My very own easy bake oven...

When I was a little girl I remember wanting an easy bake oven more than anything (well..except for maybe barbies..and barbie clothes..and barbie cars..and ken dolls, skippers, etc.).  My mom never got me one because she always told me and my sister "there's a real oven in the kitchen, learn how to use it."  Now that I'm older I am grateful for this, for it's probably why I am as good of a cook/baker as I am today (thanks mom!).

With fall's recent arrival, I have been DYING to do some baking.  Mostly I want to bake anything that has pumpkin in it.  Since I live in China, aka "the land of no ovens," baking is nearly non-existent in homes, and the treats at the local bakeries aren't very good (a sweet roll does NOT need dried meat on it..blegh).  There are some good bakeries closer to downtown, but I miss the satisfaction of taking something hot and oooey gooey delicious out of the oven that I made myself.

Today my life in China will be forever changed.  Yes, I bought a toaster oven, aka "the big girl's easy bake oven."  It's taller/bigger then most toaster ovens and has a fan in it for better heat circulation (like a convection oven).  I think it will do just fine, but there will need to be a lot of experimenting.  I've been reading some articles about this, so I should be ready to go tomorrow.  Thankfully we are on a break from work again until October 5th, so I will have the time to bake/cook lots of fall goodies.  Chris and I are taking Eloy to Solana tomorrow for some delicious Italiano pizza and shopping (stocking up on sweaters!), then we'll head over to Jenny Lou's where I will probably go crazy buying baking supplies.  

I will definitely let you all know how it turns out.  I'll probably include pictures of the results too, since I love taking pictures of food! 

It's amazing I don't weigh 200 lbs.

-B