Cooking With Gas

Guess what, ladies and gents?

We are on a domestication roll!!!!

Last week, as you know, we finally pulled our poor dishwasher out of its unemployment slump and let him start fulfilling his life purpose - saving us from handwashing. We couldn't believe it took us so long, with him sitting there unconnected taunting us for over a year.

This week?

That's a working gas stove, people! After over a year of using my grandmother's retro electric frying pan (and a few other appliances) for virtually all cooking, we have finally got our stove working!!!

Unfortunately it isn't a permanent solution, since we've actually just connected it up to a gas bottle that's now sitting in a corner of the kitchen, with this complicated looking connection device.

But it's definitely an improvement! Look at that butter sizzling away!

And just because we can - two frying pans at once!!! Are you astounded at the wonder of it all?!

I honestly don't know how I've survived this long without a stove top, although Mr Electric Frying Pan has done incredibly well. Although he doesn't have a non-stick surface, so everything sticks to it unless we use a protective layer of baking paper, which then slows down the cooking process to a snail's pace. It's not been much fun. I tried to make crepes in it once, and it took me almost an hour, they cooked so slowly!

Now with the gas, I practically just click my fingers and the food is done. Ahh the luxury!

We'll definitely have to work on a more long-term solution for supplying gas to our kitchen now. I don't think I can go back to Mr Frying Pan. We've been kind of dreading dealing with the gas connection ever since we moved in, because it might involve digging up part of our street in order to run a connection from the main gas line on the other side of the road. Sounds expensive.

Or we could just go ordinary gas bottles stored outside the house...

Decisions decisions! More research is in order, so no doubt more gasbagging (haha get it?) to come on the subject later! Oh and for any non-Australians, here's an article that explains what that means.

The Way We Live

I announced a week and a half ago that we decided to move back into our house, even though the power wasn't reconnected. Fortunately we can run the fridge and lights and one appliance at a time off an extension lead running across to the neighbour's house, so we're surviving.

The morning routine is like a game of musical chairs (or power cords) between the toaster, the kettle and the microwave, and let me tell you, I'm getting very creative with the meals I can make with an ancient electric frying pan (it used to be my grandmother's), the rice cooker and the microwave - but only one at a time, of course!


But what's a little inconvenience in return for having your own space again? I'll take it any day.

The one... just one tiny thing I'm struggling with? Cold showers.

Yes, I know. I said I could put up with it (and I'd definitely still take it over moving out again), but the novelty's wearing off.

It didn't take me long to stop using the shower head and start bathing the old fashioned way using the bath tap.

sourced from Urban Homestead

Actually it's nothing like that. Because the shower head is pretty old, it sprays in all kinds of directions, meaning that no matter where you stand, you get sprayed by one errant squirt of cold water. Cold showers are one thing. Tiny cold squirts that you can't escape are another!


So I have adapted. As the mornings get chillier now that we're in Autumn, I'm dying for warm water! So...I've discovered that I can boil the kettle and conduct a thorough wash with a single bucket of water! It's primitive, but it's sooooo much better than a cold squirty shower!!!

I've even managed to wash my hair successfully and shave my legs! Think very much like this:

sourced from People of Appalachia

For a girl who's never liked camping, I think I'm doing alright. That said, really, it's getting a bit old. Bring on our next power company visit (hopefully our last) this Friday!!!! We'll have to have a hot water party!