Once upon a time, meals were simple. You (and I) bought something, cooked it, and ate. If there were leftovers, we ate them the next day, or they languished in back of the fridge until they bloomed into unrecognizable clumps of once-food. The End.
Things are different now. Not only are there multiple gourmet grocers that will deliver anything from powdered lemongrass to Ethiopian coffee to your doorstep at almost any time of day, but there are dozens of meal-planning apps, subscription cooking kits, and food & drink magazines offering a dizzying array of options for the person in charge of domestic feeding. Preparing and eating food is supposedly a source of experiential pleasure, and home-cooked meals are generally better for you than restaurant meals or — God forbid! — fast food. But the sheer volume of advice and options is enough to make anyone order a pizza and call it a night.
But those of us who cook at home more often than not, the real razzle-dazzle of the mealmaker movement is the gadgets. There’s the slow cooker — grandma of the Instant Pot, poor cousin of the Le Creuset. There’s the sous vide device, with an attendant app that basically boils your food in a bag while you pretend you’re French or otherwise gifted…
