Ingenuity stew

The rock keeps the engine running.

You've just finished browning the beef and putting it in the crock pot with a mess of garden vegetables so they can stew all day until suppertime--when suddenly, without warning, the power goes out. Who ya gonna call?

Times like these I'm happy to share my life with clever people. Here's what it took to keep the crock-pot bubbling through a four-hour power outage:



1 undriveable car with gas in the tank
1 set of jumper cables 
1 driveable car (to jump-start the first one)
1 rock (to keep the accelerator cable in the "on" position)
1 power inverter (to plug into the cigarette lighter and tap the car's battery)
1 son-in-law who happens to be an electrical engineer

And there's our supper!

Piece of cake. The car kept chugging along all morning long to keep the crock-put running, which may not be the most energy-efficient way to cook supper, but at least we got some use out of a car that normally does nothing but sit there looking derelict. Now the whole house smells like beef stew. Supper, anyone?