"ranges" news and stories

I cook on a 41-year-old turquoise electric stove. While it has a certain amount of retro appeal, it has many features that render it an total pain in the tuckus. Chief among the frustrations is the fact that the oven hovers a mere 13 and a half inches above the rear burners. This means that if you have stuff on the front burners, you can basically forget about using the rear ones. This is why I often find myself with lust in my heart for the stoves that other people get to cook on. I'm particularly jealous of my friend Jamie's stove, which is hulking stainless steel gas-powered monster with five burners and a double oven.

Over on the Epi-Log, cookbook author Melissa Clark has announced to the foodie world that she is in the market for a new stove, and she's asking people to send in their recommendations. Since reading her post, I've found myself shopping online for potential stoves for her kitchen, living vicariously through her impending new stove purchase. If you have a stove you love (or one you hate), feel free to weigh in on the discussion over at the Epi-log or here in the comments. Because there's nothing that generates more intense feelings of passion than a cook's relationship with their stove.

Talk about luxurious and slightly...unnecessary?

Personally, I find that a television set should not be anywhere NEAR the kitchen, at least within view of the dining area. It completely takes away from the experience of sharing a meal with other people (unless of course, you live alone and eat by yourself most of the time). I am also not sure why you would need a television set in the kitchen in your range hood to watch while you're cooking. When I cook, I like to have music in the background, but I usually don't like the distraction of television.

Nonetheless, if you feel the need to drop $2,500 on the Siemens LC8M950 range hood model with the built-in 17" screen tv, well, I'm sure it would be nice to watch FoodNetwork while you're cooking.