Either way, I baked a couple in the microwave last night. Now, I know that that doesn't sound like the most exciting thing ever, but this blog is about the little things as well as the big ones. I've never baked potatoes in the microwave, ergo it is a viable blog topic.
It all started with the potato button on our new microwave - but perhaps I should take a moment to explain the new microwave. A few weeks ago, I came downstairs in the morning to see a sign on our microwave with the word "Busted" in my brother's handwriting. I opened it, just to check it out, and saw the side plate had been blown off and was sitting on the turn table with a big, black scorch mark. Apparently, there had been flames and sparks involved in the microwave's demise.
For a few weeks after that, we used a microwave that was in our RV, but had never been used by us. The trailer microwave was old, grimy, and smelled suspicious. Furthermore, upon using it the first time I heard a variety of strange popping noises and discovered trace amounts of foreign material in my food. I also witnessed a small larvae-looking insect crawling out of the microwave. Needless to say, I avoided using this microwave whenever possible and covered my food when the microwave was necessary.
Eventually, however, my parents bought a new microwave. The new appliance is beautiful with its gleaming white color and variety of fancy buttons, one of which was the potato button. Taking care to poke each potato several times with a fork (lest the potatoes built up too much pressure and exploded) I placed the potatoes in the microwave, pressed the potato button (which, handily, let me select how many potatoes I was baking) and stood back in uncertain hesitancy. I was still concerned about spontaneous explosion, especially if the power of said explosion was especially energetic, causing the microwave door to blow off and hit me in the face. I was further concerned when I heard various sizzling and popping noises inside the microwave.
Seven minutes later, the microwave beeped, and guess what? The potatoes were baked! They actually turned out really well. So there you have it. If you want a baked potato, but don't have enough time to bake them in the oven, go the microwave route. It totally works!
