Michelle Goff, mystery writer

It seems like everyone I know has an instant pot and/or air fryer. For those of you unfamiliar with these small appliances, don’t look to me for an explanation of how they work. Based on their names, however, I theorize that the air fryer uses air to fry food and the instant pot uses magic to cook food instantly – and in a pot.

For a couple years, well-meaning friends and family members have been peer pressuring me to join the instant pot and/or air fryer craze. The conversations have gone something like this:

Well-meaning friend or family member – “OMG! Fries made in an air fryer taste amazing! You should so totally get one!”

Me – “I do love me some fries, but I don’t want a bag of them constantly tempting me from the freezer, so I’ll pass. But thanks so much for thinking of me! You’re the best!”

Well-meaning friend or family member – “OMG! Rice made in the instant pot tastes amazing and it’s done in, like, an instant! You should so totally get one!”

Me – “I do love me some rice, but Uncle Ben, a saucepan, and the stove are currently meeting my rice needs. But thanks for thinking of me! You’re the best!”

Actually, it doesn’t make sense for me to obtain an instant pot and/or air fryer because I don’t cook much. Indeed, as a well-meaning friend said to me, “I guess you don’t need an air fryer to make oatmeal.”

If you’re a longtime reader of this-here space, you might be confused. You might be saying to yourself, “Self, isn’t she always going on about making some sort of mouth-watering baked good?”

Well, yeah, but that’s baking. It’s a hobby. In fact, I enjoy making mouth-watering baked goods even if said treat is something like fruitcake, carrot cake, or red velvet cake, aka stuff I don’t eat. Even if I could air fry and/or bake a cake instantly – and in a pot – I’m not sure I would enjoy doing so.

As for cooking…at my advanced age I can finally concede that it’s not something I enjoy doing. If need be, I can cook a multi-course meal. But I’m more of a one-course meal type of gal. Although that one course could be white meat I’ve thrown onto the George Foreman grill, the meal could just as easily come out of a can or a box.

And as I’m not sure making those meals in an instant pot and/or an air fryer would improve the quality of my life, I shall not be giving into the peer pressure.