Oven Lovin'

by Anna Campbell

Are you a baker?

I am!

Even more, I'm a carnivore from way back. I grew up in a farming family and farming families tend to go heavy on the protein because of all the hard physical work involved in running the property. And meat loves being roasted in an oven. All that dripping, roasty goodness? YUM!

As a consequence, I've always made great use of the ovens in the houses I've lived in. I've seen rental properties where it's clear nobody has ever touched the oven since it was installed. That would not be moi!

Nothing beats a roast chicken or a leg of lamb. And what says 'home' more loudly (or more fragrantly) than a casserole? And I love to bake treats as well. Especially biscuits and desserts. For some reason, I've never had great luck with cakes. I find doing a big tray of deliciousness in the oven is a great stress-beater and it gives you pretty instant gratification unlike other activities like, you know, WRITING! Not only that, baking makes you popular when you share the goodness around.

So you can imagine my horror six months ago, when in the middle of baking a chicken for my birthday dinner, my oven died. Picture shrieking and tearing of hair and running around like a loon! It wasn't pretty! But then nor was half-raw chicken, sadly.

A couple of weeks ago, some lovely men with hammers and screwdrivers installed a brand-new oven in my kitchen. It turns out ovens have changed size in the 20 years since the last one went in so there was cabinetry involved as well as electrical know-how. But I am now the proud possessor of a lovely oven and a half. Watch out, neighbors! You are about to be barraged with biscuits (or cookies for my American friends).

And, Oven, welcome to my house. I promise to love and care and treat you with respect... Ah, who am I kidding? I'm going to work this baby into the ground. Now where's that potato peeler? I can feel a roasty coming on!

So are you a carnivore? A baking fiend? Just a fiend, perhaps? What's your favorite thing to cook? Where do you do most of your cooking?

Gadgets, glorious gadgets--Kandy Shepherd

Anyone else share my addiction to kitchen gadgets? At this time of year, I find it hard to resist trawling the sales in search of some exciting new gizmo that I didn’t know I needed until I saw it marked down to “20% off the already reduced price”. Some people shop the sales for shoes, clothes and bed linen (okay, I do that too!) but each post-Christmas sale I promise myself just one new gadget.

This year, I am delighted with my brand new quiche pan—not only does it have a detachable bottom but that bottom is perforated with small holes for even heating and crispier pastry, (just like my pizza heating tray that was my three-years-ago purchase). I’m pleased to tell you that the cheese and caramelized onion quiche I baked in my new pan for Christmas visitors turned out perfect with no soggy bottom.Other favorite gadgets include: an apple peeler/slicer/corer that really works but I have to admit is a tad time consuming; a salad dressing maker that I liked so much I bought two (it isn’t quite like the photo here but you can get the idea); an amazing French vegetable peeler; and a garlic crusher with outsize holes (bought on a long-ago trip to Paris, France). Favorite of all is a set of measuring cups I bought at Disneyland while at the Romance Writers of America national convention in Orlando last year. Why have the regular kind when you can have Mickey measures?

I use most of my gadgets (except for the avocado slicer.) But I have to confess to a shelf full of beautifully colored silicon bakeware that I am just too chicken to use in a hot oven even though I’ve been told over and over it is guaranteed not to melt…

Like me, the characters in my books are interested in cooking (Maddy in LOVE IS A FOUR-LEGGED WORD is a chef-turned-magazine food editor; Serena the heroine of HOME IS WHERE THE BARK is a hopeless cook who tries very hard). At the moment, I am writing a character I want to be a gadget collector like me, but she is a trained chef and keeps telling me to please just give her quality, perfectly sharpened knives. Sigh… guess the gadget-collecting-character might have to find a home in a different story…

Do you have any thoughts on kitchen gadgets—maybe on one you could not be without or one that’s a waste of kitchen space? Please leave a comment for a chance to win a signed copy of HOME IS WHERE THE BARK IS. Include your email address if you want to be in the draw.

http://www.kandyshepherd.com