The hood is presently hardwired. How do I turn this into a socket for the microwave?

You can purchase a "male" plug and have a receptacle installed. Put the male plug onto the wires leaving the microwave, or replace the entire cord with a heavy enough gauge wires and put the male plug onto the end and plug into your new receptacle.

Mowerman,

Thanks for your input, but I am truly a beginner at this. Not quite sure what you mean. Do I need a dedicated hookup to the fusebox? Any help is great!