Let's Bake!

Breaking news from the culinary world – Easy-Bake Oven inventor, Ronald Howes, dies.

Did you know that he was from Cincinnati? I didn’t.

The Easy-Bake Oven, as my parents can attest to, was the #1 requested item on my Christmas list for about 5 years. Needless to say, I never got one. To this day, I’m not entirely sure why I was denied this “classic light-bulb” oven. My parents might need to post a comment here to give proper justification.

Why did this toy pull at my heart-strings? Obviously the goodies that you could produce were appealing – chocolate brownies, yellow cupcakes, and frosted cookies…oh my! Perhaps it was the sense of control that a child can yield with this toy. As opposed to cooking in the big (aka adult) kitchen, little Abby would be able to manage all aspects of the cooking project, including oven control, recipe, bowl/spatula licking, and the finished product. Maybe it wasn’t control as much as it was feeling like an adult. It makes me think about all the other times when I was growing up that I wanted to actually BE grown up. Another toy I wanted, but only asked for a copule of times, was an electric car similar to the one here:
I would have lovingly baked some cupcakes in my “oven” and taken a drive down Oak Crest Road in my convertible with American Girl Kirsten Larson in tow. If any of my Oak Crest playmates are reading this, I'm sure they will smile fondly.

Flash forward 20ish years. I have a real car and a real oven. Sadly, Kirsten is hanging out in the attic at my parents’ house. Yet, here I sit, longing for the carefree days when all you wanted out of life was as simple as an Easy-Bake Oven.

Thank you for the memories, Mr. Howes.