New Toaster Oven

We got a nice Cuisinart brand toaster oven for our wedding 5 years ago. It worked nicely for small baking jobs and regular toasting. Then, before Christmas, the selector knob broke. And it couldn't be repaired. We tried to deal with using a pair of needle nose pliers to change our selection for a while but it was realllly difficult to do. So we finally just left it on TOAST all the time and dealt with it for a few months.

But I really missed being able to use it as a mini oven. And with summer coming up, I just didn't want to have to heat up the big oven (and our whole house!) just to bake a few fish sticks. So a couple of weeks ago I finally broke down and decided to buy a new one. Now if you haven't researched toaster ovens recently, there are a lot of choices in a variety of price ranges. And as much as I love having lots of choices, it also drives me bonkers!! How do I decide??

Anyway, I won't bore you with the details, but I finally decided on the Kitchen Aid Convection Countertop Oven. It is quite a bit bigger than our old toaster oven so it required us to re-arrange our countertop (which if you know me, you know that drove me batty!). But it is nice! I'm still getting used to the various settings but am pleased with the purchase. Here is the "little" beauty.

This thing can actually use TWO racks at the same time - it really is a mini oven. But I'm lovin' it. :)

I know it is a little silly to be excited about a toaster, but it really makes me smile to see this new little appliance in our kitchen. {And, yes, I'm a dork}. :)