This Pot Ain’t All It’s Cracked Up To Be!

humor, mindfulness 3 Minutes

(Gotta mix things up in Annie land; it’s time for a breather from the headlines.)

Way back in February, I wrote a piece called “It’s the Cereal, Stupid!” about my spouse’s and my cereal/serial bickering over the every-other-day task of generating steel cut oatmeal for our consumption at breakfast. (It’s time-consuming, so we make enough for two days.)

One of the inherent problems in this seemingly benign effort was the pricey ceramic pot we’d invested in—assuming it would enable us to devour the oh-so-healthful steel cut oatmeal prepared in a vessel that would not adulterate it with nasty chemicals.

This pot is, I don’t expect you to recall, an overeager bit of cookware that just keeps on cooking after the flame has been turned off—something you really don’t want in your pots, pricey or not. And it’s heavy, as pots go.

To refresh your memories (if you read my post when it appeared) or to provide an important element (if you’re hearing this opus for the first time), my task is the evening prep, which involves partially cooking the oatmeal. My spouse, a far earlier riser, completes the work in the morning.

That evening task includes carrying the semi-cooked oatmeal in the heavy, slightly cooled pot a distance of ten steps (I counted them specifically to ensure the accuracy of this tome) from our stove top to the refrigerator. Once we’re safely there, I place it on a trivet, its overnight resting place.

I have assumed from the outset that I would at some point drop the damn thing mid-trip.

That did not happen—at least, it hasn’t happened yet.

But you can see from my photojournalistic foray that something happened to said pot.

Here’s the skinny on the pot incident:

My custom had been to wash the pot, dry it, and place it on the countertop, then wash and dry the lid and place it on the pot—all as a prelude to very carefully lifting the pot-and-cover and putting them on the second-drawer shelf, below waist-level, where they live.

But on the fateful day, I placed the uncovered pot on the second-drawer shelf, then dried the lid and—holding it with one hand, mind you—proceeded to place it on the pot. The lid slipped from my grasp and dropped a distance of oh, maybe an inch or two—whereupon I heard the awful sounds of breakage. The result is what you see above: a small chip on the side of the pot, two slightly larger chunks gone from the lid.

I mindfully did not beat myself up one whit over this incident; the damaged pot is, after all, just a thing. Thousands of hours of meditating had finally brought clarity and equilibrium!

My spouse was not home at the time, but since we had both become disenchanted with this ceramic wonder, I was not overly concerned about his reaction. Indeed, when he returned and surveyed the damage, though he doesn’t meditate, he displayed similar equilibrium. Go figure.

But he was ready to toss the pot. I thought we should give it a try in its less pristine iteration.

If we were back in the 19th century, I’d end my cereal serial here and keep you waiting for the next installment, knowing the level of drama is so intense that you’d be anticipating it with the proverbial bated breath (an odd phrase, though suitable, I think).

But my attention span isn’t that long, and I’ve got all these ideas that are weightier than a ceramic pot swirling in my head. So here’s the final skinny:

When I came downstairs the next morning and asked my spouse how the flawed pot had performed on that day’s cereal, he smiled and said:

“Better!”

Turns out, the minuscule new gap between the lid and the pot serendipitously allows enough steam to escape to counterbalance the pot’s overzealous cooking.

Don’t you love happy endings? And do you think we can patent this improved design?

Annie

Published by annieasksyou

I've been a nonfiction writer for many years, exploring diverse topics that pique my curiosity, as noted in my first blog posting (Greetings!). I'm seeking dialogue with others committed to joining me in this exploration, sharing my conviction that different views can be exchanged in a respectful, civil discourse where we can learn from one another and be agreeable, even when we disagree. These postings depend for their enrichment on your participation: your ideas, insights, knowledge, opinions, and personal stories.

Published

20 thoughts on “This Pot Ain’t All It’s Cracked Up To Be!”

  1. I found the best way to cook steel cut oatmeal.

    Boil water needed for your want, turn off heat. add oatmeal, (add salt, raisins, honey, etc. to your liking) stir cover and refrigerate. In the AM all it needs is about 5 minutes of heat till it bubbles. Soft, still chewy and completely cooked. I use a steel pot and I noticed it never over cooks nor has a stainless steel cover chipped.

    However, enjoy your new found miscue and the contents there in.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  2. You have convinced me to continue my morning ritual of 1) grab bowl, 2) grab envelope of instant oatmeal or cream of wheat, 3) add milk, 4) place in microwave, 5) enjoy after less than a minute of cooking. I can barely find my way to my Keurig in the morning!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. “Serendipitous” is a fun word, isn’t it? Thanks for the thumb up, Fandango—though if I’d had both thumbs down when I put the lid on the pot…well, we mindful folks aren’t supposed to dwell on regrets.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  5. Ha ha … you made me laugh with this tale of woe! I guess my opening a pack of not-steel-cut-oats, placing it in a cup, adding 1/2 cup of water and nuking it for 1 minute wouldn’t pass muster at your house, eh? 😉

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      1. Ha ha … yes’m … I would take the lesson to heart, but … probably still eat my Quaker instant oats when I got back home! I know … I know … I’m incorrigible! 😉

        Liked by 1 person

  8. Annie I think you should go on one of those Dragon’s Den type shows and pitch your idea, and get rich quick and then you can hire a cook to make your oatmeal! I’m lazy and boil the water in the microwave then add some to a packet of Quaker Oaks – the Regular Plain one without sugar, then add one cube of brown sugar and some raisins. My mother adds the water to the packet and then microwaves it for one minute. My mother has oatmeal every day and has an extremely low cholesterol…. to which I credit the oatmeal.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. Ah, how wonderful to have a cook! A fine idea, Joni—only are you sure I wouldn’t fail to qualify for such a show with an idea that some may feel suggests I’m a crackpot? (I’ve been waiting for this opportunity…)

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

Leave a comment