…At my house?
Not much.
You might remember that a few months ago, I had one of these:
but then, I did this (you remember, right?):
AND as a result, Mr. and I took out our stove and deposited it into the garbagio (which, historically, is also the final destination of many of my cooking endeavors).
Okay, not all my dinners are garbage; maybe far fewer than some.. But I have noted in past posts that I’m not a particularly gifted cook; certainly not the cook my Mr deserves.
One of the chapters in a favorite cookbook, Peg Bracken’s “The I Hate to Cook Cookbook” contains a chapter called “The Daily Grind.” I have yet to decide if making what I make is the daily grind, or if that describes Mr’s having to eat it.
I’ll save you the trouble of revisiting the prior post and remind you that this is the face of one of the people I’ve fed over the years.
Ah the irony. We’re in the early stages of a fairly major kitchen renovation. This first phase is DIY driven, and we are working with a kitchen designer to plan out the next phase. So far, Mr (an excellent cook, btw, both by breeding and by a desire not to starve) has selected some pretty lovely appliances. I’m holding out hope that one of them will be one of these:
Living without a stove is hardly a sacrifice to me. In fact we’re managing pretty well: I have a fairly basic collection of appliances in my current culinary tool belt. Although we do have a working oven, these are the kitchen appliances that I find myself using the most:
First…a Keurig coffee maker. I was against these, until I was for them. A quick, hot cuppa in any flavor at any time of day? Yes’ please,
Second…a Ninja Air Fryer.
Does this kitchen impaired blogger realize this appliance is just a mini convection oven? Yes, she does. One that restores full quality and texture to pizza and chicken wings when they are reheated. This same blogger has always considered reheated pizza to be one of life’s travesties… the bad kind of gooey cheese, slimy….like something out of a horror film, “Attack of the Reheated Cheese.”. BUT the day and the leftover pizza was SAVED when this device came on the scene, restoring beauty to the world, ending all political discord, making leftover pizza great again.
My hero.
ALSO!!!! IF YOU HAVE AN AIR FRYER (OF ANY SHAPE) AND DON”T USE THEM ALREADY, THE CULINARY GODS HAVE INVENTED THESE FOR OUR CONVENIENCE:
Next up is this little gadget, a must for someone who eats popcorn for lunch, as one does.
This particular model has cracked the secret popcorn code whereby the Popcorn button accurately predicts the exact amount of time necessary to pop nearly every kernel without overcooking the earlybirds. Science or sorcery? Perhaps it is, indeed a “Magic Chef.”
And finally, this recent discovery:
Speaking of science….. This induction cooktop is temporarily filling the shoes of our stove. I learned the hard way that it does not work with all cookware. The science, you see, is that induction technology uses electromagnetic energy so our particular non-stick cookware did not, erm, cook. I discovered this while making one of my easy-button brunches for company. “Sure, lets have them over, I’ll make brunch because it’s so easy.” The only induction-compatible pans I had at the time were NOT non-stick. Hence, my brunch stuck and that first endeavor went the way of the stove (which I noted above somewhere around line/paragraph 5).
Fortunately, popcorn pairs well with mimosas.
I’m also a big fan of my electric griddle, which I use all the time and SHOULD have used for brunch. However, I was out to prove that “I really don’t need a kitchen” ….and clearly, that day I proved otherwise.
Time to check out what’s cooking in actual kitchens as my blogging friends are likewise detailing their favorite kitchen helpers. Kindly check out:
Daenel at Living Outside the Stacks
Bettye at Fashion Schlub
Leslie at Once Upon a Time & Happily Ever After
Sally at Within a World of My Own
Iris at Iris’ Original Ramblings
Jodie at Jodie’s Touch of Style
Who doesn’t like to peek behind the scenes and see inside people’s homes?
The second Friday of each month is when this group of seven bloggers link up to share their workspaces,
homes, towns… or whatever our fearless leader, the fabulous Bettye, proposes.
Make sure you visit everyone to see where the magic happens!
Okay, okay – now we’re name calling?! 🙂 I do love your comment though: “permission not to cook”.
