A Kitchen Queen?

I said in a blog post the other day that my Mustang is a garage queen that doesn’t get out much, and that’s just fine with me. Now let me tell you about our new kitchen queen.

Now don’t go getting all excited, I didn’t replace Miss Terry. We all know she’s irreplaceable. But we did replace the old LG microwave oven that was in our house when we bought it.

I don’t think Terry has used a microwave a dozen times in the 23+ years that we’ve been married. She uses her Breville Smart Oven all the time, just like she did when we were in the motorhome, and after we bought the house and new major appliances, she uses the oven in her Samsung gas range a lot. But the microwave was just there, hanging above the range, and was used as a bread box more than anything else. The only part of it she did use was the vent fan. A while back, the handle broke on the microwave, and Terry debated whether or not to just leave it like it was or replace it.

But our kids are coming for a visit at the end of May, and they do use a microwave. Besides, Terry wanted a different vent fan since the one on the LG was incredibly loud. So she did some research and decided she wanted a Whirlpool low profile Model WML75011HZ microwave with a vent hood.

Once she decided on the model she wanted, she looked online, and neither Lowe’s nor Home Depot or Amazon had them in stock, and it would take several weeks to get one. It wouldn’t arrive until after the kids’ visit was over. I told her I would do some looking around and see what I could come up with, and lo and behold, I found the same model in stock on Whirlpool’s own website. Not only that, it was cheaper than I could have bought it from Lowe’s with my 10% veterans discount and included free shipping. You can’t beat a deal like that. So I ordered it, and it was delivered Friday morning.

Yesterday afternoon, our neighbor Jesse Bolton came over to remove the old microwave and install the new one. Getting the old unit out was quick and easy, and I thought the job wouldn’t take long at all.

Jesse mounted the backing plate for the new microwave to the wall and then started running into trouble. He and Terry had both measured where the mounting bolts would come through the bottom of the cabinet above the microwave, and Jesse drilled the holes. Then when he went to put them in place, they didn’t fit.

I did what I do best in a situation like that, I sat down and stayed out of the way. After a couple of attempts, he and Terry had things figured out, and the new microwave was mounted and hooked up. Thanks, Jesse, I don’t know what we would do without you!

Because this is a low profile unit, several inches shorter than the original microwave, we’re going to have to add some more of the backing on the wall. Terry said we could get the same kind of brickwork that is on there now and it should match, or she’ll figure out a different option.

Terry really likes the new microwave. It has a four speed vent fan, several cooking options that she will probably never use, and some other bells and whistles. What the heck, if you’re going to get a kitchen queen, get a good one, right!

Speaking of Terry and her culinary abilities, check out the scallop linguine she made for dinner the other night. Believe it or not, the picture doesn’t do it justice. It tasted about a thousand times better than it looks.

Today is your last chance to enter our Free Drawing for a four-book set of audiobooks from my pal Carol Ann Newsome’s popular Dog Park mystery series. To enter, click on this Free Drawing link or the tab at the top of this page and enter your name (first and last) in the comments section at the bottom of that page (not this one). Only one entry per person per drawing please, and you must enter with your real name. To prevent spam or multiple entries, the names of cartoon or movie characters are not allowed. The winner will be drawn this evening. Note: Due to the high shipping cost of printed books and Amazon restrictions on e-books to foreign countries, only entries with U.S. addresses and e-mail addresses are allowed.

Thought For The Day – Why were we taught to fear the witches, and not those who burned them alive?