Getting better stuff when you microwave

How to enjoy a microwave oven... 

Wirecutter: 7 Things Our Microwave Expert Does to Instantly Improve the Performance of Any Microwave, 2024-Nov-18 by Rachel Wharton

I have to admit that most of what I learned came not so much from my hands-on testing, but from learning how microwaves work. Like many people, I had thought microwaves cook from the inside out, by heating up the water in foods. That’s not true. ...

The second thing I learned is that despite engineering tricks designed to move microwaves around the interior of these machines (and a spinning carousel), all microwaves struggle to heat foods evenly.

Summary:

1. Cut food into even pieces
2. Spread food out
3. Use a cover (including just paper or paper towels which are NOT recycled--recycled paper can include metallic threads)
4. Separate different food items
5. Higher power is faster but seldom better, although heating homogenous liquids and cooking pasta FAST is okay
6. Stir, flip, or move your food
7. Let it rest for about a minute

Progress is not glamorous

Works in Progress: The World of Tomorrow, 24-Dec-5 by Virginia Postrel

For progress to be appealing, it must offer room for diverse pursuits and identities, permitting communities with different commitments and values to enjoy a landscape of pluralism without devolving into mutually hostile tribes. The ideal of the one best way passed long ago. It was glamorous in its day but glamour is an illusion.

The Best Gifts

RobinSloan.com: 2024 Gift Guide https://www.robinsloan.com/newsletters/2024-gift-guide/ 

 

Consumable gifts are the best gifts, because they do the most graceful thing of all: they disappear, thus rescuing gift-giving from its terminal katamari ball state.

Houston high-rise apartment at 2016 Main Street

I'm devoted to reframing Houston as a great place for urban living. In every city, different residents have different views of their city. So I'm here today to promote my view. 

You can read about the apartment my friend Kaye and her husband are putting on the market. It will help you see what's possible. Amazingly, this building, 2016 Main, was built in 1964. It sits on the edge of downtown, technically in Midtown. 

Whatever your lifestyle, you can find a compatible place in Houston, if you accept our diversity and sprawl. Here are some insightful articles on the sprawl from William Fulton, Dug Begley, and Benjamin Schneider. 

I hope all this helps you build an empowered understanding of what's possible in Houston. 

Get the flyer and its links: Download 2016-Main-Apartment--722-for-sale

Our Trip to Seattle