Cooked Under Pressure My mother loved her pressure cooker and gave testimony as if in a commercial: Preserves vitamins, fast cooking! Energy efficient! Sterilizes your food! Even quick-cooking vegetables like spinach, escarole, and broccoli went under the power of pressure, set the valve jiggling as if it might explode at any second. My father arrived as Mother served the meal. He washed his hands and ate in silence, while pressure built in that small dinette. We knew he could blow …