth now, so tomorrow it's gonna be a Bread Baking Day (BBD) over here! :-)

Julia said...

A piece of advice: use a lid next time to make water boil. ;-)

anya said...

Julia, I tried everything. But the solution came with a new small portable cooker. :-) C'eit la vie!

Astra Libris said...

Anya, your story is fantastic! I started smiling and nodding immediately, because I have definitely had a run-in with a stove poltergeist... Or rather an oven poltergeist, to be exact... I was fixing pecan pie at someone else's house - in their new oven, which they assured me worked fine on all other occasions - and, despite the recipe being a family standby (passed down from my grandmother) that I have baked soooo many times I could do so in my sleep, the silly thing just did-not-cook. At all. After 4 h-o-u-r-s, we still had pecan pie soup! I think you solved the mystery - it must have been an oven poltergeist! :-)
Good luck with your stove poltergeist! :-)

anya said...

Dear Astra Libris,

I'm just soooooo glad to know I'm not the one with the kitchen poltergeist story. Phew! *smiles*

The passed weekend I got a new mini cooker. This is my way to deal with poltergeist. :-)