I learned to appreciate good home cooking from my dad. He cooked dinner about 4 times a week, pancakes on a weekday and a full Sunday dinner. He also had a couple of fun cooking gadgets like a cookie press. He recieved a bread machine one year & everyone got bread the following Christmas.

I think the bread machine began my love of gadgets. My aunt has a juicer that I refuse to touch for fear of falling in love. My current kitchen is small with only a couple of gadgets; my most recent purchase was an immersion blender. My dream kitchen will have many, including my very own bread machine and juicer.

But yesterday I saw a gadget that made me pause. It was listed in the catalog as a “smiley face pancake maker.” Huh?? I couldn’t tell from the picture exactly how the thing worked but I imagine there’s a smiley face mold that you pour the batter into, close the lid & presto…Pancakes with smiley faces!

Here’s my problem–part of the fun of smiley face pancakes is to actually carve the face, or use food for eyes and a mouth. One thing I look forward to with my kids is to make pancakes then decorate them with silly faces. That gadget takes all the fun out of creative cooking.

To me, gadgets make cooking more fun and maybe a little more convenient…but not less creative. So that’s one gadget I’ll go without in my dream kitchen. Still eyeing the breadmaker though…