I'm back...and I have gas!

(HA! I knew that title would catch your attention)

 First, I have to apologize for going MIA this summer--I had big plans to start up the Gas Garden again.  I read an article about lazy gardening where instead of using containers, you can plant directly into a bag of soil.  Apparently, the plastic deters weeds, controls moisture, and is less messy than digging in the ground...sounds like my cup of tea!  But, alas, summer plan were quickly placed on the back burner due to, oh I don't know, job interview, packing, cleaning, moving, unpacking, starting new job, and putting house up for sale...you know, the typical stuff.  So, yep, I've started a new job and moved to the mountains baby!  And with that move has come some adjustments.

In addition to pretty much having the majority of our house in storage (until current home sells) and introducing our dog to the local native animals that like to frolic through the front yard (bunnies, deer, and our neighbor's roaming goat), I have had to adjust to cooking with gas.  I've wanted a gas stove since I started canning...mainly for logistical reasons.  See, the canner pot I have is roughly 2 times larger than the size of the burner, thus creating severe discolorations on the stovetop in addition to teetering haphazardly off the edge.  And, heaven help me if there's some food substance or liquid I forget to wipe up before bringing the canner to a roaring boil...that's a caked on mess that even Mr. Clean couldn't get out.  It seems like gas stoves are way cooler for canning--the burner covers sit up higher and it seems like all those chefs of Food Network recommend the ease of gas cooking.  So, after the initial shock and worry about cooking over gas wore off (who hasn't heard of someone's eyelids getting burned off when igniting a gas stove!?) I set to the task of cooking my first meal over gas: chicken-in-rice with steamed vegetables.  It may not sound super complicated or even worthy of Guy Fieri's attention, but one of my favorite meals growing up was chicken-in-rice...basically, you cook the chicken and cut it up, whip up some rice (preferably yellow rice) and mix them together...simple, but somehow super delicious.
Back to present day:

• cook chicken, done.  
• steam vegetables, done.  
• cook rice,  adventure begins.  

Sure cooking on a gas stove has it's conveniences: better temperature control, less preheat time, even heat distribution, can still eat during power outages (and if you grew up in Florida, this one is a biggie).  But, it also has it's disadvantages; namely usage by someone who has never used a gas stove before.
Imagine standing in  a kitchen in front of a gas stove for the first time EVER.  The dials are marked Lite/High/Off.  Yep, that's it.  No Med/MedHi/Low/Warm settings...just basically on, high, and off. You all know the basics of cooking rice (without an official Cuisinart Rice Cooker) right?

It should have gone like this: 
boil water, stir in rice, return to a boil, cover, simmer 20 minutes, fluff with fork.


But what actually happened was this:
lite burner, turn to High, boil water, stir in rice, return to boil, cover, figure out how to simmer with only High setting, notice rice boiling over, lift pot handler so half pot remains on burner, boiling reduces, cover, stand over burner holding half pot on burner 20 minutes, uncover, fluff with fork, explain cooking process to husband while consuming yummy dinner, get laughed at by husband for weird manner of cooking rice, husband explains that dials aren't marked with Med/MedHi/Low settings but simply turn down dial to adjust flame height, ask husband why he didn't feel the need to share information since he grew up with gas stove, watch husband shrug, refrigerate leftovers, make husband clean up dishes.

Yeah, so when all those fancy cooking show hosts tell the audience that you can control the heat better with gas stoves versus electric, they should also show you how to actually adjust the bloomin' heat.