I want to be perfectly clear about this – I CAN cook.  I just don’t.  At least not very often.  With just two of us in the house, and not usually in the house at the same time, I eat lots of sandwiches.  And when we are both home for supper it is such an unusual event that we like to eat out, or at least get takeout.  I expect Tom and I will both cook more when we retire, but right now we don’t cook much.

Which is why last night was the first time I have used the gas range in the RV.  (I know we have lived here for six weeks – see paragraph one.)  In fact, as far as I can remember, last night was the first time I have used a gas range EVER.  We always had electric ranges growing up and I chose to have an electric range in the house where we lived for 25 years.  So I am a neophyte with gas ranges, and they seem to take a little getting used to.

Last night I decided to make chicken and wild rice and vegetables.  It isn’t a fancy dish and it is very bland, which is why I like to make it when it will just be me eating it.  In the past, when I’ve made this dish on an electric stove, the rice always takes a little longer to absorb the water.  So I am used to simmering a few extra minutes or putting in a little less water.

But, because I’m not used to a gas range, I decided to follow the rice directions exactly.  Water, rice, boil, simmer for 25 minutes, let sit off heat for 5 minutes.  It smelled delicious and looked good enough to eat.

And was totally scorched, burned, crusty on the bottom.  I guess I ran out of water before I was done simmering.  Or maybe the heat was turned up too high for the simmering.  Or maybe the range intends to burn everything I try to cook, which might lead to even more eating out in retirement!  Hmmm.

I have an idea that I just need to get used to cooking with gas.  Is the flame hotter than an electric coil?  Maybe I should start with something easier than rice.  Is there anything easier than rice?

At any rate, the rice was perfectly edible, as long as I avoided the bottom half inch.  And the burned part came out of the teflon-coated pot just fine.  And it didn’t even smell burned, which is a good thing because smells linger in a space this small.

I will keep reminding myself that I love to learn new things!