It was windy all day yesterday with some strong gusts over 40mph. Around 4pm my UPS beeped a couple times so I knew we might lose power. At 6:30pm I went down and got the mail and noticed the road was closed just after our driveway. Then I saw why, a line was down. Oh, oh. I told my wife what I saw and started a fire. Temps were dropping and although it was only 45, I suspected it was going to get colder. My wife is busy prepping a nice feast of roast chicken for dinner. As I am starting the fire, I hear Oh no! Moans emanate from the kitchen. It's still daylight, so I don't see what the ruckus is about. I go in the kitchen to see her fuming, in the dark and no time on the oven display. Hmmm.
Dinner is ruined! What am I to do now, throw it out? She groaned. She had been prepping this dish for awhile and I knew it was going to be good. "Don't worry honey, we can cook it on the stove.", I proclaimed. She gave me a look like, right Mr. Boy Scout. I put some extra kindling on the fire and had the top up to 400 in short order. Then I covered the big cast iron casserole with tin foil, swung open the trivet top and placed it on the stove top. Set a timer to 20 min. so that I could start getting the Coleman lantern and emergency lights out. After 20 minutes she came by to inspect as I flipped over the the chicken breasts. They were hot and the juices were starting to simmer the potatoes, onions and tomatoes very nicely. She looked relieved, but still skeptical. Stove top was now at 600. 20 minutes later I flipped the chicken over again. She put a meat thermometer into the thickest breast and voila, 160 degrees. I let it simmer another 10 minutes to finish cooking the potatoes. The house was smelling good. She had good Coleman light in the kitchen and pulled together a salad. The dish came out great, perfectly done and we had a nice candlelight dinner. Then I brought my computer UPS and hooked it up to her little kitchen tv (low power LCD) and we watched 24 in a cozy, warm, glowing house. Power came on at 6am, but we were still warm in spite of the 40F temps outside. Love this stove.
Dinner is ruined! What am I to do now, throw it out? She groaned. She had been prepping this dish for awhile and I knew it was going to be good. "Don't worry honey, we can cook it on the stove.", I proclaimed. She gave me a look like, right Mr. Boy Scout. I put some extra kindling on the fire and had the top up to 400 in short order. Then I covered the big cast iron casserole with tin foil, swung open the trivet top and placed it on the stove top. Set a timer to 20 min. so that I could start getting the Coleman lantern and emergency lights out. After 20 minutes she came by to inspect as I flipped over the the chicken breasts. They were hot and the juices were starting to simmer the potatoes, onions and tomatoes very nicely. She looked relieved, but still skeptical. Stove top was now at 600. 20 minutes later I flipped the chicken over again. She put a meat thermometer into the thickest breast and voila, 160 degrees. I let it simmer another 10 minutes to finish cooking the potatoes. The house was smelling good. She had good Coleman light in the kitchen and pulled together a salad. The dish came out great, perfectly done and we had a nice candlelight dinner. Then I brought my computer UPS and hooked it up to her little kitchen tv (low power LCD) and we watched 24 in a cozy, warm, glowing house. Power came on at 6am, but we were still warm in spite of the 40F temps outside. Love this stove.