Creative Cooking

Since Sunday morning, we have been out of power half a dozen times or more. Sometimes just for a second, and sometimes more. On Monday, we lost power at about 11am and it was restored by 12:30. Then we got home from grocery shopping around 3:30 and it was out again, and did not come back on until almost 8pm. We are not used to all this freezing rain and ice on the power lines I guess. It was a challenge to make dinner, but we managed. Since we live on the farm, when the power goes out, that also means we lose water, because we are on a well and it requires an electric pump to get the water to our houses. So our big plan for a special dinner with dad was changed a bit. It was the first time in 3 months that he was going to be home for dinner on a week night, so we planned for chicken breast, roast potatoes, corn on the cob, yorkshires, salad, and rice krispie squares. I am blessed to have a gas stove, so I was still able to use my cook-top, but not the oven. So we changed the roast potatoes to mashed, and skipped the yorkshires, rice krispie squares and corn on the cob. I chose to not fill a huge pot with bottled water just to cook corn on the cob. And although there is lots of snow outside to be melted, I would chose to use that to wash dishes, but not to cook with. Although the thought did cross my mind.

We ended up having Grandma and Papa and Great-Grandma and Auntie Jayne join us for dinner because they were all out of power as well. Grandma brought Asparagus, so we added that to the menu. It worked out. It took a little longer to make dinner, because stove-top space was limited...and I used up 8 matches in the process...but it worked and everyone ate.

It started to get cool in our house around 7pm. Our thin tin walls do not hold the heat very well, so we headed up to Grandma and Papaès to play UNO and hang out. They have a wood burning stove, so heat is not a worry there. And power was restored half-way through our game. Thanks goodness. Nighttime with no power is more worrisome than the day.

The kids and Dad were excited to play outside in the snow together while dinner was being made. Logan put on his snow suit for the first time (it was a bit long in the pants) and enjoyed rolling around in the wet snow with Dad. Pretty much anything with Dad is awesome. They all built a snowman together, complete with pipe and superman shirt. Cuz all snowmen look like that.

All this time without power has made me realize how unprepared I am. It seems hard to do anything about when I know we are moving across the country in a few months, but I know I want to have a gas stove, a generator, and a garden. We need adequate food storage, and lights. It is frustrating to be out of power for a few hours, but scary to think about what we would do if it was longer than that. And at least here in Alberta we have a lot of family around who could help out in a pinch...but in Ontario, we have to fend for ourselves. I like life-lessons that come in mini-doses. Wake-up call!