Since boiling water is a snap in a Westy, no matter what the weather,
here are three ways I take advantage of that:

1. French press coffee pot. These are the glass coffee pots with a
plunger-like top you can get at Starbucks and less expensive places. You
put the coffee in the bottom of the glass  coffeepot. Boil some water in
a separate, ordinary pot. Pour boiling water in over coffee, put plunger
top on top of glass coffeepot, but do not push the plunger down until
coffee has brewed for 4 minutes. After 4 minutes, push plunger down
(which presses the grains to the bottom) and pour.

At one Starbucks they said this was the way coffee  experts tasted all
kinds of coffee. I worried about using glass, but keep it in a shoebox
and it has not broken yet.

Chemex coffee makers (glass again, shaped like an hourglass) are hard to
find, but let you make drip coffee. You boil water in a separate pot, put
filter in the Chemex, add coffee, pour boiling water over coffee in
filter. Excellent Drip coffee.  Same problem with glass, but shoebox or
larger should help prevent breakage.

2. Ramen noodles. (Not a major discovery, I admit.)  Ramen noodles are
dried noodles with soup flavorings. The chicken one, for example, tastes
close to chicken noodle soup.  All you do is boil water, pour over
noodles, put in seasoning packet and let sit for 2-3 minutes. At discount
warehouses, you can buy a case of 12 or 24 packets for very little. Even
in grocery stores you can usually get a pack of five for less than a
dollar each.

3. Turkey dinner- -Westy style. Bring some cooked turkey, usually sliced
white meat, in fridge. Bring Stove Top Stuffing and can of your favorite
turkey gravy. (Or packet of dried gravy mix.)  Boil water for Stove Top
stuffing, pour over stuffing.  Warm gravy in pan, add turkey slices to
warm. Put together with stuffing and you have turkey and stuffing with
gravy. Open can of cranberry sauce for garnish, if desired.

The other thing I like about boiling water, instead of cooking lots of
things inside, is that it is less likely to mess up the Westy with grease
or spatter stains.

Bon Appetit!

Maureen Stretch
Natick, Mass.
91 Vanagon GL Westy "Johann"