Appliances

They didn't tell me I didn't have to be at work at 5:00 this morning.  Group Leader said, "I thought you knew."  Um, why would you think I knew if you didn't tell me?  But you would have been proud of me.  I kept my mouth shut.  All I said was, "I was wondering, but nobody told me to stop, so I came on in at 5:00."

Saturday evening, I got into a funk.  I don't know if maybe I was just really tired, but I decided I didn't want my Instant Pot.  I boxed it all up, and got ready to send it back.  Somebody asked me why I was sending it back.  Did I think it was too hard?

Ummm, no.  You've no doubt heard of the Island Of Misfit Toys.  Let me introduce you to the Shelf Of Neglected Appliances.

Let's start with this one.

It isn't an appliance.  It's a very large stock pot.  I bought it back when the plant was giving us 20 lb turkeydactyls every Thanksgiving.  I needed something large enough to boil down the carcass to make broth for soup.  Since the HR guy who felt we needed to feed an army retired, they've gone back to giving us 12 lb birds.  I haven't used this pot since.

Next up, this crock pot that I received as a wedding gift back in 1993.  It comes complete with dust bunny and wee little spider living underneath it.

I can probably count on one hand the number of times I've used it.

Here we have my coffee grinder.

It was included with the coffee pot I got from work for my 20th anniversary gift.  I bought and ground one bag of whole bean coffee.  One.  I haven't used it since.

This is the food processor that I just had to have.  I haven't used it in so long that I completely forgot it has a lid.

I had to go find said lid and take another picture.

My Kitchen Kettle that I was so excited to get I even wrote a post about it.  In the three years I've had it, I've used it exactly twice.

I used to use this breadmaker a lot, but now, it sits so far back in the corner that I didn't even try to dig it out to take a picture.

Same with the ice cream freezer.

I hadn't used it in so long, I gave it to Beverly and James.  They gave it back.  Now it sits behind an unused power strip and a spare piece of drywall.

I think this slow cooker was also a wedding gift, but I don't rightly remember.  I use it maybe once every 2-3 years, but haven't since everyone moved away.

Same with this little crock pot.  I use it maybe once every two or three years -- but haven't since everyone moved away. 

Now, lest you think I just collect appliances to collect dust, there are a few I actually do use.  On the left we have my Fry Daddy.  I use it quite a bit.  On the right is my vacuum sealer.  I probably use it the most of all my appliances.

And finally, my George Foreman knock off grill.   

Out of all those appliances, there are three that I use regularly. 

It took me four days just to take the Instant Pot out of the box.  I got it all put together and set up, and spent a few minutes looking around at some YouTube videos -- recipes and such.  It all just seemed so complicated and time consuming.  I mean, why should I spend 30 minutes Instant Potting oatmeal when I can zap it in the microwave for one?  There's nothing instant about that. 

It seemed the Instant Pot would soon find its place upon the Shelf Of Neglected Appliances. 

Once I'd gotten a good night's sleep, I relented and took the pot back out of the box.  I did the water test, then when I got home from work, I started searching for a quick and easy pork chop recipe.  Just a simple pork chop with a little bit of seasoning.  No vegetables, no sauces, no gravy, no rice.  Just a pork chop.

OK, forget the recipe.  Just tell me how long to cook the stupid thing!  

After fruitlessly searching for an hour, I shoved the Instant Pot back into the corner and ate microwaved pasta. 

I'll cook the pork chop tomorrow -- on the George Foreman knock off grill.