![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.lablit.com\/images\/Microwave.jpg\")
\n*Push the button:* Not just heat, but TURBO heat<\/em><\/p>\n
\nPart of the fun of staying with someone else’s family for Christmas is working out the alien gadgetry. When it transpired that the serving of Christmas dinner was going to coincide precisely with the season finale of Dr Who<\/em>, I failed utterly in convincing the ancient VCR machine (remember those?) to record. It wasn’t my fault, though: it seems the cat had taken to napping on top of it and crucial cables had been removed to forestall any unwanted electrocutions. But I did just about manage the male-oriented corkscrew<\/a>, and aced all the female-safe white goods, including the breadmaker. The cooker was a bit of a bother: I loathe halogen burners, and it’s hard enough to get a turkey done to perfection without the oven temperature running about five degrees cooler than advertised.<\/p>\n \nStill, it wouldn’t be Christmas without a few tears before port and Stilton. I hope you all had a good one, and managed not to set your in-law’s kitchens on fire with the Christmas pudding.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Forget the Large Hadron Collider: there are scarier things afoot right here in the heart of Suffolk. If you hear news of a black hole yawning open a few dozen miles northeast of Ipswich, it was only me, trying to … Continue reading