Yesterday morning around 9 am our power went out. Of course, it was one of the year’s hottest days, hovering in the 90’s. Mostly, we stayed indoors moving our big fan from room to room in a futile attempt to stay cool. We didn’t complain. No AC. Humid. Sticky.
Our house, uncharacteristically untidy with bits of fresh cut grass everywhere after a house full of adult kids and grandchildren last week and all day Saturday, well into the evening.
My plan for Sunday was to vacuum, sweep and clean in the comfort of air conditioning. I work quickly. I could be done in two hours including a few loads of my favorite task, laundry.
Cleaning up after an early breakfast of sausage, eggs and delicious gluten free coconut flour pancakes, I started the dishwasher, the washer and the dryer. While watching the taped version of Sunday Morning, (check out the link if you missed it), we settled into our comfy chairs while we contemplated what items to post for sale on eBay. Poof! The power went out.
(Better than regular pancakes. Low carb. Doesn’t spike insulin). Use sugar free syrup and real butter if following a low carb diet. 35 carb grams for entire recipe that serves 4-6)8 eggs
½ cup coconut oil or melted butter
½ cup unsweetened coconut milk (may need more for consistency)
4 tsp. sweetener or four packets of sugar free
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup coconut flour (No need to sift. Stir well)
1 tsp baking powder (I use GF, aluminum free)
Blend together eggs, oil, coconut milk, sugar, and salt. Combine coconut flour and baking powder and thoroughly mix into batter. Heat 1 tablespoon of coconut oil in a skillet. Spoon batter onto hot skillet making pancakes about 2.5 to 3 inches in diameter. Batter will be thick but will flatten out when cooking. Makes about 8 pancakes.
We each held our breath while we waited for it to come back on, looking back and forth at one another, afraid to speak. After a long silence, we popped out of our comfy chairs running around the house to notice the state of our affairs.
The washer, dryer and dishwasher stopped mid-cycle. (BTW, an ant just ran up my leg. I am hot and sticky a half hour after a cool shower and now ants are crawling on me as they would on a dropped cherry Popsicle in the dewy grass on a steamy day)! Do we open the windows or try to retain the cool air? We kept them closed.
Within an hour, a long enough wait, Tom left to load up four of the five gallon gas cans to fill the wired-to-the-house generator we had purchased years ago. Minutes later he returned to fire it up, much to our mutual relief. The house powered up, the dishwasher resumed its cycle while the washer and dryer awaited my commands but…not AC.
NO AC! We were having company for dinner at 5 PM. Gluten free almond flour battered fresh caught walleye cooked in coconut oil on the hot stove (BTW, the stove started working again yesterday morning! Go figure). The hot stove and no AC! Twenty-four dollars worth of fresh walleye in the refrigerator and no AC!
I scurried around the house doing my tasks, occasionally stopping to stand in front of the oversized oscillating fan which we hauled from room to room as we worked.
Strangely, I didn’t think much about leaving in three months. I didn’t attend to the little piles of papers, bins of clothes and stacks of myriad accouterments that I usually mull over on the weekends. My only thoughts were the two new items I posted on eBay; a variable speed band saw and a pontoon boat cover; and the preparation of the walleye for the company for dinner in the hot kitchen.
The GF fried walleye, the salad with homemade ranch dressing, the fresh green beans, the raw sugar snap peas with dip and the sauteed GF bread cheese was the perfect dinner, enjoyed by all while the fan whirred back and forth between us.
2 lbs prepared firm fish filets (walleye, tilapia, cod)
2 cups almond flour, breaking up lumps by hand in large bowl
3e eggs beaten½
cup unsweetened coconut milk, mixed with beaten eggs½
tsp salt½
tsp pepper½
tsp garlic powder½
tsp onion powder
Bed was another story. A hot, fitful night of tossing covers, turning over and over, awakening us both many times throughout the night.
This morning the repair person from our gas company’s appliance warranty plan is coming to fix the stove. Ha! The stove now works but I didn’t cancel yesterday after the stove started working when the power went out and the AC quit.
Our AC is under warranty. Sure, the stove repair person may not know how to fix the air conditioner. We could get lucky. However, with a captive audience, I will try to convince him to get someone here that can fix it TODAY!!!
I can’t tell if this is resourceful or conniving. Whichever it is, it’s going to be over 100 today. Too hot to handle!
Aaahhhh!!! The stove repair guy just called to let me know he’s on his way. I tentatively asked him if he also works on AC. He said, “YES!” Yeah!
As for the stove, I confessed. I told him that we got the stove to work as long as we unplug the battery charger and room freshener from one of the GFI outlets in the kitchen. (There obviously is an electrical issue which we will address later. For now, we unplugged the two items).
He was thrilled the stove worked. He said he had to go help other customer’s who’s AC is out, in this 100 degree weather. As he walked out the door he turned, smiled and said, “No worry about the stove, I have other “fish to fry.”
Hahaha.