Easy-Bake ovens

I’m convinced that the Easy-Bake oven shaped me in weird and wonderful ways.

Oddly enough, I don’t figure my love of baked goods stems from childhood play. That you can probably chalk up to my sweet tooth and lack of restraint. ☺ The Easy-Bake oven didn’t make me feel grown up, domestic or stereotypically girly.

No, when it comes to baking I actually enjoy the baking process nearly as much as the icing-laden end result.

I know, pick yourself up off the floor. Admittedly, I cannot cook to save my life and I’m the furthest thing from a process-oriented person, yet the baking process is what draws me to cakes, cookies and all those sugary delights.

Or, I should say that my successes with the baking process are the draw. The Easy-Bake oven’s simple steps to baking success can be followed by just about anyone. A cannot-fail recipe breeds confidence.

That’s how the Easy-Bake oven influenced me most. It instilled self-assurance. Thank you, Kenner and Betty Crocker!

While it has been decades since I last played with an Easy-Bake oven, I cannot help but feel a similar attachment to my Cuisinart breadmaker – an appliance which reinforces baking pride through an easy, step-by-step process and what seems like some presto magic.

 AWESOME!

Blog bonus content: Today, Hasbro’s best-selling Easy-Bake toy is a microwave (partly due to the environmental shift away from incandescent lightbulbs and possibly to minimize the number of young hands scalded by touching tiny hot lights).

Pine for old-school Easy-Bake ovens? Check out YouTube for 1970s commercials or read “Why we love the Easy Bake Oven”— a tribute article published on Salon.com shortly after Ronald Howes, the toy’s inventor, died in 2010.

Comments

  1. I loved loved loved my Easy-Bake Oven! One of the most fun and hands-on childhood toys.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Readers' faves

Any excuse to celebrate (my guest post on 1000 Awesome Friends)

Retweets for mental health

Ironing boards with quiet mechanisms