Did I Ever Tell You How Much I Love My Toaster Oven?

I have been the chief cook and bottle washer in my home for most of my life. I must admit I had a little resistance to most new advances in kitchen technology. I didn't want a microwave or an ice maker, or a water filter or a 190 degree water faucet for making hot drinks or a slow cooker. Do you believe I didn't even want a dishwasher when they first came on the scene. Our first one was  not a "built-in". I'm really not sure why I resisted but I was just happy with the way things were and didn't see any reason to change or to spend $$$$ on an appliance when it would be better spent on a pair of shoes or a purse.

After I was seduced into adopting each one of these appliances, I came to a sudden realization "how could I have ever lived without this?" And, much as I hated to do it, had to tell DH - "you were right about..........."

Well, we always had a toaster. We received one as a wedding gift. It took me eons of years to jump from the toast dark ages to purchase a toaster oven. When we first began homemaking, I cooked for two, then three, then four and then five. We regressed the same way. From five, to four, to three............ I finally made the toaster oven switch when I started to cook for one.

here she is - Miss T.O.

 

In my new little toaster oven, I toast, bake, and reheat. Some things just beg to be reheated in a toaster oven rather than the microwave. The microwave makes pizza soft and mushy but the T.O. makes it taste brand new. Same with empanadas. There are some things you want to be soft and mushy, like spaghetti and meatballs or soup. But pizza and empanadas want to be hot, toasty and crisp. So does an apple crisp. I even baked these little apple crisps in the T.O. I put the extra ones in the fridge and when I want one for dessert, It warm it up in the T.O.

Apple Crisp

I toast a half bagel in the morning in T.O. I make pizza from an Indian Naan, slathered with my marinara sauce, mozzarella and basil in little T.O. I "fried" bacon in her the other morning. Just layed a few slices of bacon on the foil lined tiny tin that came with her and cranked her up to 450 and in just a few minutes I had nice crispy bacon. So much more economical that heating up my BIG oven to 450 for the bacon or making a mess of the stove top by splashing bacon fat all over it and the adjoining walls.

As you can plainly see, this advance in kitchen tech has made me very very happy.