There have been many hobbies which have caught my eye over the years only to be left unexplored due to a lack of free time. I considered using this free inquiry project as an opportunity to delve into one of them. Maybe it was time, at last, to pick up an instrument, any instrument, and learn how to create my own music. Perhaps I could finally make manifest that miniature Christmas village I have intended to craft ever since I found out how crazy expensive those picturesque little buildings are to purchase. Forty dollars for a hot chocolate stand? Give me a break.

But alas, I had underestimated how much time this program would demand, which is pretty much all of it. I don’t have time for hobbies, I don’t even time to cook a decent meal. I feel like it’s been weeks since I ate something that didn’t come out of the toaster or microwave. I’m pretty sure I would be developing scurvy by now if it weren’t for my daily homemade smoothies.

That’s when I heard a distant call coming from my pantry. It was the Instant Pot I received for my last birthday, but haven’t used yet because it’s an electric pressure cooker and pressure cookers are scary. Yes, I’m intimidated by new technology, which really bodes well for my prospects in this class, but add to that the fact that it has a threatening array of a hundred buttons on the front of it and I tapped out before the fight even started. Call me crazy, but I like it when cooking my dinner doesn’t have the possibility of ending in a large explosion.

Am I being irrational? Yes. Is it time to get over it and learn how to use this thing? Also, yes. Therefore, my goal for the free inquiry project is to become a proficient user of my potentially perilous Instant Pot.

The first step in conquering any foe is to ‘know thy enemy’. So, I have begun this adventure by starting where most people only end up as a very last resort, reading the instructions.

Next week, we get cooking.