Hmmm...if we are talking kitchen appliances I'd have to say the simple toaster oven. When we first bought our house we had to order appliances and we had a week or two without a stove/oven. We survived with an electric frying pan, a 2 burner electric cooktop, a toaster oven, and the crock pot. The toaster oven is still the countertop appliance that we use BY FAR the most. It's handy for baking or reheating small quantities and not heating up the entire house.