Cooking with gas

Today is the 24th day of Kislev, the day before the start of Hannukah. And it is that festival of lights, the celebration of the longlasting cooking fuel, which reminds me that this is also a minor milestone for us here as well.

It all started back in September, just after we'd moved in. In those heady days of exploring our new house and learning its mysterious ways, we led a rather basic life. We had no real bed of any kind on which to sleep. We had only a small plastic kids' table at which to sit. And we had no appliances to give our life any of the basic comforts of modern living, such as refrigeration, for example, or the ability to cook our food. We didn't care. We slept on a mat on the floor, and picnicked on whatever we could find that wouldn't need to be kept cool. It was a simpler time, those early days. Until, about a week after moving in, things started to change.

Deliveries. A stove. A fridge. A laundry machine. Crazy crazy stuff. Life-transforming machines. Our washing machine was a good one, but the stove and fridge were the cheapest possible examples of their species. We were (and are) planning a much different future kitchen, and didn't want to spend money until we knew what we'd need. But though inexpensive, they still work just fine. Here's our very first meal getting ready for the oven, a simple 5-cheese mac'n'cheese concoction:

Lifestyle revolution indeed. Clean clothes, and hot, non-rotten food. Incredible.

In preparation for our new stove's arrival, we had had the foresight to get a shiny red new can of gas with which to cook. And that fateful day, September 24th, when everything arrived, we hooked it up, and first gazed with wonder upon its luminous blue flame.

Over the months, bags of rice got heaped in front of it. A tray was put atop, to serve as a storage surface. The can of gas is all but forgotten.

But it has not forgotten us. For today, miracle of miracles, three whole months since that first fire, the same can of gas is serving its purpose with amazing durability. Will it ever run out? Who knows? We have cooked 98% of our meals for a quarter of a year, benefitting from its incredible stamina. It it a well of power which may never dry up.

And so, this Hanukkah, I think about the oil lasting a whole week longer than expected so many milennia ago, and I have to chuckle. If they'd only had a fuel source like this, all of history might have changed.

Burn on, o wondrous can of gas! May your clear blue flame last through the ages!