Life Without Hot Water

Two weeks ago, our hot water heater quit working. My husband and I decided to wait until our next payday to pay cash for a new one rather than put the purchase on a credit card. So, I have had an interesting two weeks without the luxury of hot water.

At first, it was kind of fun having to heat water on the stove to wash the dishes. I poured the hot water into the sink and then rinsed with cold water. I soon found this combination didn't work well, as it didn't take long for the rinse water to cool down the soapy water in the sink. Next, I used a large plastic bowl in the sink for the hot water and rinsed with the cold next to the bowl. That worked well, except for washing the pots and pans. Our alternative method to wash our skillet was to boil water in it, wipe clean, and rinse. It wasn't perfect, but it did get the job done.

Laundry wasn't too much of a challenge. Most detergents nowadays work well in cold- water washes. The worst part of no hot water was when it came to bathing. Luckily, my mother doesn't live too far away and going to her house for a quick shower made a hard task work out well. My husband did experiment with heating water on the stove for an actual bath. That turned out to be a trial and error endeavor. I thought the bath water would cool off before he could get a second pot of hot water in there. I was wrong. He said it turned out that his bath water was too hot and he had to add more cold.

Tomorrow, we plan on heading to Home Depot to purchase our new water heater, I can't say the last two weeks have been easy, but we did manage. I still have dirty dishes piled high in the kitchen. There's only so many dishes you can wash at a time in a plastic bowl. So, by tomorrow night we will be back in business with hot water again. No more trips to mom's to shower. No more mornings where I have to pour cold water over my head to wet my hair down, and no more rinsing my mouth with cold water after brushing my teeth. I don't think I will ever complain about water being too hot again.

I gave a lot of thought about what kind of recipe I should put with an article about not having hot water. I came up with my recipe for my favorite coffee at Starbucks where it's only served at Christmas time. I get my craving for it at other times and had to come up with a recipe so I could enjoy it anytime.

Peppermint Mocha Cappuccino

1 small peppermint patty -- unwrapped and quartered
2 t. milk
1 C. hot brewed coffee
Whipped cream

In large microwave-safe mug place peppermint patty pieces and milk. Microwave on High for 30 seconds or until candy is melted. Stir in hot coffee until mug is almost full. Top with whipped cream and sprinkle with red sugar crystals. Serve immediately.