Pizza Bump

[talon]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/17/dining/17house.html?hpw

When it comes to dinner decisions, especially during the week, the driving force for most cooks is cutting down on preparation time, appliance and food manufacturers say. But even a little preparation is too much for some. That helps explain why the must-have feature on many of the counter-top ovens at the housewares exhibition is the pizza<http://www.nytimes.com/info/pizza/?inline=nyt-classifier> bump.

I admit I am a gadget slut.

I love all sorts of kitchen gadgets and workshop tools and things. I own several infomercial products (and love them). But I've got to admit, I don't get the newest rash of kitchen appliances and gadgets.

Take that "pizza bump" for example. I am not at all interested in heating up frozen pizza. I rarely buy frozen pizza.

Scratch that. I can't remember the last time I bought a frozen pizza.

I do buy Papa Murphey's bake-it-yourself pizza now and then, but I bake that in my full sized oven on a pizza stone.

I am kind of interested in a panini pan, because I like muffulettas and they are best cooked in a panini pan, but I want a cast iron stove-top one, not an electric one.

I'm not interested in making toast and poaching an egg at the same time - or those muffin breakfast sandwich machines or those toasters that cook hot dogs and buns at the same time, but I do like my GT Express cooker and my rice cooker.

I certainly don't want an oven for chicken nuggets - mine are freshly made and need a skillet of hot oil in which to deep fry them.

I love my bread machines, but I only seem to use the "dough only" setting. I shape and rise and bake the breads in my regular oven.

I have a microwave oven - my mother gave it to me 30 some years ago. I use it mostly to reheat things and haven't used it in more than a month. I may

I don't want a better microwave, with "trucook" technology. I want a better bread machine with multiple dough only settings. I want a dough only setting for rye bread, and one for whole wheat bread, and one for gluten free bread (and a separate beater and bowl for the gluten free bread), and one for sourdough bread, and one for sweet breads, and one for vegetable breads.

And it kind of squicks me that food manufacturers and gadget makers work together to "design" foods for the gadgets - it reminds me of my "creepy crawler" maker.

They can make the gadgets, but I'm not their target audience.