Cooking in the Dark

John and I flew home from Paris on the "milk run" and while on the ground in Ketchikan, my trusty iPhone picked up a signal from somewhere with the news that avalanches had taken down four of the towers that carry power to Juneau from a dam a bit south of town. This is bad news, as this is the primary power source for the community. We flew on through an incredible downfall of about 8 inches of snow into Juneau, and got home to learn that power costs would escalate to 500% until they can get the lines and towers rebuilt, at least three months. Yikes, we heat with electricity.

Hmm. Barbecue sounds good. Chinese food in the wok is fast and uses heat only briefly. Shared dinners, only one family's kitchen needs to be used. We don't need the extra frig in the garage, and room temperatures of 60° are quite comfortable. Split some wood, have a woodfire. Candlelight dinners, and directly to bed under the down comforter. Luckily, the days are getting longer and we have very large (inefficient for heat purposes) windows that let in a lot of light. Turn off, unplug. Hang the clothes out to dry (no clothes line or clothes pins left in town!) $2000/month will be a stretch!

Last night, I got home well past natural light, from a wonderful "Rent Party" at the JACC, where the $2000/month is really going to hurt, and so cooked up a little supper in the dark. Sauteed polenta with mozarella cheese melted over it, topped with a sauté of green onions, garlic, mushrooms, fresh basil, tiny tomatoes, and a good grinding of black pepper. Candlelight, and computer screen glow. A little wine would have been nice, but I forgot to pick some up.