Toaster Oven Research and Derailment

So Linda has decided she’s interested in a toaster oven and wondered if I could do a bit of research to figure out which one to buy. We already own a toaster but due to her celiac disease she can no longer use it. She likes the idea of a toaster oven, which can remain dedicated to gluten-free cooking as a way to further avoid cross contamination.

Generally I start my research in one of two places, the internet or Costco. I discovered this week we no longer keep a Consumer Reports account so I was forced to dig deeper into the net looking for information. This site listed Cuisinart as their top pick and it seems most other sites agreed that Cuisinart is the brand to beat. They offer a wide range of models to choose from leaving the consumer the freedom to select the features they’re after. Personally I like the idea of the appliance doubling as a convection oven and will look for one of their models offering this feature.



Deciding it was time to check what Costco had in stock I pulled into their parking lot alongside a taxi cab mini van. While Portland has it’s share of cabs its uncommon to see one over in Beaverton where I work let alone in the Costco parking lot. What I saw next was even more remarkable. The taxi cab driver was just getting out of his car as I pulled up, he was dark complected, tall and dressed in a long sleeve black turtle neck and Levis. He wore a thick gold chain over his shirt which had what looked, to me, like a large gold coin dangling from it and a toothpick stuck from the corner of his mouth. All this was more or less normal but what really caught my eye and then my entire attention was the fact that his pants hung unbuttoned down around his hips. Our eyes met and he gave me a nod, switching his toothpick to the opposite corner of his mouth, then shrugged as if to suggest, “What? I like to be comfortable when I drive. You got a problem with that?”

It turns out Costco does have the Cuisinart toaster oven I’m after but I was too distracted to buy it.