But I can tell you – at no time in the kitchen growth have I “willingly” looked at cookbooks!
My DH, bless his heart, used to read me receipts from the newspaper. He was one of those tho LOVED to eat, with a wife who HATED to cook..
Iris
Oh, my, what grand chuckles. Sadly, at your expense. I am sorry. That Cuisinart deal looks like a boom box. I have no idea about using it. My mom had a Corning Ware stove top that I hated with a passion. Slow as molasses to cook anything, then made a horrible mess that had to be cleaned with this special scouring powder. It required special pots and pans, too. I saw absolutely no redeeming features about it. Except it was pretty when it was clean.
Popcorn is good any time and for any meal…just sayin’. We have popcorn supper. High five, sister.
I very much like your convection oven…oh, silly me, your air fryer. I have one. Red. But it is so small. I opted for color rather than functionality and practicality. So, we do one tater tot at a time. But the appliance looks nice on my countertop.
You make me laugh. Thank you for that. Yesterday was a hard day. Today was better. And your post cheered me up. How are your parents??
I am one of the few people in the world without an air fryer (I also don’t have Amazon Prime). But, I do have a husband with a Blackstone Griddle…so there’s that. I don’t have a favorite kitchen gadget but really like my Pampered Chef stone bakeware (I’ve baked in exactly two of them).
I have to admit you’re a brave woman getting rid of your kitchen during the summer especially when you do so much outside! But, if it were close to Christmas, you’d also be busy putting up that fabulous branch o’fairy lights. So, I guess now is the best time, right?
https://marshainthemiddle.com/
Ooh, that mistake-proof popcorn maker DOES sound magical. They (THEY, not ME, because *I* will only be working there for about another 5 minutes) could use that at work, as SOMEONE’S (again, not me) specialty is burning the microwave popcorn and eau de popcorning the entire building.
Yuck.
I’ve been intrigued by air fryers…I won’t have an oven in my new place (there’s no “new place” yet but none of them have ovens), I wonder if an air fryer would fill that gap.
We have twice been evacuated out of hotel rooms with actual firemen on scene due to burnt popcorn. We’ve also burnt popcorn at home and the bags go immediately outside. Once time, however, the microwave itself was unsalvageable. Forget nuclear weapons, you could just pipe in the smell of burnt popcorn and poof, white flag 🏳!
An air fryer could be PERFECT for your new place! Most are multitaskers and have bake and roast settings. I’ve seen 10-in-one versions…can’t imagine what they other 7 things are…but fingers crossed that it vacuums and makes the bed!
No stove? NO STOVE??? I am in awe of this. I love that you started with the coffee maker. Gotta have those priorities straight!
ABSOLUTELY! It would be that or a beer cooler 🤣.
The induction cooktop has filled the stove gap really well, I prefer the instaheat of a gas stove, but I’m still able to make pasta salads and omelettes, so that’s been helpful
.
I forgot to note your post’s mention of the Instapot! My brother and SIL ADORE theirs and use it for everything! I haven’t exactly Grandma’s Microwaved it (love that) but I was reluctant to have to learn a new appliance when the ones I have already push me to my limits,
As always I had to read half of your post to my husband because it was funny funny and even more funny!!
Maybe the two of us ought to come up with a cookbook of how to cook when you don’t want to cook for someone who really wants to eat!!
And those two reasons are exactly why I let Rob cook more now. He has become quite a chef!!
Xoxo
Jodie
http://www.jtouchofstyle.com
Music to my ears, Jodie!
So here’s more irony: I am LOST without my kitchen island (RIP) even more so than any other change to the kitchen. I have also long-term loaned my car to one of my kiddos, so on-the-spot access to ingredients is now also a workaround. Those two things are like permission not to cook, and yet, more than ever, I am looking at recipes as if “OTHERWISE” I’d be making squash casserole with breadcrumbs. Let me tell you, NO I would NOT! But I am definitely acting the part. More than gadgets, I think I am a connoisseur d’excuses. (And I shouldn’t post that before Iris checks in, or I’m toast, HAHA). Mmmm, toast sounds good, rn.