Appetizing Muse

Although my birthday is not until the end of the month, Wilbert bought me a new wallet and a wonderful Elite Gourmet steam/rice-cooker from Maxi-Matic. The appliance is a ten-cup rice cooker with a steamer attachment, a vented glass lid, a removable aluminum cooking pot, and a keep-warm function along with accessories such as a spatula and a measuring cup.

I love the option of cooking two food items at once. With my old Rival steamer, I had to cook one food at a time (rice and anything else separately). I plan to cook more than rice in my new steamer, of course, but it's also ideal for vegetables, especially broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, asparagus and Brussels sprouts. I dislike veggies-in-the-can, finding them too soft and virtually tasteless. Steamers cook vegetables to perfect consistency without losing important vitamins and minerals.

However, cooking in the new steamer will have to wait until next week. I'm in the midst of several time-consuming projects at the moment, so tonight's dinner will consist of hot dogs with macaroni and cheese (or Mac & Chiz, as I like to call it).

While thankful for the early birthday gifts, I told Wilbert he's still on the hook for a Kyoto dinner when the real day arrives (August 29th), to be followed by a bowl of chocolate-chip-mint ice cream.