Telling Mum about how Friend makes us baked salmon in his air fryer, and how annoyingly good and easy it is, and Mum's eyes lighting up mentioning how the oven part of her microwave oven apparently broken, and anyway half an hour later we're standing in front of the air fryers at JB Hi-Fi trying to pick her one.

And now I'm getting photos of all the meats, vegetables, cakes, and whatever she's been cooking in it. Instant convert to the Air Fryer Cult.

And air fryer was always one of those small appliances I'd wanted but was holding off on buying because I haven't had the space to store it, and I ain't about that "leave it out on the bench" lifestyle.

It was also the first thing my ex bought when I moved out, which I find endlessly amusing (but also do use it when I stay back there to dogsit when he travels for work).

Anyway. Basically what I'm saying is maybe I should just clean up the cupboard a bit and bite that $200 bullet, hey.

See also:

- Bread machine: This was one of the two appliances I desperately wanted as a wedding gift (the other being a juicer), but that I gave away a few of years ago because Ex stopped eating carbs and I needed the cupboard space. When I was at uni one of my friend's parents always had fresh bread and fresh OJ and I ate so much of it and it is so good and that is a lifestyle I am, a) definitely about, and b) definitely could go back to.

- Stand mixer: Hard to justify because I don't bake a lot, but when I do, I always think, "Man, I could use a stand mixer right now." Ironically, another one of the appliances that has appeared in Ex's apartment now that I've left (I assume it's Friend's old one after he bought her a fancy new one for her birthday?).

- Meat smoker: Really feeling the urge to embrace my best dad life and start smoking meats in my middle age, though this is not exactly easy in an apartment setting. That being said, a few companies do make electric smokers designed for balconies. So…

- Pasta/noodle machine: Basically a bread machine but it extrudes noodles/pasta. I've only seen these a handful of times, but the box has always been covered by a sufficient amount of Chinese writing to make me interested. On the other hand, these are big and, also, I live in an area where fresh pasta is pretty easy to just go out and buy. But still!!!

@alis re: pasta machine mixing pasta dough is super easy but the hand crank rollers for shaping (which are much smaller and therefore easier to store than the all in one models) are worth it imo!

if i did even 5% less baking than i currently do i would probably say the stand machine isn’t worth it (but also i have a beater attachment for my immersion blender, so its really just creaming butter recipes that actually need need a full stand mixer)