Close to Nowhere

I might have mentioned a time or two that I really love gadgets. I really love new gadgets.

Back when we used to go to the Mid-South Fair, Pop hated to go in the buildings with me. There were always at least 10 new gadgets that I was pretty sure I could no longer live without, now that I knew they existed.

One of our first Christmases that we were married we bought several of this new gadget and gave them to everyone as Christmas gifts.

They were these nifty slicer-dicer things and I used mine for a long time making French fries. I guess the success of that gadget contributed to my ongoing addiction to new playthings.

My newest gadget is a great one. I bought a top-of-the-line, elite air fryer oven. It fries, it dehydrates, it bakes, it’s a rotisserie, etc. I’m thinking it can peel the potatoes it’s going to fry.

The first thing I had to do was find someplace to put it. My kitchen is tiny -- really tiny. I have no counter space for gadgets.

I bought a portable island for the kitchen and it helps some. But when my shiny, red air fryer arrived, I did not have anyplace to put it.

Back when bread ovens were so popular, I bought one of those (naturally). I used it for a long time; it made great bread. I had decided some time ago to drag that back out, as I wanted to make bread again.

Now I was really in a fix. Two countertop appliances and no countertop.

I spent an entire day moving stuff around and shuffling dining table chairs around, but I made a place. I moved the portable island over to a corner and am using it as a countertop for the bread oven and new air fryer.

It took several trips to the grocery store before I had everything I needed to make bread. One of the main things I’d forgotten was dry milk. Do you know that dry milk costs more than real milk?

After the milk, bread flour, yeast,  spices, etc. the loaf of bread will not turn out to be a cheaper way to get bread. So far, all I’ve done is clean it up and set it out anyway.

And the air fryer? It’s sitting right beside the bread oven. Have I used it yet? Yes, I have. I made pizza rolls.

I may have to watch the infomercial again. I can’t think of anything to air fry. (It’s really a convection oven. Don’t tell anyone I told you.)

Maybe I’ll dehydrate some bacon and some fruit.