Baking: suddenly I realize I don't

As I was eating my home Thanksgiving dinner, I realized that I seldom use my oven --simply because baking and roasting are 2 cooking techniques that I seldom use. Maybe once a month. And I have a beautiful gas stove..with convection baking (what is that?) and even a bottom tray food warmer. I never use that --I'm afraid I will truly forget my food. Dearie loves the food warmer.

And I don't even use my built-in stove top grill. Really, I don't want a mess all over the place.

Instead I tend sautee/stir fry or steam food (meaning meat slices or eggs) for cooked dishes. Boiling is something I usually reserve for pasta and beans.

Yes, true I don't make dessert except for a dessert fruit focaccia now. It's dearie who enjoys inventing the sweet concoctions.


I know some of you love your pressure cooker, crock pots but I haven't used either. Not really keen to buy more appliances: I still have personal belongings in another city.

Baking and roasting are my preferred methods of cooking at this time of the year. I love roasted winter vegetables, especially Brussels Sprouts, which I do in a cast iron pan. I think the thing I like about it is very little prep is needed, and you don't have to do much to it (a little olive oil, salt and pepper) and it comes out yummy. You can also do a bunch of things all at the same time. Like tonight, I roasted the sprouts and at the same time baked potatoes and an acorn squash. I also like to bake desserts, but I haven't been doing much of that lately.

See, and I hate to saute or do anything on my stove top because it's a pain to clean!

I use mostly the oven or the grill for all our cooking. Oh, and my crock pot. I love my crock pot!

Heh, and this morning I used the oven to take the bite off a freezing cold kitchen. :p

Our range is probably the least-used appliance in our house.
Between the crockpot (just realized I could cook spaghetti squash in that, as well as all the usual stuff), the toaster oven (wonderful for most main dishes) and the outdoor BBQ (especially for that occasional steak), I've discovered that the range isn't all that useful....

Your convection oven is wonderful. It circulates the air around the food so everything cooks evenly. You can usually lower the cook temperature by 25 degrees. And a food warmer? You're in heaven!

I love baking, especially in winter because it warms the place up quite nicely. I don't do it very often because I'm the only one to eat it and that's a recipe for disaster. I also love roasting things. I don't boil/steam veggies much any more--they get sauteed or stir-fried much of the time, even broccoli. (Actually, I don't think I've boiled a vegetable except for potatoes since I left home. Too many bad memories...)