I’d like to mention, for those concerned about the radiation from re-heating things in microwaves–and/or frustrated by how poor a job they do of heating food uniformly all the way through–and/or fed up with how much time you waste programming them and opening and closing the door a million times to take things in and out to stir them over and over again because they’re still not hot yet–that unless you’re defrosting something frozen solid, toaster ovens and aluminum saucepans (aluminum conducts heat faster than other metals) heat food more thoroughly and just as quickly as a microwave, with far less fiddling.

I’d also like to add, for the health-conscious, that baking (from scratch, not from a mix) is actually a great way to eat less sweets overall, because when you’re aware of how much better home-made baked goods taste than store-bought, there’s not much temptation to buy–or eat–anything made by Nabisco. And since realistically, you’re never going to bake cookies yourself as often as you’d buy them, you end up eating them much less often.

Have you ever come across the vintage Joy of Jello cookbook at a rummage sale? The photo illustrations are so frightening, it’s a hoot!