I’d rather write, or read, than cook. Love my computer. My oven, stovetop, mixer, etc., not so much. But computer games and kitchen gadgets rank about the same on my LIKE LIST.

No. 1       INSTANT POT

A kitchen gadget, the INSTANT POT just hit the top spot on my LIKE LIST. I was suspicious at first. Over the years, I’ve heard a lot of scary tales about pressure cookers. But the reviews on the Instant Pot made it sound pretty much like a magic. I ordered one and let it sit on the counter about a week… Remember those scary tales? Then I tried it, and fell in love. It’s wonderful. Put the food in, follow the instructions, press the button, go away. After the allotted time (or more) has passed, open the pot and serve. This puts food preparation on my schedule. I put the food in when I take a break, and then we eat when we’re ready. It’s great! And easy to clean. Don’t take my word for it, go to Amazon and read the reviews. (By the way, the Instant Pot sears, makes yogurt, and does non-pressure slow cooking as well as pressure fast cooking.)

No. 2      CUISINART GRIDDLER ELITE

And there’s another gadget that resides near the top of my list. It’s the Cuisinart Griddler Elite Grill. We aren’t that interested in outdoor grilling now that we live in windy Oklahoma. We like grilled food but waiting for a calm day to grill… well you have to live here to understand. But, with the Griddler, we can have grilled food anytime. And after the griddler is hot, it’s two minutes to sear a couple of steaks on both sides and then cook for two to five minutes more. If you did the math, you see that cooking time is four to seven minutes. This fits my schedule well. More time writing and less time cooking. I think this works best for empty nesters, It works really well for the two of us. And, It’s easier to clean than the outdoor grill, plus I don’t have to spend time getting Dan motivated!

No. 3      CUISINART FOOD PROCESSOR

And, there is one more item near the top of my list, my Cuisinart Food Processor. It’s the workhorse of my kitchen (when we aren’t eating out). Like the barker at the fair shouts, “it slices, it dices, it mixes, it blends… etc.” It does all that, but mostly for us, it makes cookies. Toss the ingredients in the bowl, press the button, and the flour, sugar, and eggs, etc. turn into cookie dough. I store the dough in the fridge, bake six cookies at a time, and we have cookies fresh from the oven every day if we want. We like it!

One more good thing! I don’t have to hunt for room to store these three items. I found space for them when I threw out the appliances they replace. My old slow cooker, outta here.  Gave the indoor rotisserie away. The outdoor grill has been retired – could be reinstated for a family meal on a still day. And the big mixer is outta here. Other things could be on their way out. If they aren’t fast and don’t work to my writing schedule, their days are numbered!