During the seven months it took to put the addition on to our house, I learned many, many valuable lessons. As I’ve mentioned before about a month after breaking ground we lost our kitchen. It was demolished to make room for the new butler’s pantry and for the next six months, from July through December, I did all of my cooking using nothing but a microwave. I did break down on Thanksgiving, took the smoker out of the shed, and smoked our turkey.
I tell a lie: in August I broke down and bought a Sanyo ECJ-N55W rice cooker and it was one of the best investments I’ve ever made. It prepares rice, white or brown, beautifully. Results that just can’t be duplicated on stovetop.
It can do a lot more. Not only is it great for steaming any sort of grain—kasha, steelcut oats, etc.—but it’s great for steaming vegetables, fish, shrimp, or sausages, too. I recall that back when I was a college undergraduate I shared a goodsized house with a number of other guys (the house belonged to the university and they rented rooms through the conventional student housing system). One of my housemates was a Taiwanese kid who cooked all of his meals using his rice cooker. Now I understand.
So, get yourself a decent rice cooker. You won’t regret it.
译文:
我在改建中学到的东西
在过去的七个月里，因为我们的房子要改建，我学到了很多很多的道理。我前面已经提过，在动工后一个月，我们没有了厨房。为了给新的餐具室留空间，它被推倒了。所以，在接下来的六个月里，从七月到十二月，我煮食物只能用一个微波炉，没有其他的任何东西。在感恩节时，我终于崩溃了，我把熏炉搬出屋子，用它来烤我们的火鸡。
我说谎了：八月时我就受不了了，买了一个 三洋ECJ-N55W 电饭煲，这是我做过最成功投资中 的一次。无论是白米还是黑米，它都能将米饭做得香喷喷的。这用火炉肯定是无法做到的。
它还能做更多的事。它不仅能将各种谷物——荞麦，燕麦等等都蒸得很棒，——对于蔬菜，鱼，虾，或是香肠，也能将它们蒸得很美味。这让我想起我的大学时光。那时我和其他人合住一间很舒适的房子(这些房子是学校的，学校通过传统学生住房制度把它们租给学生。) 我有个室友是台湾人，他所有的饭菜都是用自己的电饭煲煮的。现在，我终于理解他了。
所以，给自己买个像样的电饭煲吧。你不会后悔的。