Under Pressure

I was totally defeated last night by this 1980 model pressure cooker.   And yes, I still use a pressure cooker.  Does anyone else?

But back to the story of defeat.  I found these beautiful little Golden Yukon potatoes at Kroger last week.  My plan was to put them in the pressure cooker to get them tender and then sauté them in butter with chopped green onions and red peppers.

I chopped, melted butter, cooked hamburger steaks and let the pressure cooker do its thing for about 7 minutes.  Under the cold water it went, and the steam released.  The top would not come off!  The little thingy on top that should drop when the steam releases was stuck in the up position.

I soaked the pot in ice water, pounded a screw driver with a hammer directly on the thingy, wiggled the top until I had an aching shoulder and had hurt my hand.

Howard came in. Men can open anything.  Not so.  Every few minutes we would try again.  It was becoming a personal challenge.  I even took it outside and pounded it on the ground.  No luck.

At one point I looked up and said, "We look like we just stepped out of an 'I Love Lucy' episode.
Bottom line....we never got it open.  It's going in the trash along with my beautiful little potatoes entombed inside. We ate cold hamburger steaks in silence.  It was sad.

I grew up in a household that included my mother, grandmother and great aunt (and my daddy). Mother worked, and since Aunt Ruth had retired from Northwest as dietician for the cafeteria, she was in charge of the kitchen.  I had to leave home to learn to cook.  There was no room for me in the kitchen.

Listening to the sound of the pressure cooker weight jiggling away is one that brings back comfort memories of childhood.

In case you think pressure cookers are not around anymore, do a search on the computer.  They are sleek and beautiful and will not blow up in your face.  How do you cook a chicken for chicken salad, or cook a pot of purple hull peas without one? Articles about PC food show up in cooking magazines and blogs.

So today I will buy another pressure cooker. There are so many to choose from....cool, sleek, beautiful ones that go on the stovetop and even electric ones.  I wonder if they make that comfort sound. Off to shop.