I would have killed for one of these as a kid

[spikesgirl58.livejournal.com]

My husband bought one for me for Christmas and surprised me with it - it was great!

Comments

[ejia-arath03.livejournal.com]

I would kill for a nice real oven, now. I miss baking things!

[spikesgirl58.livejournal.com]

I'm not much of a baker, but I would be lost if I didn't have one. It would be easier to live without a microwave.

[nottygypsy.livejournal.com]

All I wanted when I was 9, and I got it! Best memory ever!

[spikesgirl58.livejournal.com]

My cousin had one and would never let me get near it. My husband left it on my desk and addressed it from Santa. I had no clue who it was from, turned out that my bosses, a couple students and some friends were all responsible. I didn't know this until Christmas morning two weeks later.

The student had a ball playing with it. We made so many things that day and now we have willed it to a friend who is holding it for his granddaughter's birthday in order to surprise her.

You are right - best memory ever!

[nottygypsy.livejournal.com]

They are MAGIC!

[spikesgirl58.livejournal.com]

Mine certainly was! I had so much fun with it! Do you know they even make a cook book for it?

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

These things actually would do a semi-respectable job of baking when there's no jumping the gun and pulling out half-baked cakes due to being overexcited and impatient. I had a friend whose younger sister got one for xmas, and it was all the rage. Everyone got a cake of their own. The results weren't bad at all from what I can remember.

These days the modern excuse for the Easy Bake Oven is far worse than this, a friend of mine felt nostalgic and got one for her granddaughter and it was nothing at all like the original, there was a tiny pan, you could only make tiny cookies and some other things and the results she said were terrible. The new one doesn't get nearly as hot as the original either, I guess that whole lawyer-driven safety litigation nonsense. Want to teach a kid how to handle hot stuff in a kitchen? Show them how to do it first, and when they inevitably burn themselves, they won't do it again. Experience is the best teacher.

My mother taught me how to cook when I was very young. I'm a guy, pretty much a man's man and always did guy things even when I was a kid. I would make myself meals when I was alone, and occasionally for us both when she used to work two jobs. As time went on, I didn't do a lot of cooking. Sadly, I lost my mom in 2006. As it happened, I married a chef (after living together for 14 years). I do more cooking than ever in my life, and, even according to an executive chef, I do pretty well. What I keep finding out, all those early years watching and occasionally helping Mom cook is still there over 40 years later. Experience, and Mom, were the best teachers. :)

[spikesgirl58.livejournal.com]

This is a great story and one that I wish more people could tell. I remember my cousin's oven as being very different from the one I had, but it still did a great job. Because I'd gone through a culinary program, I was ready to take on the Easy Bake world and had some pretty crazy successes with it.

The best part of this story is that a young man went to the manufacturer and complained that they only came in 'girl' colors. He wanted to bake and he wanted an Easy Bake, but not in pink. They actually listened and gained my respect along the way.

I do think we try to protect kids too much these days. If I fell and scraped my knee, Mum put a bandage on it. Now the mum would take the kid to Emergency, then start a campaign against it, complete with a news letter and a website. I feel sorry for kids these days - they have no clue how much fin they miss.