Toasters

I know, this sounds like a frivolous topic, but really, how your toaster works first thing in the morning can affect your whole day!  See, it is an important topic.

I've always been a toast lover.  Toast and jelly/jam, toast strips and an egg in an egg cup (total fun!), toast with soup, cinnamon bread toasted and spread with butter. Mmmmm...

So, when I got married, can you believe this--when we settled into our little home on wheels, the only toaster we had was a '30's model that someone had given Dan. It had drop-down sides which meant that the bread had to be turned to toast both sides and constant checking was required to avoid burning said bread.  We made do for several weeks and then, lo and behold, we were the blessed recipients of not one, but two magnificent toasters as late wedding presents arrived.  Guess the wait really made me appreciate toasting both sides at the same time!

Some years later, probably quite a few, and we finally took the plunge and bought one of those big toasters that did four slices at once.  This was a big thing when we had four people waiting patiently for their morning toast. I loved the convenience except that it seemed that no matter how I set the controls, one side would always be under or overdone when I did four slices at once.  In short, I couldn't trust the toaster!

Over the years, several more 4-slice toasters made their appearance at our house, but alas, they all seemed to suffer from the same malady--they couldn't make up their minds about when the toast was done.  I was forced to stay by the toaster's side and perform multiple checks. This procedure often failed if I was also cooking eggs.  (A multi-tasker I'm not.)   Oh the inhumanity of it all!!

When we recently spent a number of days at my parents', I had multiple occasions to use their toaster and as I went about my business, I discovered an amazing thing--I could put the bread, or English muffins, in, push down the levers, walk away and come back to perfect toast.  All four slices!!  Eureka!  I had toaster envy.

A week or so after getting back home, we went to the happiest place on earth.  No, not Disneyland, Costco!! And in my perusal of the housewares aisle, there, on a shelf, was a toaster very similar to my parents'.  A brief discussion with Dan resulted in one landing in our cart. It's a newer model than mom and dad's, but it works! It works!!  I can walk away and come back to perfectly toasted bread, waiting patiently to be removed and devoured.  

So, do you want to see a picture of my new toaster?  Of course you do!  And here it is!

Isn't it beautiful?  It has extra buttons that can be touched after the main lever is pushed to toast bagels (toasts the cut side without burning the back), defrost first (if you, like us, often deal with frozen bread) and then toast (all in one step), a reheat button (leftover waffles anyone?), and a cancel button which will pop your bread up pronto.  

Oh the joy!!  ♥